Author: Caelin Bragg

Lauren Hughes — senior at Owasso High School (Owasso, Oklahoma) — is the winner of the 2023 Lenora N. McGregor Endowed Scholarship at Wichita State.

The Lenora N. McGregor Endowed Scholarship awards up to $26,000 over four years to an incoming freshman student who has demonstrated academic excellence, has an academic vision for the future and who expresses an interest in advancing knowledge through individual learning. The McGregor Scholar agrees to maintain active membership in WSU’s Dorothy and Bill Cohen Honors College.

Hughes is the daughter of Karri Lynn Hughes and Joseph Bradshaw Hughes. She was the senior class representative of National Honors Society and captain and coach of the Varsity Mock Trial team. She also designed and built sets for her high school’s stagecraft program; tutored middle school students in English, math and science; and has been a part of the concurrent student program at Tulsa Community College since 2019.

Parking will be enforced as usual in all yellow, faculty/staff parking lots during spring break, which is from Monday, March 13 to Friday, March 17, as faculty and staff are still present on campus during this time.

Green student lots will be open parking during the break, and regular enforcement will begin again on Monday, March 20.

For students graduating in the spring, visit the Shocker Store during one of its Grad Days. CB Grad/Balfour will be available to assist with ordering graduation announcements, nursing and dental hygiene pins, custom faculty regalia and more.

Stop by between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. Monday, March 6 or 7 at the Rhatigan Student Center Shocker Store.

The College of Applied Studies invites applications for a full-time associate dean and accreditation officer.

This is a 12-month appointment that includes responsibilities to assist the dean in academic program development, administration and evaluation, including leadership for all aspects of the college’s accreditation and program approval processes.

This summer, all Data Projector Plus (DP+ or “Gray Box”) classrooms and labs will see some small updates this summer. Every room will receive a brighter, full HD projector, the obsolete VGA cables will be removed and replaced with 15-foot-long HDMI cables, and the DVD/VCR combo players will be removed along with any remaining overhead transparency projectors.

The Media Resources Center (MRC) will be maintaining a small inventory of each of these to be available per instructor request. Instructors will still need to provide their own adapter for their device if it does not have HDMI output on it, but they will no longer need to provide their own HDMI cable.

The updates should be completed and ready by the start of the fall 2023 semester. Any questions about these upcoming changes can be sent to Matt Claxton, classroom media coordinator with the MRC, at 316-978-3588.

WSU will participate in the annual statewide severe weather preparedness drill. The annual drill this year is at 10 a.m. Tuesday, March 7. If the weather is clear, all severe weather sirens in Sedgwick County will go off at that time. When the severe weather sirens sound, proceed to your designated severe weather shelter area.

Emergency Building Coordinators in each building will ensure that all building occupants safely make their way to the designated severe weather shelter area.

Departments should use this opportunity to ensure that all faculty, staff and students know where to go to protect themselves in a severe weather event.

• Wednesday and Thursday:
  • Buffalo Brew Coffee Company, 10 a.m.-1 p.m.
• Friday:
  • Buffalo Brew Coffee Company, 10 a.m.-1 p.m.
  • Wheat Street Dogs, 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m.
  • Brazita Bites, 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m.

Follow Wichita State Food Truck Plaza on Facebook.

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.

Cody Keenan, former White House speechwriter, will be the speaker for the 2023 Craig W. Barton Speaker Series event at 6 p.m. Thursday, March 30 in Wiedemann Hall. Seat reservations are required, and the event is free and open to the public.

Keenan rose from a campaign intern to become chief speechwriter at the White House and Former President Barack 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 Wichita State event established to expose students and the community to differing points of view and encourage critical thinking and conversation.

Employees enrolled in 2023 coverage through the State Employee Health Plan can earn a premium discount worth $480 annually and HSA/HRA rewards dollars up to $500 per year, just by participating and logging healthy activities throughout the year.

Take advantage of March HealthQuest events:

• 2023 HealthQuest program overview video and quiz: Earn five credits for watching this video and completing the short quiz.
• Learning modules: Earn up to 10 credits by completing on-demand learning modules in the HealthQuest portal. There are many different topics to choose from.
• EAP on-demand trainings: Earn up to 10 credits combined by completing EAP on-demand trainings that are available through the HealthQuest portal and attending EAP webinars (max one credit per day). 

Take advantage of some of the on-demand and online options to earn HealthQuest credits.

• Marathon Health webinar: March focus on nutrients and serving sizes – 1 p.m. Thursday, March 9. Registration will be sent via email with a link to attend. Deadline to view for incentive credits is Friday, March 17.
  • Do you know the six types of nutrients? Do you know what constitutes a serving size of pasta and vegetables? Get started with the basics in this session where we will review the six nutrients, serving sizes for different food groups, and how your plate can reflect nutritional balance at each meal.

As part of the Marathon Health HealthQuest portal, the Healthwise portal offers a ton of information about 26 topics providing a basic overview along with any medical testing and treatment options available for each topic. Check out Healthwise here.

Upcoming events will be published each month, but to plan in advance, check out all currently scheduled HealthQuest events.

Access the HealthQuest portal and start earning points today.