Author: Caelin Bragg

Dear colleagues,

As we hit the midway point in the spring semester, I’d like to provide an update on WSU’s approach to recent executive orders and federal actions. Since my last update to campus during the spring 2025 town hall, a lot has happened that is impactful on higher education, including more federal cuts, an FAQ that provides further explanation to the Department of Education’s Feb. 14 Dear Colleague Letter, and the most recent executive order to dismantle the Department of Education, to name a few.

As a result of the recent orders and actions, DEI efforts within the higher education landscape continue to evolve. At Wichita State, and in alignment with other Kansas Board of Regents institutions, we are conducting a systematic review of our policies, procedures and programs to ensure compliance with changing federal and state requirements. Some of these efforts include:

• Reviewing the university’s strategic plan, which includes our inclusive excellence goal.
• Changes to the WSU website, programs, initiatives and events as the university works to ensure continued compliance. You may notice disclaimer language on some web pages currently under review.
• Some members of our campus research community have already experienced the loss of federal grant funding because of these orders, and we continue to review our funded projects and work with our principal investigators (PIs) and co-PIs to develop alternative plans in the event funding is lost.

While the effects of changes in our federal and state government may not be immediate for everyone, it is likely that at some point, these shifts will touch each of us in different ways.

As the need to respond to changes occurs, we will continue to make every effort to communicate, because that is an important part of our process. As part of my introduction to campus, I’m engaging in a series of faculty/staff convenings with each college, where we will discuss campus initiatives around strategic planning and how we are responding to current challenges while continuing to pursue opportunities.

If you have specific concerns about a particular policy, issue or event, please elevate it to the dean or vice president of your division so we can work through challenges together.

Lastly, though our campus must comply with state and federal requirements, we are and will remain firmly committed to the ability of all members of our campus community to thrive and succeed. Thank you for being a valuable member of our campus community and for the work you do to make WSU an incredible place to learn, work and grow.

Dr. Monica Lounsbery, provost and senior executive vice president

Do you want to hear more from your student and university leaders about what has been happening this year? Do you want to share your thoughts or concerns on your education and student experience? Attend the virtual Student Government Association (SGA) town hall featuring university administration at 3:15 p.m. Thursday, April 10 virtually via YouTube.

Here, you’ll get a chance to not only hear from the Student Government Association and the university administration, you’ll also have a chance to ask questions over the course of the town hall.

You can access the streamed town hall on YouTube. Students interested in submitting questions for consideration can email sga.president@wichita.edu before or during the town hall.

As you return to campus after spring break, you will notice ongoing and new construction across Wichita State’s 330 acres and beyond.

Main campus:

Corbin Education Center
Corbin Education Center remains closed with repair work underway this spring to replace equipment in mechanical room damaged by a chilled water line break in 2024. The College of Applied Studies will move back into Corbin at the end of the spring 2025 semester.

University Stadium Phase 1A
Construction is underway on Phase 1A on the east side of University Stadium (formerly Cessna Stadium). The first phase of construction includes bleacher seating, a pavilion building that will house ticketing, restrooms, and concessions as well as a plaza and parking lot between the stadium and Devlin Hall.

Phase 1A completion is scheduled for May 2025 before KSHSAA Track and Field State Championship on May 30-31. Phase 1B will begin in June 2025 after KSHSAA Track and Field State Championship. Phase 1B will consist of widening the field and installing a nine-lane track.

Wilkins Stadium
Construction on the softball indoor practice facility next to Wilkins Stadium is underway. The facility is scheduled to be complete in April 2025.

Pickleball courts
Construction is underway for three pickleball courts on the lawn area between Heskett Center, Hubbard Hall and Lindquist Hall. It is anticipated that the pickleball courts will be ready for use in late April.

McKnight Art Center
Construction is underway for ventilation upgrades on the second floor of McKnight North. Work is scheduled to finish by the fall of 2025.

Duerksen Fine Arts Center
Construction is complete on adding a single occupancy restroom and lounge area in the B wing.

Brennan I, II and III demolition
Demolition of the three buildings is planned for summer 2025. Office relocations for staff are scheduled for late May/early June.

Innovation Campus:

NIAR Hub for Advanced Manufacturing Research
Construction on the NIAR HAMR building continues to progress. Construction is expected to be complete by the end of 2025.

