Author: Caelin Bragg

In February 1986, a congressional resolution declared that Saturday, Feb. 28, 1986, should be designated as “National TRIO Day” to commemorate the annual achievement of the federal TRIO programs in communities across the country.

With a long history of 50 years, and an impressive portfolio of 10 TRIO programs, the Office of Special Programs (OSP) marked the whole month of February for celebrating the accomplishments of TRIO and GEAR UP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs) at Wichita State and the larger community.

The 10 programs offered by OSP:

• The Communication Upward Bound
• Talent Search and Talents Search South
• Upward Bound Wichita Prep
• Upward Bound Math Science
• Disability Support Services
• Student Support Services
• McNair Scholars Program
• Educational Opportunity Centers
• Veterans Upward Bound
• Partnership GEAR UP program and the state-wide Kansas Kids @ GEAR UP program

The TRIO and GEAR UP programs at WSU primarily serve first-generation and low-income students primarily in Wichita Public schools and state-wide school districts. The programs cover students from middle school through high school and college.

Under the leadership of Deltha Colvin, associate vice president of college readiness and retention programs, and the WSU program administrators, the OSP has celebrated in several ways, such as hosting workshops for students and teachers, student recognition banquets, College Access, Retention and Success conferences, and, since 2019, community services.

For 2022-23, the OSP program highlights have included several community service opportunities for the students. The Talent Search programs have decided to continue spreading reading and literacy by participating in the community library program in the Wichita neighborhoods. Participants of the Educational Opportunity Centers program along with the Upward Bound Wichita Prep program staff and students have actively participated in the Operation Holiday program, through which needy families receive assistance. The Veterans Upward Bound program participants have celebrated the TRIO cause by volunteering at the Lord’s Diner during 2022.

The Haysville GEAR UP program organized a National TRIO/GEAR UP Day on November 11, 2022. About 306 students participated. The event consisted of presentations by WSU offices such as admissions and financial aid. Activities included a campus tour, college resource fair and TRIO workshops.

The Student Support Services program has used this celebration to promote social justice, diversity, and equity through retention through various student activities.

For more information, contact Colvin at deltha.colvin@wichita.edu.

Faculty and staff at Wichita State University are required to complete mandatory training on preventing harassment and discrimination. The deadline has been extended to Friday, April 7.

You can access the training two ways:

• Go to myWSU under the Faculty/Staff tab, scroll down to “Employee Required Training” and click on Preventing Harassment and Discrimination Training.
• Open the email with subject line Vector LMS, Higher Education Edition Online Training, which was sent to all faculty/staff email addresses. Note: The email might say April 27 is the deadline, but April 7 is the correct deadline.

If you have not completed the training, it is very important that you do so. If you have already taken the training this academic year and see your name on a list that says you haven’t completed it, please disregard. If you have any questions regarding the status of your training completion, contact Courtney McHenry at courtney.mchenry@wichita.edu.

This prevention training, which is led through WSU’s Office of Institutional Equity and Compliance, is not only important in making our campus a welcoming and equitable environment, but it’s also important for Title IX compliance. If you have completed your training, thank you for helping us make real progress in making our campus safe, inclusive and equitable.

University supervisors should follow up with their employees to ensure that they are completing the training by the deadline. Supervisors are expected to work with employees needing accommodations or extensions as necessary.

It’s that time of year again to vote for a new or returning restaurant in the Rhatigan Student Center through Student Choice Voting. WSU Dining will have open voting through Wednesday, April 12.

The campus community can vote now or visit the Powerful event at 11 a.m. Tuesday, April 4 at Shocker Dining to try samples from each restaurant option.

The McNair Scholars program is accepting applications for 2023-24 academic year. The deadline to submit an application is Friday, March 31. McNair assists students who are underrepresented in higher education prepare for graduate study.

A few of the benefits and services students can receive with McNair are graduate school preparation, faculty mentorship, research experience, application fee waivers, spring semester campus visits, Individualized counseling and personal support for graduate school preparation, and participation is available to students at no charge, as the program is entirely federally funded.

