Author: Caelin Bragg

Wichita State and EPA Region 7 celebrated the opening of the new Environmental Justice Thriving Communities Technical Assistance Center (EJ TCTAC).

The EJ TCTAC is one of 17 being established across the country to help underserved communities access funds to combat environmental justice concerns. President Rick Muma and Meg McCollister, EPA Region 7 administrator, joined in opening the new center.

The center is part of WSU’s Environmental Finance Center under the Hugo Wall School of Public Affairs.

This week for F1RST-Gen Friday, Alondra Aguilera — a Wichita native, preK-12 Spanish education major and minoring in music — shares her story of being first-gen.

• How does it feel to be the first member of your family to attend college?
  “Being the first person in my family to go to college can be hard, especially because my parents had to immigrate here from México. I have had to figure out how to navigate college on my own. I also am the eldest daughter, which also has made it difficult as there hasn’t really been anyone else to guide me through the process of getting into college. If it hadn’t been for campus resources and programs, especially the Office of Diversity and Inclusion’s Passage 2 Success and Latinos Lead, I would have had a harder time with my transition into college.”
• What piece of advice would you share with incoming first-gen college students?
  “Having a support system is essential to help you get through the rough times. Talking to other students, faculty and staff can help you network and get resources to succeed in college.”
• Any advice you would share with the campus community working with first-gen students?
  “I would ask WSU to explain to students the processes for financial aid and documentation processes while transitioning into college. They can improve this by using language that is accessible to everyone. This would help those who are the first in their families to attend college. They can also explain how college works to our families who may not understand. Providing information to students in multiple languages could also help parents who speak other languages become involved in their Shockers’ education.”
• What do you hope to do after you graduate from Wichita State?
  “I hope to become a Spanish Teacher in a public school district and possibly pursue higher education later in life.”

F1RST Gen Shockers promotes initiatives for first-generation students to ensure their success and seeks to build a culture of awareness and celebration for first-gen students at Wichita State.

Know of a campus community member who is first-gen who you think should be featured? Email your ideas to F1RST Gen Shockers at FGShockers@wichita.edu.

This week for F1RST-Gen Friday, Gina Crabtree — university registrar and director of Enrollment Services — shares her story of being first-gen.

• How has your first-gen experience inspired you?
  “While I remember wishing my parents had more understanding of the issues I faced when selecting and attending college, only hindsight helped me to fully recognize the difficulties and disadvantages of my first-gen experience. You don’t know what you don’t know. I’m proud to be part of a university community that is working to address the barriers many first-gen students face.”

F1RST Gen Shockers promotes initiatives for first-generation students to ensure their success and seeks to build a culture of awareness and celebration for first-gen students at Wichita State.

Know of a campus community member who is first-gen who you think should be featured? Email your ideas to F1RST Gen Shockers at FGShockers@wichita.edu.

Facility Services will begin restriping road markings, including centerlines, arrows and parking spots, starting Monday, July 17. Work is expected to last until Friday, July 21.

The work will require lane closures across campus from approximately 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day, weather permitting.

Parking will be unavailable in front of Shocker Hall on Perimeter Road during this time to establish a fire lane.

The Accessible Design course concerned Wichita State University junior Reagan Kelley at first. She wasn’t an engineering major and wasn’t sure what she could contribute. 

Conversations with Samantha Corcoran, associate engineering coordinator in the College of Engineering, answered her questions. The payoff at the end of the project made it worthwhile. Kelley, an exercise science major, and three other students modified an all-terrain wheelchair for Sutton, a 9-year-old boy who outgrew the chair’s previous dimensions. 

KWCH featured Wichita State’s Varsity Esports program in its weekend broadcast.

KWCH spoke with Travis Yang, director of esports, and students about the opportunities the program provides and what the future holds for esports.

“The stigma used to be, kid’s playing games in the basement and needs to get out. These days, when paired with a varsity program that has the structure and keeps students accountable, it has a lot of potential,” Yang told KWCH

A new Jersey Mike’s Subs is set to open Wednesday, July 12 in Wichita State University’s Braeburn Square on the Innovation Campus. 

Wichita’s newest Jersey Mike’s franchise location is one of seven dining establishments in the lakeside retail plaza, including Fuzzy’s Taco Shop, Sesame Mediterranean Kitchen, Social Tap, Sungrano Pizza, Wheatly’s Burgers and Two Hands Corn Dogs (opening later this summer).  

