Even\nthough we approach this holiday season amidst the pandemic, I am constantly\nreminded of the power of always being joyful and thankful in all circumstances.\nOr, as Viktor Frankl said, \u201cEverything can be taken from a man or a woman but\none thing: the last of human freedoms to choose one\u2019s attitude in any given set\nof circumstances, to choose one\u2019s own way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspired\nby Viktor Frankl, and frankly, so many colleagues and community members, I\nwould like to offer just a few observations of the blessings that have\ncontinued to propel Fort Hays State University forward this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Our\n\u201cin-the-trench\u201d outreach efforts from our faculty and staff care teams kept\nstudents enrolled. The contributions of countless caring hearts stocked our\nTiger food pantry and supplemented the student emergency fund. All across\ncampus, I continue to see an ethic of care that is distinctively FHSU.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
All\nareas of campus have had to adjust operations to open and operate the campus in\nas safe and effective a manner as possible. From our facilities staff to our\nstudents, faculty and emergency team, we have worked collectively to mitigate\nthe risk of transmission of the coronavirus in the classroom. Our own campus\nproactive steps \u2013 including social distancing, hand hygiene, use of face\ncoverings, monitoring our personal health and making the thoughtful decision to\nstay home if we feel unwell \u2013have been embraced. We have also carefully\nmonitored our capacity to isolate and quarantine on-campus students. As a\nresult, our campus remains open.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Our\nonline graduate education programs saw enrollment growth with an increase of 90\nstudents this fall. Online graduate education has increased nine of the last 10\nyears.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\nKelly Center provided a record-breaking 4,084 personal counseling sessions last\nyear, in addition to services in the following areas: alcohol and drug\ncounseling services, student accessibility issues through learning disability\ntesting and accommodations and academic counseling and peer tutoring. This\nyear, they are on schedule to set a new record of wrap-around support services.\nA grant is expanding the Kelly Center\u2019s reach to assist students enrolled in\nonline classes and Zoom sessions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\nam deeply appreciative of our Teaching Innovation and Learning Technologies\nstaff, who continue to support both faculty and students with cutting-edge,\nengaging learning technologies. They have been working tirelessly, supporting\nTigers throughout the United States and across the world \u2013 including making\nsure that students in China could access all of their class materials through\ntheir cell phones and creating tutorial videos in Mandarin to ensure students\u2019\nsuccess.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\nHigher Learning Commission approved a new master\u2019s degree in athletic training.\nThis is essential, as the industry standard now requires a master\u2019s degree for\nentry-level professionals. We also launched online bachelor\u2019s and master\u2019s\ndegree programs in social work. Both programs exceeded their first-year\nenrollment goals this fall, as did our expanding computer science program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We\nhave teams of colleagues working on new cybersecurity initiatives and studying\nfuture possibilities of how artificial intelligence can help drive student\nsuccess.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
COVID\ncouldn\u2019t stop students and parents from seeing the value of our Academy of\nMathematics and Science. This early entry college program offers an\nunparalleled academic experience for gifted and talented high school students\nfrom our own backyard and to students from all over the world. We welcomed a\nnew class of 37 juniors this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Every\nday I watch our new Fischli-Wills Center for Student Success, powered by\nphilanthropy, come to life. The center, scheduled for completion by fall 2021,\nis a one-stop shop for student success. From academic and career support to\nstudent health and counseling, the three-story building attached to the\nMemorial Union will feature student services for mind, body and soul.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\nJourney Campaign, our most ambitious fundraising campaign to date, is on\nschedule to exceed our goal of $100 million by Homecoming 2021. Each and every\ngift means an education, a strong university, a bright future, lives changed\nand dreams made real for students. Incredible!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Our\nTiger Auction for athletics was converted to a virtual event, and our fans did\nnot let us down. Our philanthropists continued to fuel the success of our\nteams. Scholarships were honored, while coaches concentrated on meaningful\npractice sessions as well as structure and routine for the student-athletes.\nNovember arrived with the optimism of our student-athletes being able to return\nto play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite\nthe strains the pandemic placed on our community, an enduring point of pride\nremains the strong town-and-gown relationship we enjoy in Hays, America. Fort\nHays State is blessed by a long legacy of strong leaders and a community that\nrallies its support around the university in many ways. Through it all, our\ncaretaking of the present \u2013 while planning for the future \u2013 thrived.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\nwork we do matters. Like a pebble tossed in a pond, our impact ripples across\nfamilies, communities and the world. Alphonse Karr said, \u201cwe can complain\nbecause rose bushes have thorns or rejoice because thorns have roses.\u201d Amid an\nunprecedented year, I choose to rejoice \u2013 and remain forever grateful for the\nopportunity to work with my talented colleagues at this extraordinary\nuniversity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tisa Mason is president of Fort Hays State University.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Even though we approach this holiday season amidst the pandemic, I am constantly reminded of the power of always being joyful and thankful in all… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":37698,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[12323,55],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-57372","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-campus-life","category-opinion"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Mason-Tisa-040A6662.jpg?fit=750%2C1050&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57372","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=57372"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57372\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":57373,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57372\/revisions\/57373"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/37698"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=57372"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=57372"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=57372"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}