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President's Message
Welcome to Pittsburg State!
We are pleased you are thinking about the opportunities Pittsburg State University offers you for a great education and an exceptional university experience.
We have worked hard to provide a great deal of information for you on these on-line pages, but ultimately there is no better way to learn about the Pitt State experience than to visit the campus. That is the best way for you to discover for yourself why more and more students are choosing the personal attention, outstanding academic programs and unique university atmosphere that is Pittsburg State University.
On behalf of the faculty and staff at Pittsburg State, I want to extend my personal invitation to you to visit us. Our Admission staff will be happy to arrange your visit and answer any questions you might have.
About the President
After serving the university and the state in two separate but demanding interim roles, Dr. Tom Bryant was selected by the Kansas Board of Regents as the eighth president of Pittsburg State University. As of July 1, 1999, Dr. Bryant replaced retiring President John R. Darling as president of the university. From July 1, 1998 to May 31st, 1999, Dr. Bryant served as interim executive director for the Kansas Board of Regents in Topeka. He served as interim president of Pittsburg State from May to December, 1995. Since 1993, when not serving in interim appointments for the Kansas Board of Regents, Bryant has served as the PSU dean of education.
When he announced Dr. Bryant's appointment in April, Regent Bill Docking, chairman of the Kansas Board of Regents, said "We know what he has done and what he can do in the future.....He is the right man for the right time."
Dr. Bryant has since pledged to work with anyone and any group that wants to work to strengthen Pittsburg State University.
"Teamwork and a common purpose will be the key to our success," Bryant said.
In 1995, Bryant assumed the interim presidency of Pittsburg State 1995 at a crossroads in the institution's history. His first immediate challenge was to raise $10 million to complete the funding package for the Kansas Technology Center. At a special fundraising event in July, 1995, Dr. Bryant along with Pittsburg Businessman Gene Bicknell and Gov. Bill Graves announced that $4.5 million in private support had already been pledged and that the Governor would ask the State Legislature for an additional $4 million over the next two years. Full funding was finally obtained and construction completed in 1997. The Kansas Technology Center was officially dedicated in October 1997.
During the months he served as interim executive director of the Kansas Board of Regents, Bryant was involved in the state legislature's efforts to reorganize the state's higher education governance structure. On behalf of the Regents, he was also involved in promoting an initiative to enhance faculty salaries.
Bryant has years of both teaching and administrative experience at PSU. He joined the PSU faculty in 1970 as an associate professor of Health, Physical Education and Recreation. He was named chairman of the Department in 1985. He was named acting dean of the School of Education in 1992 while continuing to serve as chairman of HPER. One year later, he was appointed Dean of the School of Education.
Dr. Bryant has been very active in state organizations. He served as chairman of the Governor's Council on Fitness. He served for 12 years as the editor of the journal published by the Kansas Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance. He is the former president of that statewide organization. He also served as chairman of the Sunflower State Games.
Dr. Bryant earned a bachelor's degree from Drury College in Springfield, Mo., a master's degree from Pittsburg State and an Ed.D. from the University of Arkansas. Prior to joining the PSU faculty in 1970, Dr. Bryant taught and coached at Bronaugh, Mo. High School, Pittsburg High School and Wayne State College in Nebraska.
He and his wife, Koeta, a teacher at Pittsburg High School, live in the president's home on the PSU campus.
*Prepared by the Office of Public Relations
PSU Vision Statement
Pittsburg State University embraces an inclusive vision for the future that involves all constituents and their welfare. The university strives for excellence in all of its endeavors as it serves Kansas and the nation. Through the first one hundred years of its existence, the university has seen its values become a part of its graduates who have gone throughout the world to make their own contributions to the betterment of humankind. The university takes special pride in honoring those who have served their country to defend freedom here and abroad. The university vision for the future includes the three-fold definition of a university that values teaching and learning, discovery and engagement.
In teaching and learning, the university attempts to attract highly qualified members of the faculty and staff to serve the students in the best possible way. The university expects to enroll qualified students from Kansas, the United States, and the world and provide them with valid academic programs and student life experiences that will prepare them for productive lives and careers. The university offers a wide range of baccalaureate degree programs, selected master's degree programs, specialist degree programs, and aspires in time to offer selected doctoral programs in areas of particular strength. The university pledges to provide outstanding facilities for teaching and learning that includes a modern library, the latest in laboratory equipment, and a viable and supportive information system. The university further pledges to maintain a pleasing campus and the finest of student life facilities. The university accepts its accountability to all constituents through external peer review and internally through the development of a culture of assessment that validates all student academic learning, makes adjustments through analysis of the assessment program, and incorporates all recommendations into its strategic planning process.
The university believes that teaching and learning must include not what is known but also knowledge at the edges of discovery. The university supports faculty development through attendance at learned and professional meetings, by providing excellent research support facilities and equipment, and by offering a system of sabbatical leaves, special academic leaves, and financial support. The university also pledges to each student that the element of the discovery of new knowledge will become a part of the curriculum and programs of study to create an environment of learning that consists of a synthesis of the known but also the excitement of discovering the unknown.
The university senses a deep commitment to engage the local community and region, the state, and the nation through public service. The university has specialized centers and highly skilled people who cooperate in creating a progressive and productive society that fosters economic development, environmental awareness, humane services, health care, intellectual stimulation through better schools, and the maintenance of helping organizations needed in modern society.
University Mission Statement
Pittsburg State University, a comprehensive regional university, provides undergraduate and graduate programs and services to the people of southeast Kansas, but also to others who seek the benefits offered. This is accomplished by the unique combination of academic programs in the four colleges of the University: Arts and Sciences, Business, Education, and Technology. The university is equally committed to fulfilling its statewide mission in technology and economic development by facilitating partnerships with secondary and post secondary educational institutions, businesses and industries.
The university supports an organizational and interpersonal structure that actively encourages individuals to achieve their potential. The university provides programs and services that create opportunities for students and other individuals to develop intellectually, ethically, aesthetically, emotionally, socially and physically. The university provides intellectual leadership and multicultural experiences that contribute to the preservation of the heritage of the region and the enhancement of its inhabitants. Finally, the university recognizes the world as interdependent and, thus, seeks to promote a broad and interactive international perspective.
The university fulfills the traditional academic missions of teaching, scholarship and service. Excellence in teaching is the primary focus of the university. The university recognizes that active scholarship and creativity add vitality to teaching, expand and refine the knowledge base and are instrumental to the professional development of the faculty and staff. Programs of professional and community service promote and strengthen university endeavors. Pittsburg State University fosters a campus culture of assessment and accountability that supports strategic planning and the continuous improvement of its academic programs and administrative processes.