The Agricultural Business Council of Kansas City and Kansas State University Olathe Campus invite you to join us on Tuesday, October 10, for a luncheon meeting featuring Dr. Ernie Minton, Dean of the College of Agriculture and Dr. Bonnie Rush, Dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine.
It is an exciting time at K-State University, particularly for those associated with the Colleges of Veterinary Medicine and Agriculture. Deans Bonnie Rush and Ernie Minton will address the Council’s October 10 lunch to bring us the latest on key opportunities and strategic initiatives in their respective College.
Dr. Bonnie Rush, Dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine
Dr. Bonnie Rush serves as dean of Kansas State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine. In this role, she is charged with leading the college on a variety of fronts, including program development, faculty and student development, research, teaching and extension, program accreditation, diversity and the 2025 plans for both the college and the university.
By all accounts, Dean Rush is doing incredible work to strengthen the numbers of rural, large animal vets. She also has great view for the future of the Vet School and what she would like to see done there in the next 3 to 5 years.
As Dr. Rush explains:
The State of Kansas provides a unique scholarship for talented veterinary students with the intent to enter rural practice. The scholarship pays in-state tuition for approximately seven veterinary students in each class. In return, recipients enter mixed-animal practice in an underserved county in Kansas for at least four years after graduation. To support their career development, the college offers a certificate program that prepares veterinary students for success in rural practice. The certificate is subscribed by 90 veterinary students across the four-year curriculum, including all rural scholarship recipients. Representative course work includes feedlot medicine, cow-calf management, rural business management, bovine palpation, production medicine, and disease outbreak investigation. The Rural Veterinary Workforce Taskforce is a collaboration between the College of Veterinary Medicine, College of Agriculture, Kansas Department of Agriculture, Kansas Farm Bureau, Kansas Livestock Association, and the Kansas Veterinary Medicine Association. The Taskforce has identified veterinary shortages in Kansas by geographic region and gaps in specific services. Future work is focused on innovative ways to strengthen recruitment and retention of veterinarians to rural practice.
Dr. Ernie Minton, Dean of the College of Agriculture and Director of K-State Research and Extension
Meanwhile, at the College of Agriculture, Dean Ernie Minton is leading the largest infrastructure investment in K-State’s history through a $208 million ag innovation project. Dr. Minton, who is also director of K-State Research and Extension, is focused on advancing the college’s agriculture legacy as one of the nation’s top academic programs, and K-State’s Research and Extension’s mission through research, outreach, engagement and economic development.
Dean Minton explains that a little background is in order to help understand the current initiative.
Based on a 2021 report by the Board on Agricultural Assembly of the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities, growing deferred maintenance upgrades and skyrocketing total replacement values across the Land-Grant system had the entire system in trouble. Anticipating the challenges of their infrastructure, in 2020 K-State’s College of Agriculture begin a comprehensive master planning exercise to quantify and prioritize projects that could be “shovel ready” should the federal infrastructure planning ultimately include opportunities at Land-Grant universities. The stars aligned in February 2022 as K-State’s College of Agriculture had completed key elements of its master planning exercise, the disruption of the Covid-19 pandemic was in recovery mode at the nation’s colleges and universities, there were active discussions of President Joe Biden’s “Build Back Better” infrastructure plan, and Dr. Rich Linton arrived in Manhattan as K-State’s 14th president, after serving as Dean of NC State’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences for the past decade.
Fast forward to July 2023, K-State is deep into acquiring public (State of Kansas) and private philanthropic support to realize a $208 million Ag Innovation Initiative. This is the largest single infrastructure plan in the history of K-State that will signal the beginning of a food, agriculture, and natural resources infrastructure overhaul in Manhattan and throughout the state. The project will set a new bar for multidisciplinary research and innovation, and continue to elevate K-State status among Colleges of Agriculture in the United States. This infrastructure will further our ability to present ourselves as a world-class institution in areas that matter to K-State, the State of Kansas, and the entire central plains region.
The details of this plan and what it means for K-State in the coming several decades will be the focus of Dean Ernie Minton’s presentation at the October 10 luncheon meeting of the Agricultural Business Council of Kansas City’s meeting in Olathe.
Cancellation Policy
Cancellations must be received by October 3 for refund. No refunds will be provided after October 3. Registrations are transferable.
Accommodations & Special Dietary Needs
If you have questions concerning access, or if you have any special dietary needs, please e-mail at least seven days prior to the event