The Kansas Board of Regents visited Wichita State for the first time since 2019 this week. KBOR is the governing body for all universities and higher education institutions in Kansas.

During their visit, KBOR met with university officials as well as students involved on campus. An applied learning mixer with students and employers was held to encourage students to meet with employers as well as the board.

Kim Kufahl, assistant director of marketing and communications, said that the Shocker Career Accelerator worked with Strategic Communications to host the event and bring in industry partners as well as KBOR.

“It’s awesome for students,” Kufahl said. “They get to interact with the Kansas Board of Regents who, you know, they oversee all the Kansas colleges, and they’re also professionals in the community, so they’re getting to interact with professionals in the community.”

Meeting with students gave KBOR the chance to see what’s happening at the university firsthand.

“We’re only nine people looking over … 32 different institutions, so it’s hard to get very deep,” Chair of KBOR Jon Rolph said. “This gives us a chance to break below and hear from the constituent groups, so we hear from students, get to hear from faculty, staff, and have a sense of how people feel and what’s working … helps inform a lot of our decisions year-round.”