Author: Abigail Klein

Are you looking for a holiday gift for your favorite Shocker? Visit the Shocker Store’s Rhatigan Student Center location for their 12 Deals of Christmas Sale Nov. 29-Dec. 4. Customers can also shop the sale at the online Shocker Store and receive free shipping if they spend more than $75.

New sale items will be added daily and will remain on sale for the remainder of the promotion while supplies last. The new sale items for Thursday, Dec. 2 include an $18 select quarter-zip sweatshirt and 20% off kids’ merchandise. To see previous days’ sale items, visit the online or the Shocker Store Facebook or Instagram.

The search for WSU’s new executive vice president and provost position is under way. A search committee with shared governance representation from academic affairs and other constituencies has been formed.

The committee members are:

• Dr. Whitney Bailey (co-chair), president of Faculty Senate and Athletic Training Clinical Education coordinator, Human Performance Studies
• Werner Golling (co-chair), vice president of Finance and Administration
• Kathy Downes, dean, University Libraries and associate professor
• Dr. Marche Fleming-Randle, vice president, chief diversity officer and director of Military and Veteran Programs
• Gabriel Fonseca, Staff Senate president
• Dr. Linnea Glenmaye, associate vice president, Provost Office
• Kamilah Gumbs, vice president of Student Government Association
• Dr. Teri Hall, vice president of Student Affairs
• Dr. Andrew Hippisley, dean, Liberal Arts and Sciences and professor
• Vijay Matheswaran, graduate student
• Dr. Doug Parham, chairperson and associate professor, Communication Sciences and Disorders
• Fiffy Petty, executive assistant, VPFA
• Jeff Pulaski, director of the School of Art, Design and Creative Industries and professor
• Jodie Simon, associate educator and undergraduate coordinator
• Sheelu Surender, Staff Senate
• Dr. Sheree Utash, president, WSU Tech
• Dr. Gergely Zaruba, interim director and professor, School of Computing

Academic Career & Executive Search (ACES), an executive search firm, has been engaged to assist WSU with this important search. Jennifer Muller, managing partner and senior search consultant, will lead the ACES team.

The search committee had its kick-off meeting on Nov. 11, with President Muma joining the meeting to give the committee its charge.

Muller and the ACES team met with the search committee via Zoom on Nov. 23 to discuss various aspects of the search and search process.

ACES will conduct its work and present candidates for the search committee to review at the end of January 2022.

Ideally the new executive vice president and provost will be named in April 2022, with a starting date no later than July 1, 2022.

Wichita State University’s Center for Entrepreneurship (CEI) has granted two students the Women for Women’s Innovation Award — one who wants to use an app to help those with chronic illnesses, the other who wants to support local businesses by creating Wichita artisan gift boxes.

Further extending its community outreach, Wichita State partnered with Wichita Habitat for Humanity to build a house near campus for a Wichita family with three children.

The first step was a wall raising Dec. 1 at Wichita Habitat’s Rock the Block. WSU President Rick Muma and First Gentleman Rick Case were in attendance and helped with the wall raising. 

Wichita State University’s efforts to recruit and retain students from historically underserved and underrepresented areas rank it in the top 28% of the 2021 Social Mobility Index (SMI).

The 2021 SMI, calculated by CollegeNET Inc., benchmarks 1,549 four-year colleges and universities in the United States according to how effectively they enroll students from low-income backgrounds and graduate them into well-paying jobs.

Beginning fall 2022, eligible students from Illinois will be able to attend Wichita State University for the same cost as in-state tuition, a significant savings that will provide increased access and affordability to a growing number of students.

The Office of Financial Aid will temporarily close Friday, Dec. 3 for staff development. For more information or assistance during this time, please contact OneStop at 316-978-7440 or visit the OneStop office at Jardine Hall (Room 112).

Further extending its community outreach, Wichita State has partnered with Wichita Habitat for Humanity to build a house near campus for a Wichita family with three children.

It was a bright and sunny afternoon in August 2021 when Pedro Piña-Guerrero received a call that would change his life: He had won the Adelante Scholarship to attend Wichita State University. In the background, he could hear his mom squealing. As the phone call ended, Pedro knew he was about to become the first in his family to earn a college degree.

Debra Franklin, associate vice president for Strategic Initiatives at Wichita State, was recognized during an Advanced Robotics Manufacturing Institute (ARM) Annual Member Meeting Nov. 16. Franklin was one of the first two honored as part of ARM’s new Champions program.

The ARM Institute is the nation’s leading collaborative in robotics and workforce innovation, working at the confluence of industry, government and academia. Structured as a public-private partnership, the ARM Institute and its member organizations catalyze robotic technologies and education solutions to strengthen the U.S. industrial base and secure U.S. manufacturing resiliency.

Wichita State University’s partnership with ARM in July has resulted in the Department of Engineering Technology being among the first programs in the nation to earn an ARM endorsement for their mechatronics track – a certification that will translate to stronger job prospects for graduates.