Author: Caelin Bragg

Wichita State University’s women’s athletics prospered over the past 20 years as a series of coaching hires, facility improvements and budget upgrades lifted them into regular contention for conference titles and NCAA play.

Shocker softball is enjoying its greatest success with five NCAA regional appearances under coach Kristi Bredbenner since 2016. On Sunday, the Shockers earned their third straight regional bid and will play Nebraska at 6 p.m. Friday in Stillwater, Okla.

Senior shortstop Sydney McKinney joins the list of female student-athletes who highlight the success of the past two decades – people such as Olympic distance runner Aliphine Tuliamuk, volleyball stars such as Chelsey Feekin and Abbie Lehman and basketball’s Alex Harden.

McKinney’s leadership isn’t limited to the field. Teammates love her enthusiasm and positive outlook, as well as her devotion to coffee, pets and painting. She is a criminal justice major from Norborne, Missouri. She plans to attend law school, with an eye on working in Title IX law, after working as a graduate assistant for the softball team.

This week’s Student Success and Persistence highlight comes from McKinzie McWilliam.

McKinzie — a junior majoring in elementary education and minoring in organizational leadership and learning — came to Wichita State after graduating from Miami High School in Amoret, Missouri.

McKinzie found support through working for Stephanie Cockrell, director of graduate programs in the Barton School of Business. She says that Cockrell’s support pushed her to succeed and eventually work as a peer coach and transition mentor in the Office of Student Success, helping other students succeed at Wichita State just as Cockrell did for her.

“I would have neither of these positions without Stephanie. When I met her, I had just failed a semester. After one semester with her, I made the dean’s list. If you had asked me when I met her where I saw myself in three years, it wouldn’t be here doing this. I have these jobs because of her, and I do them to try and be that person to someone else. Even though Stephanie is no longer my boss, I still do check-ins with her and think of what she would tell me to do when I am struggling.”

Cockrell says that faculty and staff have a unique responsibility in helping promote student success.

“Working closely with students to help them achieve their dreams is truly a privilege. As faculty and staff, it is our responsibility to meet students where they are and empower them to discover their full potential. The best thing we can do for students is connect them to the amazing resources available at WSU. Success Coaching, Shocker Learning Center, Care Team, ODI, Disability Services, advising, Financial Aid, Counseling and Prevention Services, TRIO and so much more are here to help students thrive both personally and academically. Together we can make a difference in a student reaching graduation. I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to watch McKinzie grow as a student and a leader on campus.”

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 Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) hosted grand opening ceremonies May 8 for its National Crime Gun Intelligence Center of Excellence located on the Innovation Campus.

The National Crime Gun Intelligence Center of Excellence will be the leader and model for training; providing the most effective investigative techniques and technical applications and the newest systems using crime gun intelligence for law enforcement agencies throughout the nation.

Wichita State’s focus on digital transformation, industry and government agency engagement and commitment to applied learning initially garnered the attention of the ATF. Through the relationship with WSU and with its presence on campus, ATF will have the opportunity to benefit from engagement with university laboratories, researchers and students through applied learning and research collaboration.

The National Center of Excellence will house a second National Correlation and Training Center for the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network, the only national network that allows for the 3-D imaging and comparison of ballistic evidence recovered from crime scenes.

Wichita State’s College of Health Professions and Ascension Via Christi’s Wichita hospitals announced today the creation of a strategic initiative to provide a critical pipeline of qualified health care professionals to the region.

Through the affiliation, Ascension Via Christi’s hospitals will provide office and classroom space to Wichita State’s College of Health Professions’ School of Nursing and School of Health Sciences, expanding WSU students’ close access to working health care professionals directly in the hospital setting.

Additionally, the affiliation will provide a framework for WSU and Ascension Via Christi to help fuel the pipeline of trained health care professionals entering the field and further enhance professional growth opportunities for current and future Ascension Via Christi associates and WSU students.

Make sure to catch the May edition of the “Forward Together” podcast. In this month’s episodes, President Muma speaks with Ebony Moore, Ryan Walter and Kyle Walter, students interning at Deloitte’s Smart Factory @ Wichita; Brittany Wojciechowski, a first-generation student working on her Ph.D. in aerospace engineering; and Joshua Senn, a graduate student in the College of Fine Arts’ choral conducting program.

