For\nme, this year in particular signals surges of hopefulness and confidence in our\nstudents and the future of Fort Hays State University. That confidence is\nfueled by the resiliency of our students and the determination of our\nhardworking faculty and staff. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Every\nday I look out the front window of the president\u2019s residence, and I\u2019m hopeful\nas I see the activity of our campus, the beauty of our grounds, and the promise\nof the Fischli-Wills Center for Student Success. Everything we do at FHSU is\nultimately about student success; that is what drives us. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOne\nof the many benefits of our Center for Student Success was the idea of not only\ncreating efficiencies by moving multiple offices in one location, but\nre-thinking how those services were provided,\u201d said Dr. Joey Linn, vice\npresident for Student Affairs. \u201cWe have streamlined student support services in\nsuch a way that makes it very easy for students to receive multiple facets of\nassistance \u2013 all in one convenient location, connected to the Memorial Union.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\nvision of the three-level center was purposeful and strategic. The first floor\nconcentrates on inclusive academic support, such as free tutoring, professional\nadvising, and career services. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Also\non the first floor is a student welcome center for prospective students \u2013 the\nheartbeat of our on-campus strategic enrollment plan. The second floor features\nstudent organizations and campus activities, ensuring all students understand\nthe importance of student engagement, whether on campus or online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMany\nuniversities across the country have created success centers. Most have\nconcentrated on academic support resources and student involvement\nopportunities,\u201d Dr. Linn said. \u201cWhat sets our center apart, and makes it truly\nforward-thinking, is the integration of health and wellness services on the\nthird floor.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The third floor of the success center connects all areas of student health \u2013 mind, body, and soul.\u00a0 From supportive counseling services and accessibility services, to convenient and affordable medical services, all focus on the students\u2019 well-being.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As\nwe transition to a new semester, among our new staff on campus is Dr. Jeff\nCurtis, medical director of the Health and Wellness Center. Although new in\nthis role, Dr. Curtis is not new to Tiger Nation. He is an alumnus of FHSU and\ncan be seen frequently on campus at sporting events and a myriad of other\nactivities. He currently serves on the executive committee of the FHSU\nFoundation. He is also well known to the community, having served as a\ncardiologist and director of cardiology services at Hays Medical Center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\nhiring of Dr. Curtis is strategic. It is one of the many deliberate decisions\nwe are making that fills me with that hopefulness and confidence. He not only\nbrings a valuable skill set to the position but also a philosophy that is\ncongruent with the mission of the Student Success Center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gina\nSmith, director of health and wellness, adds, \u201cOur floor is ideal for meeting\nthe physical and mental health needs of FHSU students. We can easily communicate\nand collaborate between counseling and health staff to address the\ncomprehensive needs of our students in a timely manner. I look forward to\nworking with Hays Medical Center to bring specialists to the Health and\nWellness Services office and to implement programming such as cooking\nnutritious meals on a limited budget and time-efficient ways to manage stress\nfor a healthy lifestyle.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Will\nStutterheim, assistant director of health and wellness, shared, \u201cwe are very\nexcited to have someone of Dr. Curtis\u2019 caliber join our team. His connections\nwith HaysMed are invaluable in helping us work collaboratively to provide the\nbest care for our students. He has had many years of practice and has seen\ncountless innovations in his time as a provider working in Kansas.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOur\ncurrent space provides us the opportunity to have a specialist or a visiting\nprovider,\u201d Will added. \u201cWith Dr. Curtis\u2019 connections to other providers and\nagencies in town, there is a real opportunity to expand services based on the\nneeds of our students.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As\nwe strategically think about how we can better serve our students in the\nfuture, staff members are exploring the expansion of services and rethinking\nhow to best care for our students. I look forward to learning more about new\nprogramming and potential new partnerships with local agencies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dr.\nCurtis said, \u201cthe integration of student physical and mental health services in\na collaborative fashion in a single student-centered location, was a draw for\nme to consider this position.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cStudents\nare much more likely to succeed academically and socially if they are\nphysically and mentally fit,\u201d he said. \u201cI can\u2019t think of a better reason to\ncome out of retirement. It is a great opportunity to serve our students and to\ngive back to my alma mater.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This\ncenter, and the focus of the staff who work there, truly encapsulates how\nstudent success and the culture of care is at the heart of this great\nuniversity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tisa Mason is president of Fort Hays State University.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" For me, this year in particular signals surges of hopefulness and confidence in our students and the future of Fort Hays State University. That confidence… <\/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-63060","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\/63060","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=63060"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63060\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":63061,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63060\/revisions\/63061"}],"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=63060"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=63060"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=63060"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}