Year: 2024

Tuition Assistance applications for spring 2025 are now being accepted through the Online Application Form. The online application will be available through the end of the business day on Jan. 6, 2025, and will close at the end of this application period. Also, with the recent changes to the tuition assistance program, applications can now be submitted for both spring and summer 2025.

Due to the volume of applications received each semester, requests to submit late applications will be automatically denied. There will be no exceptions.

Questions may be directed to TuitionAssistance@wichita.edu.

Visit the Shocker Sports Grill & Lanes every Friday for a Friday Escape. Each week from noon to 2 p.m., enjoy a fun activity to start your weekend. Activities will vary each week. For Oct. 4, come sing your heart out with some karaoke.

Changes to the Tuition Assistance program have been approved to be effective beginning with spring 2025. Applications are now being accepted through the Online Application Form. Applications for the spring semester must be received by the end of the business day Jan. 6, 2025.

Several changes to the policies for both employee and spouse/dependent assistance have been implemented based on the input received from both the Staff Senate and Faculty Senate as well as feedback from the Campus Climate Survey. Highlights of these changes are:

• All .50 FTE and above benefit-eligible employees, including faculty, are eligible for employee tuition assistance
• All courses that are offered for credit by the university qualify for tuition assistance – including all undergraduate, graduate, badge and certificate programs
• Dependent and spouse tuition assistance is available for first undergraduate and/or first graduate degrees
• Applications may be submitted for the entire academic year (fall, summer, spring) at one time. For spring 2025, applicants will be able to submit for the remainder of the academic year (spring 2025 and/or summer 2025).
• Revised GPA requirements:
  • Employees must maintain an overall GPA of 2.0 for undergraduate programs or an overall GPA of 3.0 for graduate programs. Failure to meet this requirement will make the employee ineligible for tuition assistance until the employee’s overall GPA is greater than 2.0 for undergraduate programs or 3.0 for graduate programs.
  • The Spouse or Dependent Child must maintain an overall GPA of 2.0 as calculated at the end of the term. Failure to meet this requirement will make the spouse or dependent child ineligible for tuition assistance until their overall GPA is greater than 2.0.
• Graduate tuition assistance changes
  • Employees are limited to $5,250 in graduate tuition assistance per calendar year, instead of a per semester credit hour cap.
  • Dependents/spouses are limited to 50% of the cost of the resident graduate tuition up to a maximum of $5,250 in tuition assistance per calendar year.
  • Tuition assistance for graduate courses for an employee’s spouse and dependents shall be included in the employee’s gross income as wages and subject to income tax consistent with federal and state tax laws based on IRS guidelines. Employees are responsible for all tax consequences.

Full program details and more information can be found at wichita.edu/tuitionassistance. Questions may be directed to TuitionAssistance@wichita.edu.

The School of Music invites you to a captivating evening of music at “Illuminate” at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 8 in Miller Concert Hall. The special event will feature the Wichita Symphony Chorus, the WSO Chamber Orchestra and Wichita State’s Concert Chorale and Madrigal Singers.

The concert will highlight two modern masterpieces by renowned living composers, Jake Runestad and Elaine Hagenberg. Runestad’s “Into the Light” commemorates the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, challenging listeners to reflect on contemporary issues and how they can move beyond fear to a path of compassion. Hagenberg’s “Illuminare” explores a journey from darkness to light, ultimately restoring hope and illuminating the future.

This concert promises to be an inspiring and thought-provoking experience. Don’t miss the opportunity to witness the power of choral music that speaks to everyone’s shared humanity.

The F1RST GEN Coordinating Council (FGCC) at Wichita State is composed of Wichita State individuals who are involved in efforts to support first-generation (FGEN) students that:

• Create awareness related to the needs and success of first-generation students
• Encourage involvement and support of faculty and staff with first-generation students
• Review data and outcomes to make recommendations for systemic change that leads to better experiences and outcomes for first-generation students
• Promote a campus culture that contributes to the overall well being and persistence of first-generation students

An FGEN college student is a student whose parent(s) or legal guardian(s) have not completed a bachelor’s degree.

The FGCC cordially invites you to become a member of the F1RST GEN Coordinating Council to enhance the campus-wide approach to serve F1RST GEN SHOCKERS through the culture of research, awareness, celebration and support. You do not have to be a first-generation student to be a member of the council and advocate for first-generation students.

For more information, email Dr. Bobby Berry, assistant dean for students and experience for the College of Applied Studies and chair of the FGCC, at bobby.berry@wichita.edu.

Visit the Braeburn Square Shocker Store during Family Weekend Oct. 4 and 5 and save 30-70% on select Shocker gear during the Family Weekend Clearance Sale.

Store hours are 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. both days, and the sale is open to the public.

Come join the 2024 Shocker Basketball Tipoff Luncheon at 11:45 a.m. Friday, Oct. 4 in the Aetna Multi-Purpose Center inside Charles Koch Arena. Wichita State faculty and staff can purchase tickets to this event half off for $30.

The event is an opportunity to engage with the basketball athletes and their coaches and enjoy an early Thanksgiving-style meal. After lunch is served, Athletic Director Kevin Saal will address the crowd and head coaches Paul Mills and Terry Nooner will introduce their teams and preview the upcoming season. Tickets are on sale now through Oct. 1. Purchase tickets at goshockers.com/tickets, visit the Shocker Ticket Office or call 316-978-3267FANS.

Plan to attend the Wellness Retreat for WSU faculty and staff at noon Friday, Oct. 18 in the Rhatigan Student Center. In addition to a delicious lunch and nurturing program, the retreat will highlight wellness resources available on campus and provost and executive vice president, Dr. Shirley Lefever’s farewell-ness address. Participants will also celebrate two Shockers who have played a key role in developing a wellness-focused culture on campus with the 2024 Suspenders4Hope Champion award.

Connect with colleagues and engage in a variety of wellness activities including a community service project helping to build HOPE kits to be distributed to people in times of crisis at the Student Wellness Center and Comcare Crisis Services.

Join the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry for its weekly colloquium series, which takes place every Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. in 224 McKinley Hall. This week, the department is honored to host Li Yang, Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, who will present his seminar, titled “Second-Order Light-Matter Interactions in Emerging Quantum Materials.”

Dr. Scott Hill, assistant teaching professor in the Department of Philosophy in the Fairmount College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, will present his paper, “Against Strawsonian Motivations for AI Explainability,” to the University of Neuchâtel in Neuchâtel, Switzerland, Oct. 1.

Abstract:

“Consider The Explainability Thesis according to which the use of transparent AI to make high stakes decisions is to be strongly preferred to the use of opaque AI. Most AI ethicists agree that the Explainability Thesis is true. But there is disagreement about how to motivate it. Some philosophers argue that the explainability thesis is true because the use of opaque AI would require failing to regard a person from the Strawsonian participant stance. I argue that this is mistaken. I then present my own motivation for the thesis. In particular, the use of opaque AI is risky and has bad consequences. It is for this reason that transparent AI is to be preferred to opaque AI.”