A letter from the President

Dear Colleagues:

In the six years since I appointed the Integrated Marketing Committee, our university has made tremendous strides in the highly competitive world of higher education. We have achieved a level of synergy that allows us to be much better coordinated and efficient in our outreach efforts. The results have been obvious. Our enrollments have skyrocketed. The quality of new faculty that we are able to attract has never been higher, and those new faculty members tend to be a better fit because they come in with a fuller understanding of the character of Fort Hays State University. Overall, the image of our university has become better defined and more widely appreciated.

Promoting Fort Hays State University remains one of the most important tools in this effort. This new edition of our identity standards manual contains updated information, including helpful details about our continuing Affordable Success campaign.

In my letter of introduction to the first edition, I stated that competition in higher education was at an all-time high. That competition continues, as universities spend lots of dollars on advertising to recruit students. We will never have large amounts of money to spend in this effort, but we can continue our success by working smart and working together.

We must never lose sight of why FHSU exists, which is to provide the best possible post-secondary education for the citizens of Kansas. We will continue to emphasize small classes, first-rate faculty and excellent facilities, and we will remain a leader at integrating new technology into our classrooms to improve our teaching methods and equip our students for the modern world. At the same time, we must off er quality distance learning through our Virtual College to make education available for those who are not able to relocate to Hays.

Simply providing a high-quality education is no longer enough. We must also send a clear message of what we have to off er. By making people aware of our university, we can deliver educational benefits to them. In turn, healthy enrollments now will ensure that our institution can remain strong into the future.

This ongoing effort to integrate the marketing of FHSU requires a commitment from all of us. We create the image of our university not only with advertisements and brochures and news conferences, but with the letters we send, the way we teach, the trips we take in university vehicles and even in our conversations with neighbors over the back fence.

A critical element in successful marketing is the presentation of a unified, clearly stated and distinct image of the university. I encourage you to apply the standards presented in this manual to help ensure the success of Fort Hays State.

Sincerely,

Edward H. Hammond, Ph.D.
President
Fort Hays State University