Author: Caelin Bragg

Dr. Steven Skinner, professor of electrical and computer engineering, will assume the role of interim dean of the College of Engineering beginning June 9 to facilitate a smooth transition from Dean Anthony Muscat, whose last day at Wichita State will be June 30.

Skinner is an experienced leader who previously served as interim dean from 2019 to 2020. He brings a steady, collaborative approach and a deep commitment to students and faculty, and to the mission of the university.

The university is grateful for his leadership in the College of Engineering as the university begins the search for a new permanent dean.

The Office of Civil Rights, Title IX, & ADA Compliance (CTAC) has invited two finalists for the position of director of ADA & Section 504 compliance to campus for interviews Tuesday, May 20 and Thursday, May 22.

Each candidate will facilitate a presentation outlining how they intend to lead ADA compliance and accessibility efforts at an institution of higher education in 2025. Presentations will begin at 12:45 p.m. and conclude at 1:45 p.m. with an open Q&A session.

To RSVP, contact Linda Sims, executive assistant for CTAC, at linda.sims@wichita.edu.

More than 2,400 students are eligible to participate in Wichita State’s 127th spring commencement ceremony on Friday, May 16 and Saturday, May 17 in Charles Koch Arena. There will be four ceremonies to celebrate the graduates: 

Friday, May 16

• All graduate degrees will be awarded at 7 p.m. Friday, May 16. The featured speaker will be Wichita State Graduate Student of the Year, Donna Tran.

Saturday, May 17

• 9 a.m. — Fairmount College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the College of Fine Arts, and the Dorothy and Bill Cohen Honors College. The featured speaker will be Danielle Johnson, executive director of Wichita Habitat for Humanity.
• 1 p.m. — The College of Applied Studies and the College of Health Professions with featured speaker Matt All, president and CEO of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas.
• 5 p.m. — The W. Frank Barton School of Business and the College of Engineering with featured speaker Laura Bernstorf, director of special missions program management at Textron Aviation.

Departments on campus are invited to host an exhibit in Fan Alley during state events May 30-31 at a discounted rate. Fan Alley will have food trucks, yard games and local area businesses along Perimeter Road on the north side of Shocker Hall.

Campus departments can sign up to host a booth in Fan Alley at a discounted rate of $150. Booths are encouraged to offer interactive and fun activities for attendees.

Benefits of hosting a booth:

• Customized booth directly next to the high-traffic areas of state events.
• Exposure to nearly 35,000 attendees, from high schoolers to families, coaches and patrons, and more.
• Enhance the overall experience for attendees and elevate Wichita State.

Slots are limited for Fan Alley, so complete the exhibitor booth registration form soon.

Power, tables, chairs and equipment for booths are not provided. Departments are expected to supply the materials for their individual exhibits. Volunteers will be working to assist booths at Fan Alley for the duration of events.

Leo Wetta, investment adviser representative with Voya Financial, will be available for in-person meetings at Wichita State Tuesday, May 20. Faculty and staff can get one-on-one advising and review for their Voya Financial accounts as part of their KBOR retirement plan.

If you are interested in meeting with Leo, you can schedule a time to meet. Time slots are limited, so reserve a time soon. For questions, you can call Voya Financial Advisors at 316-686-2428.

Abigail Smith, a music education and trumpet performance major, transferred from Coffeyville Community College to Wichita State, where she found a supportive community and hands-on experience in local classrooms. After graduation, she’ll attend the Aspen Music Festival and School before beginning her career as an elementary music teacher in the Wichita area.

Madelyn Stilwell has built an impressive foundation in research and leadership through hands-on experiences at Wichita State and beyond, including co-authoring a scientific publication and presenting her work at national conferences. She’ll intern at Likarda this summer before continuing her studies in WSU’s biomedical engineering master’s program.

May 8 marked the one-year anniversary of the Wichita Biomedical Campus Phase 1 groundbreaking, signaling the beginning of a game-changing project among Wichita State, WSU Campus of Applied Sciences and Technology (WSU Tech), and the University of Kansas that will revolutionize health care in the state.

Phase 1 of the location is a $222 million, 350,000-square-foot joint health sciences center, in downtown Wichita. Once complete, the Wichita Biomedical Campus will combine WSU’s College of Health Professions programs, WSU Tech’s health care program and the Wichita campuses of KU School of Medicine and KU School of Pharmacy.

To facilitate coordination among WSU, WSU Tech, KU and the construction company, Stacy Christie was brought on as project director in early 2024. In the time since the groundbreaking, the vision and promise of the Wichita Biomedical Campus has expanded greatly:

• A $1 million grant will go towards purchasing audiology equipment that will directly benefit students in the Doctor of Audiology and Master of Arts in speech-language pathology programs as well as support Wichita State’s Evelyn Hendren Cassat Speech-Language-Hearing Clinic, which will be relocated to the Wichita Biomedical Campus following completion of Phase 1.
• Wichita State launched the Institute for Rehabilitation Medicine and Assistive Technology in November 2024, which will support patient-driven R&D on innovative new technologies that will improve the lives of those with physical and cognitive disabilities. In collaboration with inaugural partners Ascension Via Christi’s Rehabilitation Hospital, Heartspring’s Outpatient Services and the Robert J. Dole VA Medical Center, the institute will move into the Wichita Biomedical Campus in 2027.
• Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas committed to supporting the Wichita Biomedical Campus with a $2.5 million investment, which will be split between supporting the site and developing two endowed nursing scholarships for College of Health Professions students.
• The Kansas Center for the Advancement of Healthcare (KCAH) will help support health care initiatives across the state by developing a systematic approach to health care. Leaders and representatives convened at the KCAH statewide retreat earlier this year to discuss continued collaborative efforts to improve health care in Kansas. The Wichita presence of KCAH will be in the Wichita Biomedical Campus.
• Wichita State is committed to improving oral health care in the state and is moving forward with a study to determine the feasibility of a dental school housed within the Wichita Biomedical Campus, a first of its kind in Kansas, bringing in students and professionals from across the country to benefit Kansans in need of dental care.

Since the groundbreaking, the site has seen rapid progress in only one year. Key milestones:

• Much of 2024 was marked with digging out the old foundations at the site to install the current foundation of Phase 1 of the Wichita Biomedical Campus.
• Early 2025 saw a tower crane constructed, which is facilitating rapid vertical construction on the site.
• Coinciding with the tower crane was the completion of the first storm shelters, which marked the first sections of the building that were fully walkable.
• Later in March 2025, ramps were built to connect the two levels of the ground floor of the building, offering a first glimpse of what the interior will look like.

Currently, steel is continuing to be placed every day and the building is starting to take shape downtown. You can watch a continuous livestream of the construction site online.

And hear from Dr. Sheree Utash, president of the WSU Tech, and Dr. Greg Hand, dean of the College of Health Professions, as they sat down with President Rick Muma for the April episode of the Forward Together podcast, where they further discussed the progress and future vision for the Wichita Biomedical Campus.

Lisa Oldham, a proud two-time Wichita State grad, has dedicated her academic and professional journey to advocating for healing and justice in underserved communities. Fueled by resilience and a deep connection to Indigenous culture, she aims to serve others through work in corrections, mental health and substance use recovery.

Jacob Greenwald came to Wichita State from Lenexa. He used the applied learning opportunities at WSU to land a job as a software engineer at the National Institute for Aviation Research.