The sub shop offers a variety of hot and cold sandwiches, kids’ meals and catering services. The Wichita State franchise location is owned by Annette Hennes and will feature a patio and garage door — a design Hennes says aims to create a comfortable and welcoming space for patrons.

This week’s Student Success and Persistence highlight comes from Autumn Ginther.

Autumn — a senior in medical laboratory sciences with a minor in health science — came to Wichita State after graduating from Mustang High School in Mustang, Oklahoma.

Autumn currently serves as the Medical Laboratory Sciences (MLS) Student Association president and found the encouragement she needed through the faculty in the MLS department, who went above and beyond in supporting her. She says that all faculty need to be available in making sure students are able to not only succeed, but thrive.

“One small thing that all professors should do is go the extra mile to connect with students. Whether this be reaching out when they notice a student is not doing well in a class or notice a change in attendance. Many students feel alone in college, and they feel that their instructors do not understand what they are going through, so I encourage both students and professors to reach out and be transparent with each other.”

Aisha Waite, chair of medical laboratory sciences, agrees that faculty and staff always need to be available to students in order for them to succeed, and that this needs to be a united effort:

“I strongly believe that departments that operate as a team are successful in their goals, which is the success of the student. Being approachable and providing a strong support system is, in my mind, the key in successfully guiding students on their journey. Having that support system builds confidence, and confidence helps you move forward.”

Do you know of a faculty or staff member who promotes student success, or a student who has been helped by a faculty or staff member, that should be highlighted in WSU Today? Email your ideas to Caelin Bragg, newsletter editor with the Office of Strategic Communications, at caelin.bragg@wichita.edu.

This week’s Student Success and Persistence highlight comes from Moriah Beck, professor in Fairmount College’s Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry.

• What role do you think faculty and staff play in a student’s success and persistence?
  “Faculty are unique in that they interact with the same students every week of the semester in their classroom. We have the opportunity to challenge our students to grapple with difficult or complex concepts, but we should also help them acquire the skills necessary to improve comprehension so they can face future problems.”
• What is one small thing any faculty or staff member can do to help a student succeed?
  “Sharing my enthusiasm for learning new things and being challenged to forge new paths in my field is a small, but impactful way I can inspire students to see the big picture and start imagining their role in changing the world. Often this means that I highlight areas of biochemistry where we have important, unsolved questions: How did life begin? How does the environment influence our genes? Why do we need to sleep? It is also important to explain how we came to know or discover things, the challenges overcome by humans and the people involved in this process of discovery.”
• How do you promote student success through your campus duties?
  “One of the most impactful experiences that many students have is the opportunity to work on novel research projects, and I have endeavored to provide more of these types of opportunities. First, I developed a course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE) in the biochemistry lab that gives students the chance to come up with their own hypotheses, generate a novel mutation in a protein and carry out experiments that no one else has done before. Next, I created the First Year Research Experience (FYRE) in STEM program to match first year students with research mentors across campus for an early exposure to hands-on research. Lastly, I have welcomed over 60 undergraduates to work alongside graduate students in my own research lab as we aim to understand mechanisms of heart disease and cancer.”

Do you know of a faculty or staff member who promotes student success, or a student who has been helped by a faculty or staff member, that should be highlighted in WSU Today? Email your ideas to Caelin Bragg, newsletter editor with the Office of Strategic Communications, at caelin.bragg@wichita.edu.

The University Police Department is offering active threat training courses to students. UPD offers three types of training sessions, built upon the Stop the Bleed and the Civilian Response to Active Shooter Events (CRASE) courses from Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training:

• CRASE lecture
• Stop the Bleed*
• Scenarios*

*Note: To take the Stop the Bleed and scenarios portions, the CRASE lecture must be completed within 90 days prior to attending.

Each of these in-person training sessions is one hour long. Registration can be completed on UPD’s webpage.

Schedule of upcoming training portions:

• Wednesday, July 26
  • CRASE lecture at 6 p.m., Stop the Bleed at 7 p.m. and scenarios at 8 p.m.
• Wednesday, Sept. 13
  • CRASE lecture at 6 p.m., Stop the Bleed at 7 p.m. and scenarios at 8 p.m.
• Wednesday, Sept. 20
  • CRASE lecture at 6 p.m., Stop the Bleed at 7 p.m. and scenarios at 8 p.m.