The Kansas Undergraduate Research Day at the Capitol event is an annual opportunity for students to present their research experiences with state lawmakers and campus leaders in Topeka. All currently enrolled undergraduate students in good academic standing are eligible. Students in all majors and of all nationalities are encouraged to apply.

The event showcases the work of up to 40 Kansas undergraduate student projects representing each of the state’s eight public four-year institutions. The event aims to demonstrate the unique opportunities undergraduate students have to participate with faculty members in research at all state institutions and emphasizes higher education’s role in developing educated citizens and preparing a workforce with the necessary skills to further the economic growth of the state.

The Cohen Honors College will coordinate travel and pay for all expenses. Students are invited to submit a research abstract or brief description of creative activity here by 5 p.m. Jan. 28.

For questions, email undergraduateresearch@wichita.edu.

A set of vintage WuShock T-shirts from Homefield

WuShock’s look, no matter the era, is distinctive. Depending on your age, Wu might bring back memories of the Final Four or other big moments.

Wichita State University’s mascot, created in 1948 by junior Wilbur Elsea, evolved over decades into today’s modern design. That doesn’t mean previous versions of Wu fell out of style.

Vintage WuShock logos, from as far back as the 1950s, are enjoying a comeback. In December, Wichita State announced its partnership with Homefield, an Indianapolis company dedicated to vintage college clothing.

Periodically, information will be posted regarding Watermark’s Course Evaluations & Surveys (CES) tool to help users better understand Wichita State’s new course evaluation tool.

Today’s focus is on CES results.

  • Results will only be available at the end of the completed semester. It does not matter when your course took place during the semester. Holding results until the end of the semester complies with KBOR policy and allows for accurate norming.
  • Results will become available the Friday after grades are due to the Registrar’s Office.
  • The electronic results can be found through the Instructor Dashboard under Project Results
  • There are restrictions on results. If the response rate is 0% or if the number of respondents is lower than four, then there will be no results. This restriction includes both statistics and comments.
  • Results will include the mean, standard deviation and median for the course. Reports will also show these statistics by university and division benchmarks. This benchmark data will be from the same semester as the evaluation and will not include any other data.
  • There is a new report option available to instructors. Results Home incorporates the previous report options under one roof. It also provides a quick glance at the results without creating a report.
  • Also included is a table of the “Mean of Means” by course and instructor questions.
  • There is a dedicated CES website that includes additional information.

For questions, contact Sandy Ranney at evaluations@ces.wichita.edu.

Periodically, information will be posted regarding Watermark’s Course Evaluations & Surveys (CES) tool to help users better understand Wichita State’s new course evaluation tool.

Today’s focus is on response rate.

  • A response rate widget will appear on the instructor’s dashboard when the semester’s project starts. However, data for a course may not appear until that course evaluation is available to the students.
  • In the list below, there are some suggestions to potentially increase response rates and receive useful and constructive feedback.
    • Designate time in class for students to complete evaluations.
    • Add a blurb about course evaluations in the syllabus.
    • Let students know that you value their honest and constructive feedback and tell them how you use their feedback.
    • When evaluations open for the course, remind students that they are available.
    • Remind students that evaluations are completely anonymous, and results are not available until after grades are turned in to the Registrar’s office.
    • It is best to complete the evaluations sooner in the evaluation period rather than later. Blackboard will be affected if the student has not taken some action regarding the evaluation towards the end of the administration period.
  • There is a dedicated CES website that includes additional information.

For questions, contact Sandy Ranney at evaluations@ces.wichita.edu.

Periodically, information will be posted regarding Watermark’s Course Evaluations & Surveys (CES) tool to help users better understand Wichita State’s new course evaluation tool.

Today’s focus is on the student experience.

  • Students will receive an email and notification on Blackboard when an evaluation is open.
  • Students can access the evaluation through Blackboard and through links provided in an email sent during the CES collection window.
  • When students login to the CES system, they will see a table containing evaluation information. This table will show which evaluations are completed along with the date and time. It will also show upcoming evaluations with the dates they are scheduled to open.
  • Students will see regular pop-up notifications in Blackboard during the CES evaluation time window.
  • Students will receive a certificate of completion for each evaluation that is submitted.
  • There is a dedicated CES website that includes additional information.

For questions, contact Sandy Ranney at evaluations@ces.wichita.edu.

