Author: Caelin Bragg

Stop by the Food Truck Plaza on campus to enjoy cuisines from local food truck vendors.

Wednesday:

• OurFolk Coffee: 7-9:30 a.m. 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m.
• Carne Asada Jalisco: 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m.
• Desi Fusion: 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m.

Thursday:

• Carne Asada Jalisco: 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m.
• Desi Fusion: 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m.
• The Flying Stove: 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m.

Schedule is subject to change. Visit the Food Truck Plaza website for the most up-to-date information.

5A state baseball and softball will be held on Wichita State’s campus May 28-29 and state track May 29-30. Last year, these activities brought more than 30,000 people to campus. The university is asking for help from the campus community to drive golf carts during these events.

Golf cart rides will be offered May 30 and 31. Drivers will provide visitors rides to their destinations on campus.

If you are interested in working these events, sign up online. There are two tabs at the bottom of the sheet: one to sign up as a golf cart driver and one to include your sign-up information. Volunteers signed up by Wednesday, May 13 will receive a T-shirt to be worn during the events, so indicate your preferred shirt size and include your email address on the second tab of the sign up. Detailed information will be sent the week of May 25 to those who signed up to help.

For assistance signing up for a time to volunteer, reach out to Carmen Hytche at carmen.hytche@wichita.edu.

These events would not be successful without the support of our Shocker family, and we sincerely appreciate your help in creating a welcoming campus for our guests.

Shocker men’s tennis’ Zaid Al Mashni was named an All-Conference Honors selection April 28. Al Mashni is the first men’s tennis Shocker to earn all-conference honors since Murkel Dellien and Marius Frosa in 2021 and the first in the Darragh Glavin era.

The sophomore from Jordan posted records of 14-8 in singles and 14-5 in doubles. He recorded 11 singles wins and 13 doubles wins in dual matches this season. He was ranked throughout the spring and climbed as high as No. 66 during the fall season.

Shocker women’s tennis’ Xin Tong Wang was named the American Conference Women’s Tennis Player of the Year, while Giorgia Roselli and Theodora Chantava earned All-Conference Honors April 28.

Wang, a junior from Hangzhou, China, is the first player in program history to earn American Conference Player of the Year honors. She is the first Shocker to be named player of the year since Giulia Guidetti won the Missouri Valley Conference award in 2017. Wang has been named all-conference in each of her three seasons at Wichita State.

Roselli, a junior from Pescara, Italy, earned her second all-conference honor. She is just the third Shocker to earn multiple all-conference honors in the American Conference, joining Wang and Fatima Bizhukova.

Chantava, a senior from Grevena, Greece, closes her Shocker career with her first all-conference honor. She becomes the fifth Shocker to earn all-conference recognition since Wichita State joined the American Conference.

After spending each of the last 10 weeks ranked in the ITA top 40, Shocker women’s tennis received an at-large bid to the 2026 NCAA Tournament.

The Shockers are the No. 3 seed in the Norman Regional, hosted by Oklahoma. Wichita State is set to face No. 2-seeded and No. 25 SMU in the first round Saturday, May 2.

For Wichita State, it marks its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since 2018, when it also received an at-large bid and was placed in the Oxford, Mississippi regional, where it advanced to the round of 32. The appearance is the program’s 13th in the NCAA Tournament.

This season, the Shockers are 21-4 and set a program record with a 19-match winning streak from Jan. 31 to April 18. Wichita State climbed as high as No. 24 in the ITA rankings and finished as runner-up in the American Conference.

Wichita State University celebrates the following faculty members who were recognized at the Tenure and Promotion Awards ceremony April 21:

Tenure awardees:

College of Education:

• Jason Li, professor, CLES
• Lindsay Luinstra, associate professor, HPS

Barton School of Business:

• Abigail Devereaux, associate professor, economics
• Ross Gruetzemacher, associate professor, FREDS
• Andrea Lynn Matthews, associate professor, marketing
• Smita Srivastava, associate professor, management
• Xiaoyang Zhu, associate professor, economics
• Alexander Ziegler, associate professor, marketing

College of Engineering:

• Yanwu Ding, professor, electrical and computer engineering
• Atri Dutta, professor, aerospace engineering
• Deepak Gupta, professor, industrial, systems and manufacturing engineering
• Hyuck Kwon, professor, electrical and computer engineering
• Bayram Yildirim, professor, industrial, systems and manufacturing engineering

College of Fine Arts:

• Timothy Jones, associate professor, music
• Claudia Pederson, professor, art and design
• Gerald “Jerry” Scholl, professor, music
• Timothy Shade, professor, music
• Leonid Shukaev, professor, music

College of Health Professions:

• Erin O’Bryan, associate professor, communication sciences and disorders

Fairmount College of Liberal Arts and Sciences:

• Jim Bann, professor, chemistry
• Chase Billingham, professor, sociology
• William Groutas, professor, chemistry
• Jodie Hertzog, professor, sociology
• Twyla Hill, professor, sociology
• Rannfrid Lasine-Thelle, professor, history
• Quan Lei, associate professor, psychology
• Mathew Muether, professor, physics
• Mohamed Nasser, associate professor, mathematics
• Brigitte Roussel, professor, modern and classical languages and literatures
• Xiaoheng Wang, associate professor, health and wellness services

Non-tenure track awardees:

College of Education:

• Jill Wood, associate educator, TALS

Barton School of Business:

• Michael Flores, senior educator, accounting
• Kate Kung‑McIntyre, senior educator, management

College of Engineering:

• Gary Brooking, teaching professor, applied engineering

College of Fine Arts:

