Monday night, the Wichita State University Strategic Planning Steering Committee invited local community members to participate in a town hall style meeting, “WSU: Your Hometown University,” at the Sedgwick County Extension Center in Northwest Wichita. The many tables spread across the 4-H hall were filled with a variety of local faces: retired and current WSU professors, County Commissioner Tim Norton, the superintendent of Haysville, retired members of the community and other individuals. 

The moderators, Cindy Claycomb and Ed O’Malley, asked the gathered community members a series of three pairs of questions with the goal of learning what Wichita residents want to see happen at WSU. A member from each group could decide to stand and share what the group had discussed when the 10-minute discussion period was over. 

Answers ranged from optimistic to worried, with residents listing issues WSU students can often be heard complaining about: the neighborhoods surrounding the campus, problems with a commuter university and how to make WSU a stronger university.

Art Youngman, a retired WSU biology professor, taught at WSU for almost 40 years and has been retired about five. Youngman attended the Steering Committee kickoff on Sept. 5, where WSU President John Bardo spoke. 

“I’m really impressed by him coming in without any preconceived notions,” Youngman said.  

As a professor, Youngman shared when he taught he didn’t get to interact with the university as a whole, he was so focused on the biology department. His unique perspective is what drew him to the town hall meeting. He wanted to learn about WSU in a way he never did working there.

“I just like to know what’s going on,” Rob Allison said. Allison, a retired Wichita resident, worked for WSU at one point in his career. “I got a little chance to know about the university,” he said. “I was overwhelmed by the level of significant work being done.” 

The meeting’s perception of Bardo sounded positive and the community valued his outreach to Wichita as a whole. 

A group speaker mentioned one of Bardo’s goals for Wichita “to produce as many patents as the rest of the state.” The drive for innovation was echoed at many of the tables during the hour and a half long meeting.

Bill Hendry, a WSU biology professor, said the collaboration between the University of Kansas Medical School and WSU was an emerging opportunity for students and faculty alike. “The growth of medical needs is going to be substantial,” Hendry said. Hendry is involved with the new bioengineering department at WSU and he said it represents a new area for patent growth in Wichita. 

One speaker brought up the example of the University of South Florida that redesigned itself as a major player in cancer and disease research in the 1980s under the presidency of John Lott Brown. Community members spoke in favor of large sweeping changes but the question remained on how to implement them at WSU.

When County Commissioner Tim Norton spoke up for his table he commanded attention. According to Norton, WSU needs to build intellectual capital and make it so that “not just Kansans are staying here.” Norton referred to WSU as having “a home town brand,” however his group believed Wichita and Kansas in general are suffering from “brain drain.”

No participant was able to offer a clear vision on how WSU should improve and it’s easy to understand why Bardo utilizes the steering committee to hear from WSU’s stakeholders. The people of Wichita want to see WSU succeed and develop, they also have more at stake than most of the student body because they are here to stay. 

One speaker asked if four-year degrees are going to remain relevant in the ever-evolving job market, another suggested partnering with bordering states to offer in-state tuition. Everyone agreed the “pool of students is pretty flat” and WSU needs to be more meaningful to the city and the state.

The steering committee will continue the conversation on WSU’s future in 2013 with two more town hall meetings. One meeting will be in downtown Wichita, the other on the east side with the aim of reaching more members of the community. Additional information can be found on the steering committee’s page on the WSU website.