FHSU President Planning Media Tour

Continuing the tradition created by President Edward Hammond more than three decades ago, Fort Hays State University President Tisa Mason will be on the road next week with reporters and editors in Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Nebraska. Her tour will include a stop in Salina.

According to the University, the primary goals of the annual media tour are to build strong working relationships with members of the media, identify where FHSU experts and resources can assist in news reporting, and listen and learn about the issues that are of greatest concern to the readers, viewers, listeners of each media outlet.

The president’s key messages will focus on the intentional alignment of FHSU’s strategic plan with the Kansas Board of Regents’ strategic plan. A major area of this alignment is a shared commitment to making a high-quality education an affordable reality for families. FHSU’s tuition and fees have long been the lowest among all KBOR system universities and unmatched nationwide.

Academic excellence is also a primary goal in the university’s strategic plan. Recent investments in faculty professional development contribute to the quality of instruction, increase faculty subject-matter expertise, and expand our professors’ personal and professional networks, exposing them to emerging knowledge and best practices.

“Our recent investments in ensuring our students are successful, including new student engagement facilities, integrated health and wellness services, and centralized professional academic advising programs, serve as evidence that the FHSU experience is the best value in higher education anywhere,” said President Mason.

Business development and economic prosperity are other areas of the strategic plan that President Mason will highlight. Several university initiatives have made remarkable progress recently in addressing the needs of rural Kansans.

The expanding cohort programs in social work, nursing, and communication sciences based in Dodge City are examples of these initiatives. Two dynamic teacher education and licensing programs that directly support rural school districts have also had a big impact. Also, the expanding Regional De-escalation Training Center at FHSU, which is training law enforcement officers on how to use personality modeling to defuse potentially violent confrontations, will be highlighted.

President Mason will also discuss FHSU’s newest economic development initiative, the Cybersecurity Institute and Technology Incubator in Hays. Fueled by a $500,000 investment from the state of Kansas, the institute will provide a supportive environment designed to help technology and security-oriented ventures develop and ultimately launch.

All but one of the stops on this year’s tour will be different from last year. Scheduled stops in Nebraska and Oklahoma were added to highlight the more than 340 on-campus and online students enrolled from these two bordering states.

The 2022 FHSU President’s Tour of Kansas, Oklahoma, and Nebraska

Schedule: