By BECKY KISER
Hays Post
One tactic in growing the local population isto keep young people living in Hays after they graduate from Fort Hays State University.
City commissioners, Grow Hays, the chamber of commerce and other groups are working together to recruit new residents and also to keep FHSU and NCK Technical College students in Hays after graduation.
Dr. Tisa Mason, president of FHSU, talked about the "town and gown" partnerships between the university and the city of Hays during an annual report to the city commission Thursday night.
The city budget includes $100,000 each year for the City of Hays Scholarship Program, "which keeps students coming to Fort Hays and living in the community. We really appreciate that investment which helps propel us forward," Mason said to commissioners.
Any student who is an Ellis County resident and chooses to live in the on-campus residence halls gets a $2,000 discount, or $1,000 each semester.
The program will expand next year.
"We are going to offer all of our students - in Ellis County it will be stacked - if they come back a second year, they'll get a $500 scholarship for housing. A third year will be $1,000 and a fourth year is $2,000.
"We're really trying to keep students on campus and interacting in the community," Mason said.
FHSU has a longstanding "gateway program" with NCK Technical College which allows those students to live on campus and participate in FHSU student activities and services.
The program has expanded recently to include students at the Hays Academy of Hair Design. Students who opt into the educational component will take four one-credit-hour classes, culminating in a Business Essentials certificate from FHSU.
This spring semester was the program's debut and approximately 10 academy students are participating, according to Mason.
The fall semester will bring a new regional tuition program approved last June by the Kansas Board of Revents. It's available only to on-campus students, not on-line students.
"We are offering regional tuition which is equivalent to in-state tuition in 13 regional states.
"Right now, we are seeing our out-of state student visits go up and overall applications are up."
Students from Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Utah and Wyoming will have access to in-state tuition rates.
Mason cautioned it's still early in the process.
"When we set the metrics for the Kansas Board of Regents, we figured it'd take two years to break even and then we'd start seeing a higher return for our money.
"But the most important thing is to get students to come to Kansas, to fall in love with Hays, to do their internships and apprenticeships here and to want to stay and be employed."
There's no shortage of jobs in Hays but there is a shortage of employees. Unemployment numbers in Ellis County are low, especially during the past two years of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mason said she often hears concerns about student employment.
She commissioned the FHSU Docking Institute of Public Affairs to conduct a student survey about employment on and off campus, seeking baseline data and then predicting trends.
The survey is expected to be released shortly and Mason offered some teasers to the city commission.
The overwhelming majority of FHSU students - 93 percent - are working and 60 percent of them are also receiving scholarships and grants.
"So we know, we've always known at Fort Hays State, that our students need to work to be able to afford to go to school."
The percentages of on-campus and off-campus jobs are nearly equally split.
The survey shows 70 percent of the working students or those who are job hunting agree that Hays employers provide students friendly work schedules.
"The wage expectation of students interested in working off-campus is $13.55 an hour. Students working off-campus on average are earning $13.66 [an hour]. So they should be happy."
Mason has spent a lot of time in Topeka the past two weeks, testifying to state legislators about the role of Fort Hays State University and a proposal by the legislature and Gov. Laura Kelley to increase higher education funding.
In thanking local legislators for their ongoing support, she also revealed plans for a tech incubator at FHSU.
"This will help not only spin off tech companies, but also work with small businesses with technology issues."
Mason said FHSU has asked for state funding of $500,000 annually.
"One of the things we talked to legislators about is there a lot of one-time money right now. But because this is a service, it won't be generating revenue," she explained. "The revenues will come from the businesses that are created and strengthened."
"So far, thanks to local legislators, it's made it to step one on the House side and the Senate is very excited and saving [discussion] for omnibus."
The new program would utilize the Docking Institute and the 12 Small Business Development Centers across the state which are overseen by FHSU.
"That's the kind of forward thinking for sustainability that keeps you going," Mayor Mason Ruder commented following Dr. Mason's presentation.
Commissioners met last Saturday in Salina for their annual retreat.
A lot of their talk centered on how to grow Hays, according to Shaun Musil, commissioner.
"This right here is huge," Musil said as he pointed to the FHSU information packet. "Anything you can do to help and we very much appreciate it."
"Anything we can do to help," added Sandy Jacobs, commissioner. "It's so important to get students on campus. ... The goal I put out there is to get back to 5,000 students on campus."
According to information provided by Mason, total fall 2021 enrollment at FHSU is 14,104 students. There are 3,815 students living on campus.