Hesston ? It seems as if everyone in the higher education community is trying to figure out what jobs Kansas will need in 10 years.

Aviation mechanics in Wichita were a hot topic, but so were teachers and auto mechanics.

In fact, Robert Edleston, president of the Kansas Association of Technical Schools and Colleges, said 80 percent of those jobs will require more than a high school diploma, but less than a four-year degree.

But Kansas University Chancellor Robert Hemenway and Kansas State University President Jon Wefald reminded their colleagues that just as important as those jobs are the kinds of jobs that come with a degree in engineering or medicine – both human and veterinary.

Wefald and Hemenway said that in order for the state to determine what kinds of jobs the state would need, it needed to conduct a comprehensive analysis. Wefald cited the Kansas City area’s “Time to Get it Right” report as an example of the right way to do that.

That report recommended closer ties between the medical center and Kansas City-area hospitals as well as a focus on the life sciences and animal health.

“That was based on the future needs of the whole work force, on both sides of the state line,” Wefald said. “KU and K-State are moving to help the Kansas City area meet its goals over the next 10 and 20 years.”

Regents Chairwoman Christine Downey-Schmidt said that type of data backed with action was the type of program that could benefit the state of Kansas as a whole.