• Melissa Penkava Koza, associate teaching professor, performing arts
• Robert Thomas, associate teaching professor, digital arts
• Sabrina Vasquez, senior educator, performing arts

College of Health Professions:

• Laurie Alloway, teaching professor, medical laboratory sciences
• Christopher Dudley, associate clinical professor, physician assistant
• Candance Grant, associate educator, nursing
• Melissa Vagts, clinical professor, communication sciences and disorders
• Evan Ohlman, associate clinical professor, physician assistant
• Donna Robinson, teaching professor, nursing
• Elizabeth Tew, associate teaching professor, physical therapy

Fairmount College of Liberal Arts and Sciences:

• Rachel Heckman, senior educator, mathematics
• Kerry Jones, teaching professor, English

The Shocker dance team earned a runner-up finish in the Spirit Rally Division 1 category at the National Dance Alliance National Championships April 11 in Daytona Beach, Florida.

The performance marks the team’s first appearance in the Spirit Rally Division, and was the first season under the head coach Amy Pollard-Yarberry

In an effort to support thoughtful and ethical campus adoption of artificial intelligence tools and strategies, Wichita State has launched the WSU Artificial Intelligence Strategy Council and wichita.edu/ai, a hub for AI resources and initiatives at WSU.

This approach will support Wichita State’s student-centered, innovation-driven approach by staying at the forefront of technology and by recognizing the need to provide a framework for the responsible and effective use of AI.

WSU AI Strategy Council

The AI Strategy Council was formed at the request of Provost Monica Lounsbery and in response to KBOR’s goal for this academic year: “State universities will submit a report detailing current initiatives, research, and instructional strategies related to Artificial Intelligence (AI). This effort will help identify best practices, foster collaboration, and position Kansas institutions as leaders in AI-driven education and workforce development.”

The council‘s strategic focus is on proactively guiding the thoughtful, purposeful and ethical implementation of artificial intelligence at Wichita State, ensuring it strengthens learning and workforce readiness for students, faculty and staff; advances research; supports operational effectiveness; protects sensitive data while engaging community and industry partners; and advances Wichita State’s mission and priorities.

The AI Strategy Council comprises faculty and staff from across the university to represent diverse constituencies and AI use cases at WSU, and it engages hundreds more through focus groups, training opportunities and discussion forums to ensure all voices are heard on issues regarding AI. By facilitating campuswide conversations and knowledge sharing around this emerging technology, the council envisions a future‑ready campus that harnesses AI to enhance human potential, prepares students for an evolving workforce and fosters interdisciplinary collaboration.

AI resources

The new artificial intelligence website, wichita.edu/ai, is the hub for current resources at Wichita State to help the campus community utilize AI. Included is:

• More information on Wichita State’s AI strategy, focusing on students, faculty and staff; research; operations; and community and industry partners
• Initiatives at WSU on the front lines of AI adoption and discussion, like the Faculty Senate AI Literacy Task Force, Center for AI Security, Evaluations, Control and Cooperation housed within Industry and Defense Programs, the Responsible AI@ICT group and the Applied AI in Education Lab in the College of Education
• Guides from the Office of Instructional Resources for using AI and for faculty to monitor AI usage in the classroom

Join the conversation

Opportunities for faculty and staff to participate in the conversations and initiatives surrounding AI at WSU, including working groups that support specific focus areas, will continue to expand. Keep an eye on WSU Today as further information is shared regarding these working groups and more.

For questions, ideas and opportunities to get involved with WSU’s AI strategy and implementation, reach out to the AI Strategy Council at ai@wichita.edu.

Additionally, WSU is committed to supporting the community and industry partners in using AI in their operations, and organizations interested in learning more can complete the contact form located on the AI website.

Wichita State now has an even bigger presence at the Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport with the installation of a new, nearly nine-foot WSU sculpture that Wichitans and visitors to the city see first thing when entering the airport.

The sculpture — designed and built by GoCreate, a Koch Collaborative, with the help of students — highlights WSU’s commitment to providing Shockers with applied learning experiences that prepare them for the workforce. It also further entrenches Wichita State’s place in the community as the university helps uplifts Wichita as a whole.

President Rick Muma and First Gentleman Rick Case’s annual Christmas tree at the President’s Residence has been replanted on Wichita State’s campus in dedication to Lowell Kaufman, maintenance supervisor, and Logan Alexander, arborist, with Landscape and Ground Maintenance.

The tree, a blue atlas cedar, was dedicated in honor of Kaufman and Alexander for their joint efforts in supporting sustainability and maintaining the green spaces on campus. It now sits on the east side of Morrison Hall.

“This tree is symbolic of the care and commitment to sustainability that Lowell and Logan bring to our campus every day,” Muma said. “Their idea to replant these trees allows something momentary to become lasting, and it’s a meaningful way to honor their impact on Wichita State.”

Instead of purchasing a chopped tree that could only be used for a short amount of time, it was Kaufman and Alexander’s idea to use balled and burlap trees, which still have their roots intact and can be replanted. These trees could be used at the President’s Residence and later be repurposed for the entire campus.

The first of these trees was dedicated to former dean of students James Rhatigan, located just north of the Rhatigan Student Center, following his passing in October 2024.

With the dedication this Arbor Day comes a new yearly tradition that promotes sustainability and supports a vibrant, green campus for students, faculty, staff, partners and the community.

“What began as a holiday tradition at the President’s Residence has grown into something far bigger,” Case said. “By replanting these trees, we’re creating a living legacy that supports a greener campus and reflects Wichita State’s shared responsibility to one another and to the environment.”