photo by: Chad Lawhorn/Journal-World

The Jayhawk Welcome Center, located on the north end of Jayhawk Boulevard, is pictured on Feb. 15, 2023.

The U.S. secretary of education will be on the University of Kansas campus on Tuesday to highlight a host of learning initiatives.

Secretary Miguel Cardona will give public remarks at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday at the Jayhawk Welcome Center on the Lawrence campus.

Cardona is expected to talk about initiatives to accelerate student learning, and how communities, families and schools can play a part in the process. Those initiatives include teacher preparation programs and how K-12 schools and universities can partner on projects.

In addition to his remarks at the Welcome Center, which is the new facility connected to the KU Alumni Center on the northern end of Jayhawk Boulevard, Cardona will have small-group meetings with various KU students, as well as administrators and researchers from the School of Education & Human Sciences, the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences and other KU units involved in teaching and student success.

“We are excited to welcome Secretary Cardona to KU,” said Chancellor Douglas Girod, who will introduce the secretary to the audience at Tuesday’s event. “KU strives to provide a world-class education for students, and we welcome this opportunity to highlight the opportunities and challenges associated with student learning in a rapidly changing world.”

Cardona is making KU his first stop on a new bus tour that also will include stops in Missouri, Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota.