Kansas State University

Dear Arts and Sciences Students,

Congratulations! You’ve almost finished the semester! As usual, this semester included many great moments and achievements.

We’re pleased that many of you are getting involved in research and creative endeavors, community engagement, and leadership. It has been fulfilling to see your research exhibits, art shows and performances, project presentations, community activities and more.

It has also been our pleasure to meet many of you at events like our Week of Welcome Ice Cream Social, Lunches with the Deans, ArtSci Education Abroad Expo and professional Networking Nights. We look forward to seeing more of you next semester. (Be sure to join in our Civil Rights Teach-In on Jan. 29!)

For those of you graduating and entering your next phase of life, congratulations! Earning a degree is a great achievement and we are proud of you. We’re excited to see how you impact the world, and we hope you’ll stay in touch.

We look forward to celebrating our graduates at the commencement ceremonies and to seeing many of you back in January.

On behalf of the Arts and Sciences Dean’s Office, I wish you good luck on finals and a great Winter Break!

Chris Culbertson
Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences
Professor of Chemistry

Graduation Celebration

Tue., Dec. 10 | Noon-1 p.m.
Purple Masque Theatre (west side of Memorial Stadium)
301 Calvin Hall (location updated 12/6/24)
RSVP by Dec. 6

Graduating students! Please join us in celebrating your big achievement with waffles and a walk down memory lane at the College of Arts and Sciences Fall 2024 Graduation Celebration! Please RSVP by Dec. 6.

Commencement Ceremonies

• Graduate School Commencement
  Fri., Dec. 13 | 1 p.m. | Bramlage Coliseum 
• Arts and Sciences Undergraduate Commencement
  Sat., Dec. 14 | 8:30-10 a.m. | Bramlage Coliseum
  Graduates line up at 7:30 a.m.

Reminders to students participating in Arts and Sciences Commencement:

• Arrive at Bramlage Coliseum in your purple regalia by 7:30 a.m. and head to your department’s ceiling sign on the concourse.
• Bring a legible, crinkle-free printout of your Grad Pass.
• Don’t bring any personal items that cannot remain under your gown.
• Wear comfortable shoes. You’ll be standing for long periods and using lots of stairs.
• More tips are on K-State’s Day-Of Ceremony Guide.
• Enjoy your moment!

Civil Rights Teach-In

Wed., Jan. 29, 2025 | 2:30-5 p.m.
Leadership Studies Building, McVay Family Town Hall

Watch for more information in January.

Apply to participate in Undergraduate Research Day at the Capitol

Encourage students to apply to present at Undergraduate Research Day at the Capitol Feb. 26. Applications due Jan. 28.

Important dates

• Dec. 6 – Fall 2024 Graduation Application Closes
• Dec. 6 – Last Day of Classes
• Dec. 9-13 – Final Examinations 
• Dec. 13 – Graduate School Commencement
• Dec. 14 – Arts and Sciences Undergraduate Commencement
• Dec. 18 – Grades available in KSIS
• Dec. 25 – Jan. 1 – Winter Break: Campus Closed
• Dec. 30 – First Day of January Intersession
• Jan. 2 – Spring and Summer 2025 Application for Graduation Opens
• Jan. 17 – Last Day of January Intersession
• Jan. 17 – Spring 2025 Financial Aid Refunds Begin
• Jan. 20 – Martin Luther King Jr Day Observed: Campus Closed
• Jan. 21 – First Day of Spring 2025 Classes. Late Enrollment Fee assessed.
• Jan. 27 – Last Day to ADD Course(s) without Instructor Permission

View full 2024-2025 Academic Calendar (pdf)

History graduate student’s community project wins national award and grant

Holly Hill (left in photo), graduate student in history and graduate assistant with K-State’s Chapman Center for Rural Studies, is preserving Manhattan history through an internship with the Riley County Genealogical Society.

Holly is working with members of the society, including project leader Charlene Brownson, on a project to place historical markers along Manhattan’s Linear Trail. The project, “Walking Through History on the Linear Trail,” recently won an award and a grant from the Freedom’s Frontier National Heritage Area program.

The project entails creating 10 historical markers and installing them at trailheads along the 9.4-mile trail. Five markers were installed in summer 2024 and five more will be installed in summer 2025. Information about each marker is on the Chapman Center’s website.

The project won the FFNHA’s Judy Billings Most Valuable Project award for best communicating the theme “Shaping the Western Frontier,” as well as a grant to support it.

Pictured here with Holly Hill is Kim Wescott, office manager for both the Chapman Center and the department of sociology, anthropology, and social work.

Congrats to our Research and the State award recipients!

Several doctoral students in Arts and Sciences presented research posters at K-State’s Research and the State graduate student poster forum on Oct. 24.

Congrats on receiving an award from the Graduate School and being selected to represent K-State at the Capitol Graduate Research Summit on March 25!

• Zahirul Islam Saddam, chemistry
  Developing next generation Li-S battery by tuning the active sites of MoS2/rGA catalysts

Congrats on receiving awards from K-State’s chapter of Sigma Xi in recognition of outstanding presentations!

• Oluchi Alaribe, microbiology
  Role of cyclic diguanylate monophosphate in Clostridioides difficile physiology and virulence.
• Vidya Nadar, chemistry
  Maximizing drug transport in cancer and related bacterial infections

Read more about the 2024 forum.

Apply for financial aid!

The 2025-2026 Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, form is now available! It must be submitted to apply for federal grants, loans and work-study. It’s easy and you might qualify for more than you think. K-State’s priority date is March 1. Learn more about the FAFSA. 

Inclement weather guidelines

Winter weather is here. For information the university’s weather-related decision-making processes and policies, please review K-State’s inclement weather guidelines.