ESU President Michael Lane
February 21, 2008
ESU President Michael Lane will answer your questions about the goals and projects for the University. Submit your questions.
Moderator: Michael Lane, who took over as Emporia State University’s president 15 months ago, is answering questions from Gazette readers. The chat is set to run for half an hour. If you have a question for Lane, please submit it soon. Be sure to click the "refresh" button to see the latest questions and replies.
Divinetweetness: What ideas do you have for making Emporia State a greener/more environmentally friendly campus community? Are you open to suggestions?
Michael Lane: As you can imagine we have several things in the works. As we renovate the Memorial Union we will pursue green options for the renovation. Many of our communications with alumni and students are now done electronically to conserve paper and trees. Finally, we are working to expand recycling efforts on campus. It is a slow process but we will continue to work at it.
gregorymed: What are your estimates for on campus enrollment in august, 2008 and august of 2009 and what specifically are you doing to attract students to the town/campus of emporia?
Michael Lane: We have not yet finalized our estimates for next fall. We will be setting a goal to increase the number of new start students by 50 or more. We are beginning a new marketing effort designed to attract new students to ESU. Of course, we are concerned about the impact of the Tyson layoffs on our enrollment. We revised our scholarship program to make it more competitive. The Jones Foundation scholarship program should also help us. Finally, we have enhanced efforts to recruit out-of-state students to increase enrollments.
joetraveler: During the past 20 years or so, Emporia leaders have been dedicated to bringing new industry to town. I'm not opposed to attracting new business to our city, but most of these jobs are low income positions. In light of the recent Tyson layoffs, do you feel this is good opportunity for city leaders and ESU to concentrate on the University, and mold Emporia into a College town rather than a "meat-packing" town?
Michael Lane: Emporia State encourages all forms of economic development for Emporia and the region. With the layoffs at Tyson we need to diversify the economic base of our community as many other communities have as the result of such economic challenges. The proposed comprehensive plan for the city includes commercial development near the University in a “Black and Gold” zone. We certainly support all such efforts.
camojoe: Dr. Lane, With the news of the Tyson layoffs, has the university looked at combining both ESU and Flint Hills Technical College? Some other area colleges have tried this and I'm wondering why we don't.
Michael Lane: I understand that Washburn is in the process of consolidating with KAW Valley Tech. Sine both ESU and Flint Hills are independently viable institutions, no such conversations have taken place. We certainly want to continue to partner with Flint Hills to offer their graduates opportunities for additional education. We will continue to stay in close contact with Flint Hills.
esugrad_03: What was the reasoning behind ESU deciding to charge full-time students Lifelong Learning tuition and fees ON top of on-campus flat-rate fee? For a 3 credit-hour undergraduate course, this can be almost $500 more. Has ESU noticed a decrease in Lifelong Learning enrollment because of this? I am going to begin working on my Master's degree this summer. This increase was a major reason why I decided to earn my Master's through a different Kansas university.
Michael Lane: Unfortunately the cost of delivering on-line education is higher than face -to-face. In order to continue to deliver high quality education on-line, we must charge a fee sufficient to continue operations in that environment. Also, for campus students, all of the classes for which we charge the fee are available face-to-face. Since the on-line students do not pay the student fees for the memorial union, health services, etc. the cost is not significantly higher. The bottom line is that the fee is necessary to maintain quality.
admireed: How can a family afford an education with tuition going up rapidly? Is it possible to have a community college branch here in Lyon county which offers more affordable FR and SO courses?
Michael Lane: Community colleges are normally formed by the vote of the citizens of the county. This is because it is normally accompanied by a property tax to fund the College. I believe the scholarship offered by the Jones Foundation will make the freshman year very price competitive with most community colleges. We work very hard in our financial aid office to ensure that students can find and receive the aid they need to attend ESU. I would recommend any prospective student who needs information contact that office for help.
sail: President Lane, what is your goal for student growth at ESU? Have you entertained the thought of using the 1/2 cent sales tax for increasing students at ESU?
Michael Lane: Of course we would love to be able to have support from a sales tax. However, imposition of a new one requires the vote of the residents. Use of existing sales taxes is probably restricted by the conditions under which it was adopted. We do plan to grow in the next ten years. Since enrollments in Kansas High Schools is relatively flat we intend to target three prospective populations: 1. Community College transfer students 2. Out-of-state students (from nearby states) 3. International students
gayzettesux: Dr. Lane. I'm a student at the university and I've passed by you several times on campus without so much as a hello. When Kay Schallenkamp was here she made it a habit to say hello to each and every student she saw. Why is it that you can't seem to say hello to the students you are supposed to serve?
Michael Lane: First, I am sorry if I have passed you and not said hello. I truly enjoy the opportunities I have to meet and speak with ESU students. Maybe it is my “eastern roots” because sometimes I am sure I am focused on something I am thinking and I do miss opportunities to say hello. That said, one of the methods I have tried to implement to present opportunities for students to meet with me and talk to me about the good things and the things that need improvement is the “Pizza with the Prez” series. Since I do not know who you are, I will use this opportunity to invite you to one of the remaining opportunities to attend. Please call Marjorie Werly at 341-5454 and let her know which one you can attend. Please accept my belated “hello.”
averagejoe: Where are you and Kent Weiser at in the process of appealing the NW Missouri State-ESU basketball game? Do you feel like you will ever get an official appeal with the NCAA? What is your reaction to the situation and how it was handled by the MIAA?
Michael Lane: I have spoken with officials in the conference office and at the NCAA in Indianapolis. Since the current rules of NCAA basketball are in force and one rule specifically precludes any protests in Basketball, there is little we can do for this specific incident. I am in the process of writing to President Myles Brand (president of the NCAA) and asking for his personal attention to developing a rules change that will allow a protest in the case of a willful violation of the rules by an official. I know this does not help our situation. I feel badly for our team and for Andrew for having a wonderful sports moment taken away from him unfairly! Our only hope is that we can prevent this from occurring in the future.
Moderator: That's all the time we have today. Thanks to ESU President Michael Lane for his time and his willingness to answer questions, and thanks to the readers who submitted questions. We weren’t able to get to all of them, so I’m sure we’ll invite President Lane back. A transcript of today's chat will be published in Friday’s Gazette. The contents of the chat will continue to be available online at www.emporiagazette.com.