Kansas State University

Welcome to the second edition of the School of Family Studies and Human Services newsletter. I accepted the position as director of the school in October 2019 and I’m excited to help lead some of the great work that our school continues to accomplish.

Over the past several months, lots of exciting news has happened here at K-State (and I wrote that pre-COVID-19 crisis!).  When matters started to escalate across the country over spring break, my very first thought was—we will be fine; we can do online instruction. As it turns out, the situation became much more expansive than online instruction and we are adapting. Our school and college is incredibly adept at handling crises. And not to any dismay, we didn’t skip a beat as we moved forward with empathy and quick response by all to adjust daily responsibilities ranging from day-to-day matters to the more major changes in class instruction, research procedures, and outreach and engagement. I am incredibly proud of each and every faculty member (especially those who have never taught online and are figuring out how to deliver clinical instruction remotely for the very first time in a very short time period), each and every staff member (especially those who have never used Zoom video conferencing who are now reliant on it for daily functioning), each and every student (especially those who have never taken an online class and now are taking exclusively online classes), and each and every friend who has reached out in support or thought about Higher Ed in the past few weeks. We are well. We will survive and thrive. Thank you for your continued support as we all continue to learn and adjust.

Go CATS!

–Sonya Lutter, director (lutter@k-state.edu or 785-532-1472)

The Kansas Board of Regents voted to accept our proposal of a new Department of Personal Financial Planning. Until a department head is hired, I will serve as the interim department head for Personal Financial Planning and remain the director of the School of Family Studies and Human Services with programs in Human Development and Family Science, Communication Sciences and Disorders, Conflict Resolution, Early Childhood Education, and Couple and Family Therapy. Continue reading “School updates” →

In addition to students pursuing graduate degrees, many are applying their skills in the field already. You might catch them in one of these life-changing interactions locally, across the state, or more broadly across the U.S.

• Director of Clubhouse Activities at Boys & Girls Club
• Risk Management Specialist at Head Start
• Registered Behavior Technician at No Stone Unturned
• Early Childhood Special Education Teacher
• Speech Language Pathologist
• Executive Director of Homestead in Olathe
• Wellness & Prevention Coordinator at CKF Addiction Treatment
• Trauma Center Counselor
• Match Support Specialist at Big Brothers Big Sisters
• Financial Advisor/Planner

Kansas State Research and Extension (KSRE) provides evidence-based programming and resources to the citizens of Kansas. Our school specialists focus on improving child development, adolescent development, adult development and aging, and family resource management by researching these topics, developing curricula, testing curricula, and deploying county agents with the resources they need to educate Kansas. Continue reading “K-State Research and Extension: 4-H and more!” →

We—the faculty, staff, and students—are passionate about providing a place where people can get resources to improve their wellbeing and reduce conflict in their lives. We are using this spring to continue to refine our programs to best meet the needs of today’s students. Continue reading “What’s next?” →

Programs for Workplace Solutions seeks to help organizations positively affect their culture through strategic planning, implementation practices, and continuous evaluation. The program collaborates with partners across the great state of Kansas—such as the Kansas Department of Children and Families, the Kansas Department of Commerce, and the Kansas Board of Regents—to share ideas and insights into finding the best possible solutions to address workplace challenges. The program also coordinates two of the state’s Child Abuse and Prevention Treatment Acts (CAPTA) Citizen Review Panels, and hosts an annual conference for child welfare professionals. Continue reading “Outreach and engagement” →

The school ambassadors have been hard at work promoting our programs to prospective students (and their families) and engaging current students. Continue reading “Congratulations to the 2019-2020 student ambassadors” →

Your generous annual gifts matter. Thank you so much for your support to our excellence funds.  Excellence dollars allow us to support the school and our programs’ highest needs. These funds support creative programming, student success, materials for interactive class activities, and faculty and staff professional development. Without your support, these activities would decrease and both our instructors and students would suffer. Thank you for investing in our future.

To support the school, head to https://give.evertrue.com/ksu/hhs and specify your designation to the School of Family Studies and Human Services Excellence Fund or contact Jeff Haug at jeffh@ksufoundation.org.