Rent-to-own News - High Touch establishes scholarship fund

A former Wichita State University graduate (’72, ’79) and President/CEO of High Touch, Inc., Wayne Chambers, along with other leadership team members hosted a reception to honor Wichita State University junior Derek Meyer as the first recipient of the newly-established High Touch Scholarship. The reception was attended by Meyer’s parents, High Touch employees, faculty from W. Frank Barton School of Business, WSU Alumni Foundation and WuShock.

“We thought that one way to give back to Wichita State for all the good alumni employees was to create a scholarship,” Chambers said. “We wanted to make it a big deal.”

A graduate of East High School, Meyer is studying to receive bachelor’s degree in Management Information Systems and Marketing with minors in Decision Sciences and Management. It was in high school where he took two MIS classes that were taught by Wichita State professors.
Because of those instructors, their classes and the quality of the W. Frank Barton School of Business, “It made sense for me to go into that as my major.”

Meyer was selected from a pool of candidates and was invited to return along with three other candidates to give a presentation, which was followed by an interview.

“Each finalist was unique,” Chambers said. “In our opinion, Derek was able to marry the aspects of business and management information systems in a way that was easy for all to understand. That’s what impressed us.”

"It's humbling to have had this scholarship given to me. High Touch has chosen to invest in my academics now and my future,” Meyer said. “I feel like this scholarship is going to push me to perform better, because it seems like the whole company is behind me and believes in what I’m doing."

The award is given to a junior or senior majoring in Management Information Systems.

“High Touch sees the partnership between the MIS discipline and High Touch to be a good fit to help the Wichita community and students attending WSU,” Chambers said. “Historically Wichita has not been seen as a significant player in the technology industry and the establishment of this scholarship demonstrates that technology is in fact an important factor in Wichita’s future and provides an option for WSU students and graduates to have an opportunity to secure a meaningful job in technology in the Wichita area.”

Chambers established the fund to recognize co-founders and former WSU graduates, Dave Glover (’75), vice president of software technology, and Mark Lenz (’78), vice president of systems support, as well as other High Touch employees who have graduated from WSU and have been instrumental in the company’s success.

High Touch, Inc. is an employee-owned company that provides technology solutions to small and mid-size businesses. Based in Wichita, Kan., High Touch serves business clients with hardware and software services, Web site and Internet services, video surveillance and network security solutions. High Touch has customers in 50 states and the District of Columbia as well as six countries worldwide. For more High Touch information, visit www.hightouchinc.com.