Year: 2024

National Pan-Hellenic Council is hosting Denim Day at Wichita State Wednesday, April 24. The day is all about supporting survivors of sexual assault and standing up against sexual violence.

To participate, all you have to do is wear denim and share a photo on social media using the hashtags #Wichitastatenphc and #DenimDay. By doing so, you’re helping raise awareness and showing your support for survivors.

Visit the Ulrich Museum starting at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, April 25 for an evening with Marianne Marti, founding partner of Russell-Marti Conservation Services, in connection with Fully Dimensional: Artists of the Outdoor Sculpture Collection.

Marti is a sculpture conservator who specializes in working with bronze, stone, terracotta, plaster and wood, with an expertise in outdoor public art. For more than 25 years, she has performed biannual maintenance treatments and major conservation work on sculptures at WSU, and she will speak about her experiences, including the conservation of the Ulrich’s Joan Miró mosaic (2011-2017).

Reception at 5:30 p.m. is in the upstairs Ulrich Gallery lobby, with the program following at 6 p.m. in 210 McKnight Art Center. Everyone is welcome to attend this free talk.

The Building a Better Business Conference from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday, May 2 at the Hughes Metropolitan Complex will be filled with actionable strategies, insights and networking opportunities, all aimed at propelling existing businesses forward.

Join the conference for:

• Opening with Wayne Bell, district director at U.S. Small Business Administration
• Keynote by Janelle King of the Workroom & Garages
• Closing comments from Gene Camarena of La Raza Pizza, Inc.
• Informative workshops on
  • AI for small businesses
  • Cybersecurity obtaining financing
  • Improving your online presence
  • Tax and bookkeeping tips
  • Everything Human Resources
  • Marketing plans and much more

The conference is co-hosted by the Kansas Small Business Development Center at Wichita State and SCORE Great Wichita as part of a full day celebration of National Small Business Week. Registration is $25 Sponsorships are still available.

Current Wichita State freshman and member of the women’s Shocker Bowling team, Sara Duque, took home the Intercollegiate Singles Championship national title last weekend in Louisville, Kentucky. The TV broadcast of her show will air at 6 p.m. Tuesday, April 23 on CBS Sports. Come celebrate Sara at a watch party in the Shocker Sports Grill & Lanes during the televised show.

The women’s bowling team also took home a national title in the Intercollegiate Teams Championship last weekend. The televised show will air at 6 p.m. Tuesday, May 7 on CBS Sports and the campus community is also invited to a watch party at the Shocker Sports Grill & Lanes to celebrate with the student athletes.

Wichita State’s Information Technology Services (ITS) has recently deployed Jamf Connect for WSU Mac devices.

By utilizing this software, Mac users will have the following benefits:

• After logging into Jamf Connect, it will verify that your login password is current. If not, it will ask to sync/update your password.
• Users will have access to a live countdown on the number of days remaining before their myWSU password expires.

Visit the ITS Resources website (wichita.edu/jamfconnect) for more information.

Questions: Contact ITS Help Desk at 316-978-4357, option one or helpdesk@wichita.edu.

Three Wichita State University students have secured the prestigious Graduate Research Fellowship from the National Science Foundation — an award worth $159,000 over three years.  

The students — Anthony Ciletti, a senior in mechanical engineering; Reilly Jensen, who is pursuing a master’s degree in biomedical engineering; and Max Proctor, a second-year master’s student studying biological sciences — were chosen among more than 12,000 students nationwide who applied for the fellowship.  

Wichita State University has offered the traditional educational pathways for over 125 years, typically ending at the point of graduation, but the need for learning continues throughout a person’s lifetime.

In a rapidly changing world, continuing education has never been more important. More and more jobs require skill-based certification of learning, which includes the attainment of validated durable and technical skills. To meet those needs, WSU was the first in Kansas to create badge courses for non-degree seeking students in 2015, after approval from the Kansas Board of Regents.

Financial Operations will be closed starting at 1:30 p.m. Friday, April 26 and will reopen during normal business hours Monday, April 29.

The search for the next vice president of finance and administration position has started, and a search committee has been assembled with representatives from university stakeholders.

The search committee members:

Search chair:

• Zach Gearhart, chief of staff and executive director of government relations

Faculty senate:

• Adam Lynch, associate teaching professor of applied engineering

Staff senate:

• Jacob Mendez, interim assistant dean for student success in the College of Engineering

Student representation:

• Matthew Phan, student body vice president

Industry and Defense Programs:

• David Miller, associate vice president for finance and operations

Facilities Services:

• Eason Bryer, executive director

Information Technology Services:

• Ken Harmon, chief information officer

President’s Executive Team:

• Andy Schlapp, vice president of strategy and government relations
• Vicki Whisenhant, chief human resources officer

Finance and Administration:

• Lisa Pappas, executive assistant to the finance and administration divisional officer, providing administrative support to the committee

Isaacson, Miller (IM), an executive search firm, has been engaged to assist WSU with the search. Jackie Mildner, partner with IM who joined in 2005 and helped presidential searches for a number of universities, will lead the IM team.

Timeline of upcoming search milestones:

• Scoping sessions with stakeholders to inform position profile will be held throughout April
• The position profile will be finalized by the end of April
• Semi-finalist interviews will start in early June
• Finalist interviews, including campus visits and public forums, will be held mid to late June
• Final selection is planned in July

The search for Wichita State’s new executive vice president and provost position is under way. A search committee with shared governance representation from Academic Affairs and other constituencies has been formed.

The search committee members:

Search chair:

• Shelly Coleman-Martins, vice president of strategic communications and marketing

Deans:

• Dr. Jennifer Friend, dean, College of Applied Studies
• Dr. Larisa Genin, dean, Barton School of Business

Faculty Senate:

• Jolynn Dowling, president, Faculty Senate, associate educator in the School of Nursing
• Dr. Mathew Muether, president-elect, Faculty Senate, associate professor of physics

Faculty representation:

• Shirlene Small, senior educator of sociology
• Timothy Shade, director of the School of Music
• Patricia Bradley, associate educator in the Barton School of Business

Staff Senate:

• Kennedy Rogers, president, Staff Senate, director of ShockerStrengths
• Krissy Archambeau, director of operations and processing in Admissions

Student representation:

• Kylee Hower, student body president
• John Kirk, president of the Graduate Student Council

Provost Office:

• Dr. Ashlie Jack, senior associate vice president of Institutional Effectiveness and Strategic Enrollment Management

WSU Tech:

• Dr. Sheree Utash, president, WSU Tech and vice president of workforce development for WSU

President’s Executive Team:

• Marché Fleming-Randle, vice president for military and veterans affairs, chief diversity officer
• John Tomblin, senior vice president for Industry Defense Programs and executive director of NIAR

Isaacson, Miller (IM), an executive search firm, has been engaged to assist WSU with the search. Robin Dougherty, managing associate who joined IM in 2018 with almost 25 years of experience in higher education, will lead the IM team.

The search committee will hold its kick-off meeting at a later date, with President Rick Muma joining the meeting to give the committee its charge.

Dougherty and the IM team will meet with the search committee via Zoom to discuss various aspects of the search and search process.

IM will conduct its work and present candidates for the search committee to review in early September. The goal is for the new executive vice president and provost to be named in November, with a starting date no later than January 2025.