Call 316-978-3139 or email mcnairscholars@wichita.edu to receive more information.

The Wichita State Opera Theatre, under the direction of Alan Held, professor of voice and director of opera studies, will present its final production of the academic year, “Handelmania,” at 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 31 and 3 p.m. Sunday, April 2 in the Miller Concert Hall of the Duerksen Fine Arts Center.

The performances will be accompanied by the WSU Orchestra under the direction of Dr. Mark Laycock, professor and director of orchestra. The performances are presented in honor of Dr. Pina Mozzani, who will be retiring after 18 years of teaching in the School of Music. A reception for Mozzani will be held following the April 2 performance.

“Handelmania” is a unique presentation of George Frideric Handel’s opera, “Acis and Galatea.” A new and entertaining concept has been developed for these performances that will make the story come alive in a contemporary manner. The short opera, with added arias, was first performed in 1718, but it is rarely performed in its entirety.

Tickets for the performances may be purchased at the Duerksen Fine Arts Box Office, by visiting the box office website or by calling 316-978-3233.

The Great Plains has often been overlooked in the history books of North America, but recent discoveries made by a team of Wichita State University archaeologists are rewriting the history of where the beating heart of North American actually was in the pre-historic era before the arrival of Christopher Columbus.

According to research findings by Dr. Don Blakeslee, professor of anthropology and archaeologist at Wichita State, it turns out that the Great Plains was much bigger and much more politically and economically influential in North America than previously thought.

The Student Government Association (SGA) executive branch was recognized as the next recipient of Rick Rewards, awarded each month by President Rick Muma to show his appreciation for the efforts of our campus community.

Members of the SGA were honored for their dedication to serving and representing the needs of the student body.

Distinguished Professor of Psychology Dr. Virginia Valian — member of the doctoral faculties of psychology, linguistics and speech-language-hearing sciences and director of the Language Acquisition Research Center and the Gender Equity Project at Hunter College, CUNY — is visiting Wichita State. The National Science Foundation Advance Catalyst team on campus is sponsoring the visit, including Valian speaking on gender equity at two events.

Valian will deliver the talk, “The Advancement of Women: Better, but Still too Slow,” 10-11 a.m. Friday, March 31 in 265 Rhatigan Student Center. Faculty, staff and alumni are invited to attend the talk.

An open forum featuring Valian will be from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. in 265 RSC. Undergraduate and graduate women in STEM fields are encouraged to attend the event.

The Capitol Graduate Research Summit took place in Topeka on March 22. Close to 50 graduate students from six Kansas public universities presented their research and how it contributes to the economic development of the state.

Two Wichita State students were awarded at the summit, including Kaitlyn Hemberger, English major, for her poster on cybersecurity intervention measures in educations for vulnerable refugee populations in Kansas, and Sarangan Rajendran, electrical and computer engineering major, for his poster on location planning of distributed energy resources based on the impact on transmission networks.

Their advisors were Dr. Mythili Menon and Dr. Visvakumar Aravinthan respectively.

Wichita State students are cordially invited to meet Cody Keenan, director of speechwriting to former President Barack Obama, at 3 p.m. Thursday, March 30 in the Beggs Ballroom at the Rhatigan Student Center for an informal meet-and-greet.

Students attending the meeting with Keenan will receive a copy of his book, “Grace: President Obama and Ten Days in the Battle for America.”

The event is exclusively for registered WSU students and refreshments will be served. Capacity is limited, and reservations will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis at no charge.

Keenan rose from a campaign intern to become chief speechwriter at the White House and Obama’s post-presidential collaborator. Together, Keenan and Obama’s efforts resulted in what have been called some of the most unforgettable addresses of our time.

The Craig W. Barton Speaker Series is an annual WSU event established to expose students and the community to differing points of view and encourage critical thinking and conversation.