Author: Caelin Bragg

Jennifer Miranda, junior electrical engineering major, is completing her internship with NASA this semester and will be featured on NASA’s “Launch Your Future” internship webinar at 3 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 17.

Join the Shocker Career Accelerator at its new home in the Milly Marcus Annex at the Marcus Welcome Center from 3 to 5 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 22 with remarks at 4 p.m.

Explore the new Shocker Experience Walkway, which guides students from Admissions through their college journey, leading to the Shocker Career Accelerator and onto the main campus.

The come-and-go event is open to students, faculty, staff and employers. It’s an excellent opportunity to tour the office, hear about services and learn about the renewed focus on applied learning. Enjoy light refreshments and meet the team.

Wichita State University’s Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory (MDL), a vital resource during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, is now leveraging its expertise to explore new frontiers. By addressing critical gaps in the health care system, the lab is also offering invaluable hands-on training for students, shaping the future of health care.

Building on its pandemic-era success, MDL is now expanding its reach in three significant areas:

• Microbiology services – Collaborating with small, rural hospitals to process their microbiology specimens, ensuring these communities have access to essential and timely diagnostic services.
• Technical consulting and professional services – Offering technical consultancy and professional services to help small hospitals and clinics maintain and achieve certification, empowering them to establish and operate their own laboratories.
• Pathology partnership – MDL secured a contract with Southcentral Pathology, bringing its technical work under Wichita State’s purview.

All benefits-eligible state employees must participate in open enrollment. Log in to the Member Administration Portal to make your elections.

Events occurring this week:

• 9-10 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 16 in person in 258 Rhatigan Student Center, Smoky Hills Room
• 2-3 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 17, online, attend the Online Open Enrollment Presentation. Registration is not required.

Take advantage of the scheduled virtual and in-person presentations, as well as on-demand options. To add meeting reminders to your calendar or for additional information visit the Open Enrollment Website. Any questions should be directed to TotalRewards@wichita.edu.

Dr. Yumi Suzuki, associate professor in the School of Criminal Justice in the Fairmount College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, recently published her research in the FBI: Law Enforcement Bulletin (LEB) on investigating money mules.

The article — “Insights on money mule cases,” published Sept. 9 — explores investigative challenges in money mule cases where money is moved from victims to other criminals who are often overseas. Based on a survey from financial crime investigators in law enforcement and financial institutions, the article discusses the role of cryptocurrency, shared databases and transnational organized crime on these investigations.

Earlier this year, Kansas Kids @ GEAR UP received a seven-year, $3.5 million dollar per year grant that will serve 2,500 students in foster care across the state of Kansas.

Kansas Kids @ GEAR UP has been hosted by Wichita State since 2002. In August 2023, the project learned its proposal for another seven-year grant was tied with another state in the grant competition and was subsequently awarded to the other state.

In May of this year, with permission from Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly, Deltha Colvin, associate vice president for College Readiness and Retention Programs; and Corinne Nilsen, executive director of Kansas Kids @ GEAR UP collaborated to write a new grant proposal to the U.S. Department of Education, which was approved.

Since 1999, GEAR UP projects across the nation have been instrumental in transforming the lives of students, families and communities. By providing invaluable resources, mentorship and support, GEAR UP plays a pivotal role in expanding opportunities for students from underserved backgrounds.

Kansas Kids @ GEAR UP goals:

• Ensure students in foster care enrolled in secondary school are on track for graduation
• Improve high school graduation and college enrollment rates for students in foster care
• Increase the number of seniors in foster care who complete and submit the FAFSA application

GEAR UP brings together middle and high schools, colleges and universities, state agencies, and community organizations in pursuit of the same mission. Kansas Kids @ GEAR UP will continue its impact for another seven years to help students in foster care complete high school and go to college, thanks to the new grant.

Kansas Kids @ GEAR UP by the numbers:

• 20,059 students served across the State of Kansas (2002-2023)
• 369 schools attended by KKGU students in 2022-2023
• $79 million dollars from the U. S. Department of Education (including the new grant 2024-2031)
• Over $54 million dollars in matching non-federal funds from partners, school district and community donations (as of October 2023)
• For the 2022-2023 academic year, KKGU served 399 seniors in high school. Of those, 301 graduated (75.44%) and 203 completed a college application (67.44%)

All benefits-eligible state employees must participate in open enrollment. Log in to the Member Administration Portal to make your elections.

Events occurring this week:

• 9-10 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 16 in person in 258 Rhatigan Student Center, Smoky Hills Room
• 2-3 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 17, online, attend the Online Open Enrollment Presentation. Registration is not required.

Take advantage of the scheduled virtual and in-person presentations, as well as on-demand options. To add meeting reminders to your calendar or for additional information visit the Open Enrollment Website. Any questions should be directed to TotalRewards@wichita.edu.

Join Shocker volleyball for its Dig Pink game against Memphis at 7 p.m. Oct. 25 in Charles Koch Arena and make sure to grab your official T-shirt beforehand. For every tee sold, the Shocker Store will donate $1 to the Side-Out Foundation.

Shirts are available at the Koch Arena store and shockerstore.com.

Dr. Chase Billingham, associate professor and graduate program coordinator in the Department of Sociology in the Fairmount College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and co-authors utilized original data collected with a survey funded by a WSU URCA grant to examine factors influencing parental assessment of schools in a research article recently published in AERA Open.

The article, “‘More About the Neighborhood Than the School’: Leveraging ‘Don’t Know’ Survey Responses to Probe Parental Evaluations of School Safety,” was co-authored by Dr. Billingham; Dr. Shelley Kimelberg, University at Buffalo-SUNY; and Dr. Matthew Hunt, Northeastern University.

Abstract:

“When asked a series of questions about their evaluation of hypothetical schools in a survey experiment, respondents were given the option to select ‘don’t know’ and explain in their own words what additional information they would want to know about the school in order to make their decision. Respondents were especially likely to answer ‘don’t know’ in response to a question about school safety. We explore patterns of ‘don’t know’ responses through analysis of the open-ended answers that respondents provided. Rather than focusing solely on school characteristics, open-ended responses reveal that parents tend to worry about crime and safety issues in the neighborhoods surrounding schools. We discuss the implications of these findings for education policy, school practice, and education research methods.”

Dr. Mia Ocean, associate professor in the School of Social Work in the Fairmount College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, has recently published the article “The potential of humor to joyously dismantle ableism+: Considerations for social workers” in a special issue on disability justice of the Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare.

Within the article, Dr. Ocean explains how to use humor to creatively call people into the disability justice movement and disrupt ableism. The article builds on her work as a staff writer for The Squeaky Wheel, a disability-focused satire publication.

In September, Dr. Ocean was also appointed as a member to the Sedgwick County/Wichita Access Advisory Board, which helps ensure Sedgwick County policies meet ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) requirements by working with Wichita and the county.