K-State Office of Student Life

Worried about who will assist your student after they leave home for college? K-State’s Office of Student Life provides a personal K-State touch to ensure your student’s mental and physical safety on campus for a successful and memorable college experience.

K-State’s Office of Student Life serves as an advocate for every individual student on the Manhattan campus. Their goal is to provide a variety of services to students when unexpected problems arise, to problem-solve alongside the student, and help students accomplish success in college.

Even though they are a small office, they are mighty in the kind of help they can provide students. Parents are welcome and encouraged to contact the office with any concern regarding their K-State student.

“We get many calls from parents—anything from asking general information kinds of questions, clear up to parents who are very concerned about their student,” said Heather Reed, Assistance Dean of Student Life. With the information provided by the parent, the office is able to follow-up with students and provide problem-solving assistance specific to the students’ needs.”

Most issues seen by the office fall into two categories: academic and personal. When students are struggling academically and seek help, the office is able to provide personalized assistance for each individual case. Whether it is through tutors, study groups, or providing a support system when faculty is involved, the office is dedicated to exploring many avenues to ensure positive end results.

The other category is personal issues—health related problems, mental health related problems, relationships, homesickness or the transition into college. The office works closely with other services provided on campus to help where it’s needed in each student’s life.

Examples of assistance may include but are not limited to:

• Referral for academic and personal problems
• Response to racial, ethic, sexual harassment
• Sexual violence reporting
• Crisis outreach
• Problem-solving
• Transition to college
• Grade grievance process
• Religious outreach
• Judicial concerns
• Absence from class

The best way for parents to get in touch with the office is to call or e-mail. If you aren’t sure which office on campus to call, the Office of Student Life is always a good place to start. They will provide contact information for the correct office or contact the office, working alongside the parents and students.
“K-State is known for its personal touch and the Office of Student Life is absolutely that personal touch in action,” Reed said.

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Other Resources

Campus Safety
Parents can rest assured that every precaution is taken by K-State to provide a safe campus for their students. Crime statistics compiled annually by the K-State Office of Student Life show K-State is among the safest universities in the Big 12. K-State is safe because faculty, students, and staff approach campus safety as a shared responsibility.

The campus community has adopted the Principles of Community, which address the type of welcoming, safe, and inclusive community K-State strives to be. Together we make K-State what it is: a safe, supportive, and caring community where the well-being of each of us is the responsibility of all of us.

Overview of security measures on campus

A card swipe process in the residence halls
Only residents of each hall have access to locked doors. Starting in fall 2007 residents must sign in and show their IDs when returning after 9 p.m.

Video surveillance
Cameras are placed in strategic locations on campus, including some buildings and parking lots.

Emergency phones
Blue light emergency phones are located in multiple locations across campus.

A professional police department
A staff of 23 commissioned campus police officers and nine noncommissioned security officers cover the campus 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Contact them at 785-532-6412.

Wildcat Walk safety escorts
If your student is ever uncomfortable walking on campus alone, they can dial 395-SAFE (395-7233) or push one of the blue light emergency buttons found throughout the K-State campus, and an escort will meet them and walk them to another on-campus destination or up to two blocks off-campus.

If they are driving to campus they can arrange to be met in a parking lot and be escorted to the residence halls or another location. This service operates between dusk and dawn. The Wildcat Walk is a service provided by the K-State Police Department. Experienced, trained residential life staff and trained professionals provide personal and crisis assistance in on-campus housing.

Multiple campus notification methods
The methods include Reverse 911 (which dials hundreds of offices and residence hall front-desk phones in a 10-minute period), e-mail, notices on K-State’s website, and notices to radio and television news media.

Text messaging to cell phones became available this year. In the event of an emergency, campus authorities are able to dispatch alerts and information directly to students through text messages to keep students, faculty, and staff updated during crisis situations.

Emergency text messages from K-State are sent using Leader Alert. Students can sign up by signing onto the eProfile system at https://eid.k-state.edu, and clicking the “Manage your emergency contact settings” link.

Other emergency notification services include e-mail updates and postings on the K-State homepage to keep students, faculty and parents notified during crisis situations.

What can students do when they see unusual, threatening, or dangerous behavior?

Tell your student that safety concerns should always be reported.

Here’s where to start:

Contact the K-State police at 785-532-6412, or 911 in the case of an emergency. Confidential reports can be made through the Silent Witness program.

Contact the Office of Student Life at 785-532-6432. This is the primary office where students can report suspicious or threatening behavior, or concerns about fellow students.

Contact any of the 400 SafeZone allies—faculty, staff, and students—who are trained to help refer and find resources for any individual who has concerns about threats, violence, hateful acts, harassment, or discrimination, or who needs information about depression, suicide, assault, or relational difficulties. Look for the SafeZone symbol in offices, or check out the webpage to find locations of SafeZone allies.

Rachel Dorsey
New Student Services Intern
rdors@k-state.edu