The 170,000-square-foot building is partly funded by an EDA grant and will house advanced manufacturing research labs and associated offices. The building will be located on Innovation Boulevard between the Partnership Building 1 and The Suites. The first floor is primarily labs with offices on the second floor.

Partnership Building 3B
P3B, located between Partnership Building 3 and The Smart Factory @Wichita, is under construction. It will house the Forensic Crime Gun Intelligence Laboratory for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).

Construction on Phase 1 of the Wichita Biomedical Campus is well underway and making its presence in downtown Wichita known.

Phase 1 of the biomedical campus — a joint venture of Wichita State, the University of Kansas and the WSU Campus of Applied Sciences and Technology (WSU Tech) — is a $222 million, 350,000-square-foot joint health sciences center, located at the southeast corner of Broadway and William.

Ramps connecting the two levels of the first floor have been poured, providing a glimpse of the final look of the inside of the building. Workers recently built a third storm shelter, and steel columns have been set up to the third floor. Steel installation will be the focus for the next several months, which will show the skeleton of the final building.

Once complete, the Wichita Biomedical Campus will combine WSU’s College of Health Professions programs, including the Evelyn Hendren Cassat Speech-Language-Hearing Clinic, WSU Tech’s health care program and the Wichita campuses of KU School of Medicine and KU School of Pharmacy.

Construction on Phase 1 is anticipated to be complete by the end of 2026 with the first classes being held in the building in summer/fall 2027.

According to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, the risk of measles spreading throughout Kansas remains low. However, pockets of low vaccination coverage leave some communities at higher risk for outbreaks. Learn more about measles — including vaccination information — at the KDHE website. And learn more about general health advisories and WSU Student Health resources here.

There have been no reported measles cases in Sedgwick County per county health officials who are closely monitoring the situation. Unvaccinated residents are the most at risk when traveling to areas with known outbreaks or when traveling internationally. For up-to-date local measles vaccination clinics and facts, visit the Sedgwick County website.

On March 16, the university discovered flooding in the lower level of Ablah Library. Currently, the lower level is closed as clean-up work is underway, but the rest of the library remains open.

Water did not reach the bottom shelves of the R-Z call number ranges on the lower level, which cover medicine (including nursing), engineering and technology, and quick action by library staff kept significant water out of the vaults of WSU Special Collections and University Archives, so there was no damage to materials.

The materials in the R-Z call number ranges are being packed up and moved to off-campus storage so that water can be extracted from under the shelving. All microform collections are also being moved to off-campus storage. An exact timeline for the return of these collections to campus has yet to be determined, but it is expected to be several months.

Researchers who need print materials from those subject areas are encouraged to use the library’s interlibrary loan services. All WSU digital collections (including streaming audio and video) remain active and can be accessed via the library’s discovery function. Materials from the WSU Special Collections and University Archives will be available to researchers by request.

The Shocker women’s bowling team dropped its first match of the Conference USA Championship before storming back through the contender’s bracket with seven straight wins to capture the program’s first conference title March 23 at Colonial Lanes.

With the win, Wichita State clinches the conference’s automatic berth to the NCAA tournament. The selection show will take place at 3 p.m. Wednesday, March 26.

The Shockers (84-36) capped off the incredible run with consecutive victories over #1-seed and defending NCAA champion Jacksonville State, besting the Gamecocks 4-3 in the best-of-seven tiebreaker to force an if-necessary championship match then repeating the feat in another best-of-seven showdown.

President Rick Muma and First Gentleman Rick Case will be on KMUW starting at 7 a.m. Thursday, March 27 during KMUW’s spring pledge drive. Listen in on 89.1 FM.

They will be matching listener donations. Listeners can make a donation by calling 316-978-6700, using the KMUW smartphone app or visiting the website.

Michelle Locke has been named interim associate vice president of Financial Services. She takes over from Troy Bruun, who has accepted a position outside the university.

To reach Locke, email michelle.locke@wichita.edu or call 316-978-5103.

Wichita State University is guided by its mission to drive education, culture and the economy for Kansas. Every few years in March, that means driving buzzer-beaters, slam dunks, joy and heartache to add to the public good in Wichita with the NCAA Tournament.

The NCAA’s main event is back in Wichita to continue a long history of Wichita State bringing this bracket-busting event to the city. Intrust Bank Arena is the site for men’s first- and second-round games on March 20 and 22. Eight teams and their fans will visit Wichita for basketball and to explore the city, especially the Old Town, downtown and Delano area located near the arena.