Periodically, information will be posted regarding Watermark’s Course Evaluations & Surveys (CES) tool to help users better understand Wichita State’s new course evaluation tool.

Today’s focus is on the basic timeline.

  • The CES Administrator programs the pre-determined dates for each process. This pre-determined schedule cannot be modified.
  • The CES tasks are sent at midnight on the scheduled start date and will end at 11:59 p.m. on the scheduled end date.
  • The manage course process for instructors: Instructors have 10 days from notification of the opt-out window to delete courses from CES.
  • CES evaluations will be open for students for varying lengths of time, depending upon the length of the course term:
    • Fall and spring one-week to four-week courses: Two days
    • Fall and spring five-week to 16+ week courses: 10 days
    • Summer one- and two-week courses: Two days
    • Summer four-week to 10+ week courses: Seven days
  • Current CES results will be available at the end of the semester. Results will continue to remain accessible afterwards.
    • The availability date will be the Friday after grades are due to the Registrar.
  • New in spring 2025, a full timeline with specific dates is on the website. These dates will also appear as separate posts in WSU Today, with emphasis on the most relevant information for a specific date.
  • There is a dedicated CES website that includes additional information.

For questions, contact Sandy Ranney at evaluations@ces.wichita.edu.

Periodically, information will be posted regarding Watermark’s Course Evaluations & Surveys (CES) tool to help users better understand Wichita State’s new course evaluation tool.

Today’s focus is on Main Course Evaluation.

  • The “Main Course Evaluation” is a core set of questions that will be sent to all courses in which the instructor has not selected to “opt-out.”
  • Instructors can find these questions in CES. While in “Manage Courses,” click on the semester’s project, and then click on “Preview” to view the questions. The questions can also be found in the FAQs on the CES website.
  • Some courses are not eligible for the “Main Course Evaluation.” These are courses that are appointment-based, research, COOP, Intensive English, Market-Based and weekend-only courses.
  • There is a dedicated CES website that includes additional information.

For questions, contact Sandy Ranney at evaluations@ces.wichita.edu.

Periodically, information will be posted regarding Watermark’s Course Evaluations & Surveys (CES) tool to help users better understand Wichita State’s new course evaluation tool.

Today’s focus is on accessing CES.

  • While in Blackboard, instructors can access CES anytime by choosing “Tools” from the main menu and selecting “CES Course Evaluations.” It can also be directly accessed via the links provided in emails sent to the instructor.
  • Watermark Course Evaluations & Surveys Dashboard will appear.
  • Widgets will appear on the dashboard. When a task is available for a course, it will display information. If not, it may state “No Project Found.”
  • The “Manage Courses” widget will only appear when that option is open and available to instructors.
  • There is a dedicated CES website that includes additional information.

For questions, contact Sandy Ranney at evaluations@ces.wichita.edu.

Periodically, information will be posted regarding Watermark’s Course Evaluations & Surveys (CES) tool to help users better understand Wichita State’s new course evaluation tool.

Today’s focus is on emails.

  • CES uses email communication to send out information regarding the evaluation process.
  • Emails will come from WSU Evaluations (evaluations@ces.wichita.edu).
  • Emails are sent according to a specific timeline. CES operates from the course’s part-of-term, meaning the course start and end dates will determine when emails are sent out.
  • If you teach courses that are in different terms, you will receive duplicate emails. These emails provide information that pertains to that part-of-term.
  • The emails will also inform instructors if they need to take any specific actions regarding their course(s) within CES.
  • New in spring 2025, students will receive an email certificate once an evaluation is submitted.
  • There is a dedicated CES website that includes additional information.

For questions, contact Sandy Ranney at evaluations@ces.wichita.edu.

Watermark’s Course Evaluations & Surveys (CES) tool is Wichita State’s new course evaluation tool. Find more information throughout the semester in WSU Today about CES.

Today’s focus is on “What Is CES?”

  • CES is a course evaluation platform from Watermark. The evaluation portion of the platform is called “Course Evaluations & Surveys” and at WSU is referred to as CES.
  • CES is easy to use and is integrated with Blackboard.
  • CES results are electronic and will be available at the end of the semester, shortly after official grades are due.
  • Using CES should increase response rates.
  • There is a dedicated CES website that includes additional information.

For questions, contact Sandy Ranney at evaluations@ces.wichita.edu.