Sky’s The Limit: New Salina College Partnership

One of the top unmanned aircraft systems programs in the country is partnering with one of the best emergency management programs in the country to offer students a unique opportunity in a growing new industry.

The Presidents of Kansas State University Polytechnic and Kansas Wesleyan University signed an agreement Monday afternoon on the Salina campus of KSU.

The two universities are teaming up to cross-educated students studying emergency management, and students studying unmanned aircraft systems, or UAS. Students majoring in UAS at K-State will have the opportunity to earn a minor in emergency management from KWU, and students majoring in emergency management at KWU will have the opportunity to earn a minor in UAS from K-State.

Dr. Verna Fitzsimmons, the President of Kansas State University Polytechnic said that “it’s an unprecedented opportunity for students in Salina to participate in a field of study that exists no where else in the world.”

Matt Thompson, President of Kansas Wesleyan University, said that graduates will head out into the world with unique cross over training. Thompson added that the partnership of a private school and a public school is a great thing. “With shrinking funds in education, collaborations like this are key,” he said.

Both fields of study are experiencing rapid growth, and compliment one another. Among other uses, the emerging UAS technology is becoming a useful tool during disasters.

KSU has one of the top two UAS programs in the country, while KWU has one of the top twenty emergency management programs in the country.

The new partnership between the two schools is being hailed as the first of its kind in the country.

(click photos to enlarge)