What\ngreat joy it was to have in-person Fort Hays State University commencement\nceremonies this spring!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now\nthat June has arrived, we are officially returning to pre-COVID-19 policies and\npractices. In general, this means that face coverings are no longer required.\nClassrooms will be returned to \u201cnormal\u201d capacity. The Beach\/Schmidt Performing\nArts Center will retire its classroom pandemic re-assignment and re-embrace its\nperforming arts purpose. And a myriad of opportunities to connect and grow in\nour relationships will proliferate. It is finally time to see smiles as we\nreconnect deeply and sincerely. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
We\ncelebrated this return with a campus-wide picnic on June 2, and I am excited\nand brimming with optimism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As\nwe celebrate this renewal, I am reminded of a saying: Grace grows best in the\nwinter. For me, COVID-19 was a time of slowing down, of creating new self-care\nroutines, and being intentional in nurturing and growing key relationships.\nNow, the great outdoors awaits with a flurry of promises and hope. Masks have\nbeen packed away. Dinner parties, parades, concerts, and summer holiday\ncelebrations await.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As my summer calendar quickly fills up, I find myself pausing for a moment to reflect on what I have learned while living, surrendering, and growing through a worldwide pandemic as the Fort Hays State University president. Here are a few of my thoughts:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
First,\nwe took the time to frame our path forward by adopting guiding principles\nbefore designing strategy or policy. Those guiding principles were: prioritize\nthe health and safety of faculty, staff, and students; protect the mission of\nFHSU; maintain critical operations and fiscal footing; be mindful of good\ngovernance principles; remain nimble and true to FHSU\u2019s innovative culture; and\ncomply with any Kansas Board of Regents directives. These guiding principles\nhelped us stay clear during times of multiple options and especially when our\ndecisions differed from our peers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Second,\nwe focused on, and drew from, our core institutional characteristics of\nresiliency, innovation, and care. Our grit and determination have always\npropelled this western Kansas university forward. From our meager beginnings to\nour unprecedented successful present, we did what we do best \u2013 we got to work.\nAs we confidently \u201crolled up our sleeves,\u201d we drew upon our legacy as a pioneer\nin quality distance education. Since 1902, we have delivered learning solutions\nthat fit students\u2019 circumstances \u2013 and this time of pandemic was no different.\nThrough a lot of hard work and intelligent risks, our community borrowed best\npractices while forging our own path. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
While\nthe curriculum was boldly being redesigned by our faculty, our staff created\ncare teams to check in on every student throughout the pandemic. This coalition\nof more than 100 faculty, staff, and student volunteers helped our students\nstay connected and on track with their academic plans. Our student emergency\nfund was ramped up. FHSU Foundation trustees wrote checks and asked, \u201cHow can I\nhelp?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During\nthe spring of 2020, all students who had an on-campus job were paid whether or\nnot they worked or were unable to work due to returning home. Throughout the\npandemic, not one FHSU employee lost their position due to COVID-19. Our\nhighest-need students received an additional $2.9 million in aid, thanks to\ngovernment assistance. Our 2020-2021 academic calendar remained unchanged, and\nall breaks were honored so that our people could rest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As\nI write about our planning and decisions, it seems so simple. But in the\nmoment, we were leading on the edge. Our people were working harder and\nintentionally in ways that cannot even be described. It was intense. It was\nhard. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Third,\nthroughout the process we had incredible partners. The Kansas Board of Regents\nfacilitated information sharing while giving us the latitude to make individual\nand regional decisions. My colleagues, the university presidents of the other\nfive KBOR universities, met weekly to exchange information and strategies.\nThough unpopular to some, the city of Hays mask mandate helped us normalize\nbest practices, while the Ellis County Health Department assisted in\nreinforcing community expectations and protocols. Ellis County went a step\nfurther by helping us fund our quarantine protocol by providing hotel and food\nvouchers for students while our campus care team continually checked on our\nstudents. That was remarkable!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Finally,\nthroughout this entire process, I came to understand that this would be a\ngrowing season for me. One of the ways I grew as a professional was to learn on\na very deep level the difference between managing and leading. I had to figure\nout where my voice was needed and when my trust was needed more than my voice,\nwhen to step into discussions, and when to resist the temptation \u201cto be in\ncharge\u201d so that those closer to critical issues had the space to rely on their\nexpertise to drive solutions. Sometimes these moments were humbling. Sometimes\nthey were nerve-racking. But mostly, I felt the deepest gratitude to be\nsurrounded by strong, smart, humble, hardworking colleagues. As trust was\ntested and nurtured, I learned a lot about letting go of managing to increase my\ncapacity to lead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In\nreflecting back upon this past year and half, I realize that while there will\nalways be challenges and changes, Tiger Nation will continue to press on and\ngrow in spite of them. It is who we are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tisa Mason is president of Fort Hays State University.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" What great joy it was to have in-person Fort Hays State University commencement ceremonies this spring! Now that June has arrived, we are officially returning… <\/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-59998","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\/59998","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=59998"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59998\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":59999,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59998\/revisions\/59999"}],"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=59998"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=59998"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=59998"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}