Emporia State Provost Brent Thomas ate pizza and conversed with students last Thursday in the Memorial Union as part of the “Pizza with the Provost” event put on by the Associated Student Government (ASG). 

Hailey Kisner, ASG vice president and senior psychology major said it was “cool” to have Thomas available to come meet with students despite his busy schedule. 

Kisner and Bella Price, senior history and communication major and ASG president said in an interview they learned more about Thomas including that he liked to work on cars as well as stories about his family. 

Students trickled through to get free pizza throughout the two hours Thomas was there. Most of the conversations were short and consisted mainly of the students’ grade and major with a “fantastic” from Thomas in response

Deborah Vasquez, third year art major, said the event was a good gesture but had no idea it was happening so she had no time to “prep” for conversation. 

“I feel like, I think it’s very kind that he has given time out of his day to be able to be here and talk with students and ask about their majors,” Vasquez said. “I didn’t know this was happening, I kind of just ended up here.” 

Vasquez also said that she really didn’t feel like she got to know Thomas and recounted in an interview what it was like to learn about the beginning of the restructuring, when 33 professors were fired, a topic of conversation she didn’t know she should prepare to have with him Thursday. 

“It was a little like, obviously, a lot of our professors that we love and care about and are literally human beings, you know, kind of (got) the short end of the stick and they just felt like there was nothing we could do about it. We were just watching,” Vasquez said. 

Some students did bring up the restructuring. Thomas explained to one student how the process was occurring and the ideal timeline for the completion of the restructuring. 

“We’ve set a goal to try and get this done by mid-April-ish, that’s our goal,” Thomas said. “Lots of things can happen between now and then, but that’s our goal.”

Thomas also said they have a “timetable of feedback processes” and don’t want to stretch the process out too long so people don’t worry. 

On Feb. 22, Thomas sent an email out to campus talking about the reorganization. 

“The reasons for this reorganization are to provide depth of leadership and succession planning in all areas, and to bring programs and faculty into intuitive groupings that will foster collaboration, reduce redundancies, and help prioritize reinvestments and developments going forward,” Thomas said in the email. 

Thomas also included a schedule for the reorganization. Upcoming dates included March 7: “Campus-Wide Academic Reorganization Model Proposed.” The schedule also included a “Reorganization Lunch & Learn for All Students” March 8. This event will be a free lunch in the Skyline Room where students can learn about the reorganization plans and give feedback via QR code. 

Further, the email said the final model will be complete and announced in “late March/ early April” with the model being presented to the Kansas Board of Regents April 19.