Our Team

• laurenracki@ksu.edu
• 913-307-7340

Lauren Racki, MS.Ed, is a strategic program and events leader with more than 15 years of experience advancing organizational goals across nonprofits, small business development, higher education and professional and continuing education. With a master's degree in adult learning and leadership, she brings a sophisticated understanding of how to design, scale and execute initiatives that strengthen stakeholder engagement and deliver measurable impact. 

Racki's leadership spans program development, speaker engagement and management, budget management and vendor management, supported by deep expertise in project oversight, team alignment, client partnership and innovative problem‑solving. She has directed a broad portfolio of high‑visibility events, including tournaments, fundraising galas, industry conferences, professional workshops and customized training programs. 

Within her portfolio of work she created the Animal Health Regulatory Affairs Conference, supported the Midwest Commercial Vehicle Safety Summit and managed the Kansas State University Personal Financial Planning Summit. Her experience includes grant‑funded initiatives, industry sponsorship development and registration‑driven programming that consistently delivers value and elevates organizational reputation.

• csplichal@ksu.edu

Christine Splichal serves as director of marketing communications for K-State Olathe, where she plays a key role in advancing Professional and Continuing Education (PCE) programs and initiatives. With more than 30 years of experience in marketing, communications, event management and stakeholder engagement, her background spans private industry, K–12 education, consulting agencies, state and federal government, and higher education. Splichal leads the marketing and communications team that supports PCE programs from strategic planning and proposal development through successful execution and evaluation. Throughout her career, she has planned and managed a wide range of educational, professional development, emergency preparedness, strategic planning, marketing, and public engagement initiatives. Her expertise lies in developing integrated marketing strategies, building strong partnerships and delivering programs that connect organizations with their target audiences and achieve measurable results.

• dibartel@ksu.edu

Dianna Bartel is an educator, facilitator and professional development professional with extensive experience designing and delivering programs for adult learners. She holds a Master of Science in Adult and Continuing Education and has worked with nonprofit organizations, educational institutions and community partners to create engaging learning experiences that support personal and professional growth. Her expertise includes curriculum development, workshop facilitation, leadership development, learner engagement and experiential learning. She has developed partnerships with community and academic institutions and led programs focused on leadership, communication, workplace effectiveness and emotional intelligence. Her work emphasizes participant-centered learning, collaboration and measurable outcomes that help individuals build skills and confidence while strengthening organizations and communities.

Bartel is committed to expanding access to meaningful educational opportunities and creating programs that foster learning, engagement and positive community impact.

• mehirtreiter@ksu.edu

Mary Hirtreiter serves as the communications and marketing specialist for K-State Olathe, where she helps advance the campus' mission through strategic communications, content development and audience engagement. With more than five years of experience in communications, marketing and social media, her background spans private industry and higher education. She develops and executes integrated communication strategies that support K-State Olathe's academic programs, professional education initiatives and institutional priorities. Through news releases, website and blog content, email marketing, social media and digital storytelling, she works to connect audiences with opportunities, resources and programs that drive growth. By combining strategic storytelling with data-informed marketing, she develops communications that engage audiences, drive enrollment, increase participation and strengthen connections.

• kate64@ksu.edu

Kate Johnson serves as the noncredit CRM Specialist for K-State Olathe. In this role, she supports professional and continuing education (PCE) programs through data management and marketing infrastructure. Leveraging HubSpot, Johnson develops email templates and sending workflows, coordinates landing page structure and site mapping, and generates reports to track event stats that keep the team informed for ongoing events.    

Her work, while primarily behind-the-scenes, includes managing learner records, creating frameworks for marketing emails, landing pages and forms and building the custom registration structures needed for noncredit programs and conferencing events. As the PCE ecosystem has grown, so has her role. She now helps coordinate data and functionality across an expanding set of integrated platforms and tools. Her strengths include system organization, process design and translating event goals into functional CRM solutions.

• almccarter@ksu.edu

• brooke11@ksu.edu

Brooke Speake is a professional and continuing education specialist at K-State Olathe, where she develops and manages conferences, training programs and industry events focused on transportation and logistics. With more than a decade of experience in event planning and hospitality, she brings expertise in program development, sales, catering operations, logistics and event execution.  

As the primary point of contact for clients and stakeholders, Speake oversees every stage of event planning—from registration and vendor coordination to speaker management, sponsorships, budgeting and timeline execution. Known for her strong organizational skills, strategic mindset and attention to detail, she is passionate about creating seamless, engaging experiences that deliver value and exceed expectations. Her strengths include relationship building, clear communication, operational efficiency and exceptional customer service.

• gtammen@ksu.edu

Greg Tammen serves as the communications manager for K-State Olathe. As part of this role, he supports the campus' professional and continuing education (PCE) programs and activities through website development and messaging. He has more than 20 years of experience in web development, 13 of which have been on K-State's content management system (CMS) platform. As such, he has elevated permissions from most authorized CMS users, giving him access to HTML code, sites and pages across the entire university website and more. This access also helps blend landing pages and elements for PCE events built on the HubSpot platform into webpages on the K-State CMS where possible and ensure pages on both platforms are ADA Title II-compliant. Tammen's background includes newspaper and magazine journalism, communicating scientific research to the public, crisis communications and media training. He excels in translating often complex information into understandable, digestible materials and websites.

• jaclyn14@ksu.edu

Jaclyn Wolf Serves as a professional development specialist on the Professional and Continuing Education Team. With more than 12 years of experience in higher education and 16 years in event planning, she specializes in comprehensive program development. She excels at bridging the gap between academia and industry, with a strong emphasis on advancing workforce initiatives within the Advanced Manufacturing and Transportation sectors. 

Throughout her career, she has successfully designed educational programs, training initiatives and large-scale conferences that drive career development and foster strategic partnerships. By combining a deep understanding of the higher education landscape with extensive event execution expertise, she creates engaging experiences and pathways that help build and support a highly skilled, future-ready technical workforce.