KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Former Pittsburg State University president Steve Scott was recently named chairman of the University of Kansas Cancer Center’s Community Advisory Board.
Scott was originally appointed to the board in 2020 while he was still serving at PSU.
In 2007, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. After his surgery to remove the cancer and his subsequent recovery, he often found himself sought out by colleagues and acquaintances who had also been diagnosed with various forms of cancer to give insight and advice.
In 2019, he shared his cancer story at an event hosted by the University of Kansas Cancer Center at Ascension Via Christi in Pittsburg.
“They wanted someone to come and talk about their experience, what it was like post-treatment, to encourage people to do preventative care and testing, to create awareness,” Scott said in 2020.
Shortly after the event, Scott was invited to join the Center’s Community Advisory Board.
A key pillar in the University of Kansas Cancer Center’s
designation by the National Cancer Institute is direct engagement with communities in their catchment area. To that end, the Community Advisory Board was established to help facilitate a high level of communication between community members, organizations and cancer center leadership.
Board members represent the voice of the communities served and are partners in the cancer center's quest to conquer all cancers.
The board is comprised of representatives from the diverse geographic areas, ethnicities and lifestyles of Kansas and western Missouri. It informs the University of Kansas Cancer Center’s strategic plan, research priorities, outreach efforts, education, community engagement and shared understanding of community priorities and concerns.
Some of the responsibilities of the Community Advisory Board include: sharing and reviewing community priorities and concerns, updating the Cancer Center on current initiatives within population-specific and network boards, assisting with development of the Cancer Center’s strategic plan, helping evaluate outreach efforts, assisting with understanding catchment area disparities, and identifying and supporting the Cancer Center’s efforts to engage populations in the catchment area.
