Chancellor visits with House, Senate to discuss how KU drives state economy

TOPEKA – The University of Kansas continues to be an economic development engine and talent magnet for the state of Kansas, said Chancellor Douglas A. Girod in pair of presentations to Kansas legislators today.

The Chancellor visited with both the Senate Ways and Means Committee and the House Appropriations Committee to discuss how KU drives economic growth and provides crucial healthcare access to citizens in every Kansas county. In each presentation, he discussed how KU is fulfilling its mission of education, service and research – and in doing so has an $8 billion net economic impact on the state of Kansas.

In his discussion with the House committee, the Chancellor also provided an update on specific initiatives the Legislature has funded with one-time appropriations, including the KU Cancer Center, the Wichita Biomedical Campus and the Gateway District, as well as enhancements to the university’s efforts in cybersecurity, deferred maintenance and student recruitment.

While expressing his appreciation for these one-time investments, the Chancellor reminded the committee that base funding (i.e. ongoing funding) for higher education from the Legislature has remained flat in recent years, making it difficult for universities to fund core educational operations in the face of inflation and infrastructure needs.

The Chancellor closed each presentation by encouraging lawmakers to consider additional base funding for KU, as well as funds for employee merit raises and the Kansas Medical Student Loan Program.

You can view the chancellor's presentation materials for each committee below.

Senate Ways and Means Committee
Video 
PowerPoint

House Appropriations Committee
Video
PowerPoint