Author: Caelin Bragg

Professionals can learn new skills or enhance what they already know with Badges at Wichita State, such as with the Professional Writing series, which covers a breadth of topics to bring your writing to a higher level.

Badges are bite-sized, one credit hour or less courses that can be taken at your own pace using Open Educational Resources. Registering in the Professional Writing series can help you gain skills in areas such as creating your resume and cover letter or writing and editing for social media. Or you can learn more about presenting online, writing professional correspondence or developing researching grants.

To learn more about Badges, including how to enroll for the fall 2024 semester, visit wichita.edu/badges, or fill out the Badge interest form for any questions you may have. And employees at Wichita State can apply for Tuition Assistance to cover the cost of Badges. The final application window for Tuition Assistance closes Aug. 2.

Wichita State has been a national leader in creating a standard for microcredentials, allowing employers to be confident that meaningful learning has occurred, so you can confidently list a badge from WSU on your resume.

Professionals looking to boost their skillsets or retrain for new opportunities can enroll in the many Badge courses offered at Wichita State in the fall 2024 semester. With Badges, professionals can take bite-sized, one credit hour or less courses to learn or enhance their skills.

Wichita State has been a national leader in creating a standard for microcredentials, allowing employers to be confident that meaningful learning has occurred when you list the badge on your resume. Badges are developed with input from employers, government licensing agencies, trade associations and faculty.

One such series of Badges is the Human Resource Management series, which can enhance your capabilities of being an effective supervisor. Badges in this series cover designing jobs, recruiting, hiring, managing and mentoring employees.

Employees at Wichita State can also apply for Tuition Assistance to cover the cost of Badges. The final application window for Tuition Assistance closes Aug. 2.

To learn more about Badges, including how to enroll, visit wichita.edu/badges, or fill out the Badge interest form for any questions you may have.

The Office of Civil Rights, Title IX & ADA Compliance (CTAC) is offering training for volunteers interested in serving as advisors and/or hearing decision-makers. Advisors and hearing decision-makers play an integral role in Title IX investigative and hearing process.

What is an advisor?

Advisor means a person chosen by a party or appointed by the university to accompany the party to meetings related to the resolution process, to advise the party on that process and to conduct cross-examination for the party at the hearing, if any.

What is a hearing decision-maker?

Hearing decision-makers are those with decision-making and sanctioning authority within the university’s Formal Grievance process.

When will this virtual training occur?

Participants will have the option to attend one of the following:

• 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, July 16
• 1 to 5 p.m. Thursday, July 18
• 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 24

To RSVP, contact Stephanie Hearnen at stephanie.hearnen@wichita.edu or 316-978-5184.

Dr. Almer J. “Jay” Mandt III, associate professor emeritus of philosophy and former director of the Emory K. Lindquist honors program, passed away on June 20 in Wichita. Jay Mandt served 14 years as Wichita State’s Honors director and was active in the regional Great Plains Honors Council and National Collegiate Honors Council.

In addition to numerous articles on topics in German philosophy and philosophy of culture, he published on honors education in the Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council. His broad interest in the philosophy of culture and humanities led him to develop honors seminars on science fiction and in military history.

Dr. Mandt is remembered for the steadfast belief in intellectual curiosity that he shared with generations of students. He steered the honors program through uncertainty, ensuring the future of honors education at Wichita State.

Information about services will be published in his digital obituary.

Wichita State has released the names of the 3,429 students included in the spring 2024 semester Dean’s Honor Roll list. To be included on the honor roll, students must be a full-time student (at least 12 credit hours) and have at least a 3.5 grade point average on the 4.0 scale.

The Airbus/WSU Aerospace Engineering Wing Box Design Competition gives students and the public an opportunity to demonstrate their understanding of structural analyses and design.

There are three categories participants can compete in:

• High school: Open to high school student teams. Competitors will design and construct wingboxes and also create a poster display describing their design philosophy and contest-related activities.
• Open category: Open to the public at large. Practicing engineers in the local aviation industries and hobbyists also are encouraged to compete.
• AE 525 category: Open to undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in AE 525: Flight Structures I at WSU. The wing-box design challenge will be mandatory for students enrolled in this course.

Reach out to Dr. Suresh Raju at suresh.keshavanarayana@wichita.edu with any contest or technical questions.

Beyond the classrooms and lecture halls, Wichita State is a hub of vibrant culture, entertainment and adventure all year round. Whether you’re a local in search of new experiences or a visitor eager to immerse yourself in the Shocker spirit, WSU offers a plethora of activities that make the summer months shine.

You are hereby invited to a Wichita State-cation: From intriguing museums and picturesque selfie spots to exhilarating sporting events, captivating fine arts performances and delectable dining options, Wichita State is the place to be. Join us and see why our campus is a welcoming, must-visit destination.

Wichita State University’s campus will be closed in observance of Juneteenth on Wednesday, June 19.

Eligible employees will have the paid holiday off, and the day will automatically be filled out in eligible employees’ timesheets/leave reports.

President Biden initially recognized Juneteenth as a federal holiday in 2021, and Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly announced in 2023 that Juneteenth would be a state holiday.

Wichita State systems and internet are fully restored.

If you continue to experience any technical issues, contact the ITS Help Desk at 316-978-4357 (HELP).

Andrew Hippisley, dean of Wichita State’s Fairmount College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, has accepted a position as vice provost for Academic Affairs at The University of Texas at Arlington (UTA). His last day at WSU will be July 2.

David Eichhorn, associate dean of the Fairmount College, will fill in as interim dean while the university conducts a national search for Hippisley’s replacement.

Hippisley has been dean at Wichita State for six years. During his time as dean, the Fairmount College has seen unprecedented growth in research, with proposal dollars nearly doubling from $22 million to $40 million a year and external dollars received increasing from $7 million to more than $13 million a year. Research strategies developed in this time include a discipline-specific workload policy and a buy-out policy.

In his time at WSU, Hippisley also helped launch new programs such as the master’s in mathematical data science, bachelor’s in applied linguistics, bachelor’s in American Sign Language, Associate of Sciences, and certificates in sustainability studies, ArcGIS and space sciences. In addition, he helped create new academic pathways through the Law 3+3 program with University of Kansas School of Law, a 4+3 pathway with the Kansas College of Osteopathic Medicine, and articulation agreements with multiple community colleges.

“Under my leadership, the college has overhauled its requirements to reframe them as competencies that are outcomes of a liberal arts education in order to make explicit the career-readiness value of a liberal arts and sciences education,” Hippisley said.

Community engagement has also been one of Hippisley’s priorities as he made strong efforts to strengthen the college’s ties with its alumni base. In partnership with the WSU Foundation, Hippisley has helped secure $24 million to support the mission of the Fairmount College and has developed new industrial and business partnerships, including a legal professions advisory board and an industrial math clinic.

“It has been a pleasure working with Dean Hippisley as both a fellow dean and as a colleague over the years,” said Dr. Shirley Lefever, provost and executive vice president of Wichita State. “He has brought a vision of collaboration and strategic thinking during his tenure that has resulted in more interdisciplinary programs and increased research productivity across several departments in the college. We wish him well in his new role.”