Image of hands typing on laptop.

Secret shoppers often shop for pizza or clothing with an eye on helpfulness and timely service. They might also evaluate a hotel for cleanliness and service.

But secret shopping isn’t just limited to those kinds of consumer experiences. Wichita State University’s Public Policy and Management Center (PPMC) uses WSU students as secret shoppers to help workforce training centers improve their services for people in search of employment and job training.

To accommodate students during the fall 2022 Move-In, the Rhatigan Student Center (RSC) will extend its hours Aug. 13-14 to the following:

RSC Building
7:30 a.m.-10 p.m. Aug. 13
9 a.m.-8 p.m. Aug. 14

RSC Shocker Store
8 a.m.-4 p.m. Aug. 13
1-5 p.m. Aug. 14

Shocker Sports Grill and Lanes
11 a.m.-10 p.m. Aug. 13
11 a.m.-8 p.m. Aug. 14

Restaurants at the RSC food court will be open at the following hours:

Starbucks
8 a.m.- 4 p.m. Aug. 13
8 a.m.-5 p.m. Aug. 14

Chick-fil-A
11 a.m. – 2 p.m. Aug. 13
Closed, Aug. 14

Panda Express
11 a.m. – 2 p.m. Aug. 13
11 a.m.-3 p.m. Aug. 14

Freddy’s
Closed

Brkfst & Co
Closed

Starting at 5 p.m. Aug. 26, the back entrance to Morrison Hall will be inaccessible as construction continues on the first floor of the building. Access will be restored on Sept. 2.

The west main entrance to Morrison Hall will be temporarily closed, as will the Post Office counter, as construction continues on the first floor of the building. You can enter the building via the south entrance.

During this time, the Post Office will remain open but will have limited services due to the lack of counter service. Customers are advised to plan accordingly.

The west entrance and counter will reopen for customers by the end of the day on Aug. 26.

Morrison Hall will soon begin a first-floor replacement and abatement project. Starting at 5 p.m. Aug. 12, the elevator will be temporarily inaccessible, along with the entrance to Strategic Communications.

Both will be available again by end of day Aug. 19.

Individuals in Strategic Communications, the basement or the second floor can be reached via phone or email during that time.

The Sedgwick County Health Department will continue offering COVID vaccine clinics during the month of August. To find the locations of the clinics and to view hours of operation, please visit the Wichita State Student Health Services vaccine website.

Dr. Neal Allen — chair and associate Professor of Political Science— was recently interviewed by major news PBS Newshour and NBC Nightly News for his expertise on the upcoming Aug. 2 vote. His other interviews include the following:

Recently aired:

Allen was also quoted in the following articles on the topic.

In addition to these interviews, Allen has also been a panelist for the Kansas City Media Collaborative and American Public Square Zoom conversation, as well as for Kansas Week on PBS Kansas.

And on election night, Allen will be live on KAKE Channel 10.

Brkfst & Co logo with picture of waffles.

Each year, the Student Choice location at the Rhatigan Student Center changes based on student votes. The winner for the 2022-2023 school year, Brkfst & Co. will open 7 a.m.-2 p.m. Monday-Friday beginning Aug. 15.

The menu will include a variety of hearty breakfast favorites like omelets, bagels, chicken and waffles, as well as healthy, quick grab ‘n go options like overnight oats and customizable yogurt parfaits.

Following an internal search, Dr. Andrew Hippisley, dean of the Fairmount College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, has appointed Dr. Jean Griffith as the associate dean for diversity, equity and inclusion for the college. Griffith’s position is a new one that follows recommendations made by the National Science Foundation ADVANCE grant team, whose goal was to assess faculty DEI efforts at WSU.

Previously, Griffith, an associate professor of English and former chair of the Department of English, had served as the director of faculty and curricular diversity in the provost’s office. In her new role, Griffith will provide leadership for faculty-related diversity and inclusion initiatives and create and assess diversity and inclusion curricular programming.

She will also monitor equity processes in the college including faculty hiring and promotions while serving as a resource to the entire college community regarding diversity and inclusion topics.

“Jean will do an outstanding job in leading the way in diversity and inclusion in the college and the university community as a whole,” said Dr. Edil Torres Rivera, LatinX studies and counseling professor.”

Dr. Marche Fleming-Randle, vice president and chief diversity officer, echoed Torres’ statements.

“Dr. Jean Griffith is an advocate for diversity, inclusion and equity and has served on the President’s Diversity Council since 2017,” said Fleming-Randle. “She will serve LAS proudly.”

Image of exterior of Wichita State Campus.

More than 1,000 local Amazon employees can now receive tuition assistance at Wichita State University through the Amazon Career Choice program.

Every full-time Amazon employee is now eligible for $5,250 of tuition assistance per calendar year at WSU. Part-time employees are eligible for $2,625 per calendar year. The Amazon Career Choice program is a tuition assistance program for hourly employees who have been employed for 90-plus days