Year: 2024

Join Zach Gearhart, chief of staff and executive director of government relations, for updates on the Kansas legislature relevant to Wichita State. The next meeting is scheduled for 1 p.m. Monday, Feb. 26 in 101 Morrison Hall.

The meeting is open to all faculty, staff and students and is held every other week in Morrison Hall following each legislative session.

WSU Hope Services asks faculty to encourage students to complete the confidential National College Health Assessment (NCHA) survey sent to their WSU email addresses. Experiences reported by students will help Hope Services capture a snapshot of health and mental wellness on campus and will inform future wellness programs and services at WSU.

Students can enter a drawing to win a grand prize of either a red parking spot for an entire semester or an Amazon gift card worth $250, among other prizes like free massages and gift cards to the Shocker Store.

For questions about the survey, contact Marci Young, director of HOPE Services, at 316-978-4792 or marci.young@wichita.edu.

Ad Astra Kansas Foundation (AAKF) presented information on space education in Kansas at a booth in the Kansas State Capitol Rotunda Feb. 7, and Interstellar Seminar, a course at Wichita State, was featured in the presentation as the first Interstellar University course.

Interstellar Seminar is a non-majors, non-technical course, open for free to the public, which remotely brings to campus world-renown speakers on diverse topics in space science and humanities related to interstellar travel. Learn more through Wichita Space Initiative.

Cosmosphere is the home of AAKF, which brings space science education to the community through events such as their annual Galaxy Forum. One initiative is Interstellar University, a collaboration with Space Age Publishing.

The Barton School of Business has named its two recipients of the 2024 Professor Fran Jabara Scholarship in Entrepreneurship. This year’s winners are Annika Lindeman from Eisenhower High School in Goddard, Kansas, and Abby Rexford from West Jessamine High School in Wilmore, Kentucky. They will each receive more than $32,700 spread over four years to attend WSU and major in entrepreneurship.

“The Barton School’s commitment to entrepreneurship goes beyond just lessons in the classroom,” said Dr. Larisa Genin, dean of the Barton School of Business. “These scholarships are a testament to remaining one of the premier institutions for entrepreneurship in the country. I’m excited to welcome Annika and Abby to the Barton family.”

The Jabara Scholarship is one of the largest of its kind nationally for future entrepreneurs. To qualify, a student must write an essay and have achieved at least a 24 score on their ACT, a 3.5 high school GPA and declare entrepreneurship as their major. The scholarship is named after the late Fran Jabara, who was a WSU faculty member for 40 years and founded the Center for Entrepreneurship at WSU. Along with serving as the dean of the College of Business Administration, Jabara received the Faculty Lifetime Achievement Award in 2001 and the President’s Medal in 2002.

If the service is needed, for a student sign language user, for a course required event/meeting:

• Fill out an Interpreter Request Form at least four days in advance.
• Your department will not be invoiced for the service.

If the service is needed, for a student sign language user, for a non-course required event/meeting:

• Fill out an Interpreter Request Form at least four days in advance or contact a local agency directly.
• Your department will be invoiced for the service.

If the service is needed for a community member sign language user/parent:

• Fill out an Interpreter Request Form at least four days in advance or contact a local agency directly.
• Your department will be invoiced for the service.

If the service is needed for a WSU employee sign language user:

• Contact Human Resources

O.S.A.T. rates:

• Monday-Friday (8 a.m.-5 p.m.): $57/hour (two hour minimum)
• Evenings and weekends: $62/hour (two hour minimum)

Local interpreting agency:

Sign Language Interpreting Services (SLIS): requestaslinterpreters@gmail.com

For questions, reach out to Kelly Rawlings, senior sign language interpreter, at kelly.rawlings@wichita.edu or call 316-978-6976

Join the Graduate School and Kendra Christman of BioKansas for a virtual professional development session from 2 to 3 p.m. Thursday, March 7 via Zoom.

Have a copy of your schedule and projects ready to learn about different ways to manage your time. BioKansas is teaching a lesson highlighting time management methods, strategies on how to prioritize tasks and how to set and meet professional goals.

This is a great opportunity not to just learn about the process, but also work on plans with peers and the speaker.

Learn more and find the Zoom link under “Featured Events.”

From 2:30 to 6 p.m. March 29 at the Hughes Metropolitan Complex, the University Police Department (UPD) will host Civilian Response to Active Shooter Events (CRASE) training and Stop the Bleed.

The training is free. During the three-part training, UPD will talk about past events and go over different ways to take an active role in your own safety. It will then go over various ways to “Stop the Bleed” to help not only yourself but others. Lastly it will do scenarios based on the core principals learned during the lecture portion.

For questions, reach out to the UPD at 316-978-3450 or email police.training@wichita.edu.

Conventional rockets will not take humans to the stars; interstellar travel requires advanced propulsion, from solar sails to antimatter drives. Les Johnson, NASA rocket scientist, will join Interstellar Seminar from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 28 in 104 Jabara Hall or online via Zoom.

Johnson is a leader in the Interstellar Research Group, a true futurist. In addition to being a physicist and mission scientist, Johnson writes popular books on interstellar travel and science fiction novels.

Opening day for the Shocker baseball is at 3 p.m. Friday, March 1 at home in Eck Stadium against Utah Tech.

There will be pizza for students in the new right field deck. Just like all baseball and softball games student admission is available at no additional charge with a Shocker ID. Outside food and drink is permitted on the new outfield deck.

Swing by the Rhatigan Student Center at noon Tuesday, Feb. 27 in 266 RSC, Pike Room to gather with other first-gen students and gab about life on and off campus.

The event hosted by SASE is meant to bring together first-gen students on their own time.