Research and Creative Activity at FHSU

     Fort Hays State University recognizes that faculty members are teachers and scholars. Thus, this institution supports research (as well as the creative activities so vital to our Art and Music departments) to a degree that is uncommon among state-funded regional universities.  By applying for Track I or Track II Reassigned Time, faculty members can periodically reduce their semester teaching load from four courses to three in order to complete research projects. Generous travel funding for academic conferences is available as well. At present, the Faculty Development Fund, overseen by the Office of the Provost, contains approximately $50,000—money that is used to supplement the travel funding offered at the departmental level. As a result, many FHSU faculty members routinely present their work at international and national conferences. And finally, the FHSU Graduate School supports faculty scholarship through a variety of research grants—including a summer research grant that provides approximately the same income as summer teaching—and assists faculty members who are interested in securing external funding. By working with Leslie Paige, our resourceful Grants Facilitator, FHSU faculty members were able to bring in nearly two and a half million dollars in external funding during the 2006 fiscal year.
     Opportunities for faculty members to share their research with the university community also abound. Sponsored by the FHSU Graduate School, a formal Sabbatical Presentation Series showcases the scholarly productivity of faculty members during their paid leaves. In addition, more than 90 faculty members belong to the FHSU Faculty Research Association, an organization that regularly hosts book signings, research presentations, receptions for scholarly speakers, and informal social gatherings where creative, interdisciplinary collaboration occurs. And then there are our campus publications devoted to research.  Research Matters, the magazine of the Faculty Research Association, offers profiles of faculty scholars and celebrates their achievements. Fort Hays Studies, a long-standing monograph series, addresses scholarly topics of particular relevance to the Hays community—or to Western Kansas.
     Other expressions of our commitment to research include the President’s Distinguished Scholar Award, the highest honor on campus (awarded each year to an exceptionally prolific scholar), and the recent establishment of the Research Environment Committee, a standing committee that continuously explores ways to help faculty researchers do the work that they love. In short, ours is that rarest of institutions—a place where the symbiotic relationship between teaching and scholarship is not only understood, but cultivated. The title of our magazine says it best:  at FHSU, Research Matters.