By LESLIE EIKLEBERRY
Salina Post
U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) paid a visit to Kansas Wesleyan University over the lunch hour Friday to hear an update about the university and to tour the Nursing Education Center.
Kansas Wesleyan President Matt Thompson and a number of faculty were on hand for the visit.
Thompson told Moran about the university's increasing enrollment. In response to a query from Moran, Thompson said that he attributes the rise in enrollment to "being small and being open, and being very clear about what we were doing and how we were protecting students from COVID."
"It really is one of the things I have worried about in COVID is the attraction of a university like Kansas Wesleyan is based upon personal relationships with people - faculty, staff, students - and if you separate us or we're learning by technology, the advantage that Kansas Wesleyan has in attracting and retaining students begins to dissipate," Moran said.
Thompson told Moran about KWU's brand of The Power of AND.
"We talk about The Power of AND as our brand at Kansas Wesleyan. Students who continue to do something they loved in high school and combine it with a great education. And it's hard to do activities at a distance, so we need to be in person to do those, and we work very hard," Thompson said.
Another point of pride for the university is the success that KWU graduates have. Thompson said that six months after graduation, 99 percent of KWU graduates are either in graduate school or are employed. Of those who are employed, more than 70 percent are working in their field of study.
"Which you know today is not common to have that many students," Thompson said. "So we're really proud that we're preparing them well to go out into the world."
Thompson said Kansas Wesleyan has an approximate $40 million economic impact every year in the community. Additionally, KWU students are doing almost 14,000 hours of community service every year.
Thompson also highlighted two alumni, Stefanie Milam and Christian McQueen.
McQueen, a talented performance artist, currently is touring with the Broadway road production of Anastasia.
Milam, one of five KWU alums working for NASA, is a planetary scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., and serves as the James Webb Space Telescope deputy project scientist for planetary science.
"You may have seen her a good bit. She has been the face of the launch of the new Webb telescope, so if you've seen a woman giving an update and briefing on what's happening with that, it's been Dr. Stefanie Milam," Thompson said.
"I did not know this story, and I'm glad to know it because I've been to Goddard Space Flight Center," said Moran, who serves on the senate subcommittee that allocates funding for NASA. "I would guess that our paths will cross and I'll introduce myself and brag about her alma mater."
Thompson also talked about the university's endowment and comprehensive campaign. He said that $20 million was raised over the past two-and-a-half years in the first phase of the campaign. The university is about to launch the second phase, he added.
He also said that the university's second largest gift - $3 million - was received in December and will help the university renovate its music facilities and will go toward a new cafeteria building and a new community resiliance hub.
"My impression in observing Kansas Wesleyan over a long period, most of my life, is that you're on the acendency, and that's not always been the case," Moran said.
Thompson also mentioned the importance of athletics to the university. He said that approximately 65 percent of KWU students are athletes. He also briefly talked about the success those athletes have had.
Thompson then introducted Janeane Houchin, the director of nursing education.
Houchin told Moran that on the licensure exam that nursing students must pass in order to practice, Kansas Wesleyan has, for the past several years, been at or above the benchmark by which all nursing programs are measured.
"We worked very intentionally to provide our students with every resource they could possibly have to be successful on that exam and they have proven that we are providing what they need," Houchin said.
According to Houchin, approximately 75 percent or more of each nursing graduating class since 2018 has remained in Kansas to work. Additionally, 90 percent of the 2021 graduating class has remained in Salina to work at Salina Regional Health Center, while the entire class is practicing in Kansas, she said.
"It's important to us that we help with the need here," she said.
Moran then took a tour of the Nursing Education Center.