Watch the episodes here — Ebony Moore, Ryan Walter and Kyle Walter; Brittany Wojciechowski, Joshua Senn — or listen at wsu.news/ftpodcast or on Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Amazon Podcasts or Apple Podcasts (iTunes).

Subscribe here and be notified when new episodes are available.

Keep yourself up to date on all things Shocker Athletics this week:

• Subscribe to Shocker Brew, the Shocker Athletics newsletter, publishing every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
• See all upcoming scheduled events by viewing the Shocker Athletics calendar.
• Order tickets to events on the Shocker Athletics ticket office website.
• Stay up to date on Shocker Athletics news by visiting the Roundhouse and listening to the Roundhouse podcast.
• Follow Shocker Athletics on Instagram, Facebook and X.

5A state baseball and softball will be held on Wichita State’s campus Thursday, May 25-26 and state track Friday, May 26-27. 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 and staff tents during these events.

Tents will be set up in various locations around campus May 26 and May 27. Individuals staffing tents will welcome people to campus, offer water, hand out brochures and promotional items, and answer questions visitors may have.

Golf cart rides will be offered May 26 and May 27. 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 tent worker and the other as a golf cart driver. Detailed information will be sent the week of May 22 to those signed up to help.

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.

When Alissa Haddock joined the Wichita State University Strategic Communications team as an intern in spring 2022, it was abundantly clear that she possessed outstanding talent as a graphic artist. What wasn’t as apparent was her lifelong battle with her health.

A few months into her internship, her outward façade started to reflect her internal health struggles: Her skin and eyes took on a yellow hue, and her demeanor and the dark circles under her eyes suggested that she was someone who was just bone tired.

Today, as she creates and collaborates from her desk in Morrison Hall, she is positively glowing inside and out with renewed vigor and enthusiasm — not just for her job, but for life — all because of a new liver, thanks to her cousin’s selfless donation.

Dr. Anna Porcaro, executive director of Online and Adult Learning, participated in an expert panel for the 2023 EDUCAUSE Horizon Report: Teaching and Learning Edition.

Her essay in the report addresses how emerging teaching and learning trends impact adult learners. She will also participate in a panel discussion of the report online at 11 a.m. Wednesday, May 16. Since WSU is a member of EDUCAUSE, faculty and staff can register to attend the webinar at no additional charge.

Based on current COVID-19 trends, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services let the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency Declaration expire at the end of the day May 11, 2023.

While COVID-19 is not gone, public health conditions have improved to a point where COVID is effectively being self-managed. Federal and state government funded healthcare for COVID-19 will end.

What does this mean at Wichita State University?

Beginning May 12, Student Health Services (SHS) will no longer support free COVID-19 walk-in testing or vaccinations for the WSU community. While on-campus COVID-19 services will still be available, patients may become financially responsible for COVID-19 testing and vaccinations that were previously fully covered by federal/state funding during the public health emergency.

How does COVID-19 testing change at WSU?

• Asymptomatic walk-in testing for COVID-19 will no longer be provided at SHS.
• Symptomatic, by appointment testing for COVID-19 may be provided by WSU Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory (MDL) while CARES funding and supplies last. While this option is still in effect, COVID testing can still be obtained at no additional charge through Student Health, by appointment only.
• Symptomatic testing for COVID-19 requires an illness appointment with the SHS providers.
  • WSU students will continue to have the same access to appointments at Student Health Services and can use their personal health insurance benefits or pay for services by other means. Uninsured students will have access to lower cost services.
  • WSU faculty and staff will have access to appointments through the new Student Health Services Faculty/Staff Acute Care Clinic. Appointment eligibility and payment information are available. WSU faculty and staff will be financially responsible for services provided.
• COVID-19 testing remains available at the Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory (MDL), 4174 S. Oliver, building 174H, for all students, faculty, staff and the general public at no additional charge.

How do COVID-19 vaccinations change at WSU?

• Student Health Services will continue to provide COVID-19 vaccinations for a fee when supplies are available.
• Find COVID vaccination sites near you 

 COVID-19 resources

• Sedgwick County Health Department
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Kansas Department of Health and Environment