It’s midnight in Kansas and at least those students residing in Kansas may be turning in for the night, but on the other side of the world, students from other universities, businesses and military bases may be logging on for afternoon classes. Because Fort Hays State University is open around the clock, 24 X 7, as well as around the globe, students in different time zones and different cultures study together.

The Office of Strategic Partnerships (renamed Global Partnerships in 2017) was established in 2004 to facilitate educational partnerships to make this type of study possible. These global strategic partnerships have become increasingly important in defining FHSU’s mission as a “regional university with a global outlook” and its brand of “Forward thinking. World ready.” Such partnerships and outreach programs must be of mutual benefit to both institutions or organizations and must follow proper procedures to insure quality of academic program activities, while also protecting the integrity of the university and its academic reputation.
The mission of the Office of Global Partnerships is to identify, negotiate, establish, contract, and assist in maintaining educational and business relationships or partnerships which will generate student credit hours and non-credit opportunities for FHSU’s academic and student affairs units. These opportunities extend the reach of FHSU for undergraduate and graduate education.

 The Office of Global Partnerships’ primary focus, due to the size of the initiatives, is the academic and operations of FHSU’s large dual-degree programs in mainland China: Sias International University and Shenyang Normal University. Yet, the Office also investigates new partnerships of various types. These opportunities come to the University unsolicited or through contacts made by faculty and administrators or through strategic identification of areas of the world to serve. If you are interested in discussing a partnership with FHSU, please contact Cindy Elliott, Assistant Vice President for Global Partnerships, at celliott@fhsu.edu