Author: Jamie Olmsted

There are many reasons to love the winter season, holidays, snow and sweater weather to name a few. However, one thing people do not love about winter is the flu season. The tips and resources below will help you to protect yourself and others and help stop the spread of germs:

• The best way to stay healthy during flu season is by getting the flu vaccine each year.
• Avoid close contact with people who are sick. When you are sick, wear a mask and keep your distance from others to protect them from getting sick too.
• Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when coughing or sneezing. Flu viruses spread mainly by droplets from cough and sneezing.
• Wash your hands often. If soap and water are not available, use hand sanitizer.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs can spread when a person touches something contaminated with germs and then touches their eyes, nose or mouth.
• Clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces at home, work or school, especially when someone is ill.
• Get plenty of sleep, be physically active, manage your stress, drink plenty of fluids and eat nutritious food.
• If possible, stay home from work, school and errands when you are sick.

For questions or to make an appointment with Student Health Services, call 316-978-4792.

To help you plan your time off and work schedules throughout the year, Wichita State is happy to share the 2024 holidays.

Holidays for State of Kansas employees are designated on an annual basis by the governor of the State of Kansas and the Kansas Board of Regents (KBOR) for eligible employees.

The following dates have been designated as paid holidays for all departments of Wichita State for the 2024 calendar year. This information is available online at any time.

• Discretionary Day*
• New Year’s Day – Monday, Jan. 1
• Martin Luther King, Jr. Day – Monday, Jan. 15
• Memorial Day – Monday, May 27
• Juneteenth – Wednesday, June 19
• Independence Day – Thursday, July 4
• Labor Day – Monday, Sept. 2
• Veterans Day – Monday, Nov. 11 (classes are in session on this day)
• Thanksgiving Day – Thursday, Nov. 28 and Friday, Nov. 29
• Christmas Day – Wednesday, Dec. 25

*The discretionary day must be used during the payroll calendar year. For 2024, it must be utilized between Dec. 24, 2023 and Dec. 21, 2024. This paid leave benefit is used for observance of a holiday, family event or other special day. Employees who work a Monday through Friday schedule should plan to use their discretionary day on or before Friday, Dec. 20, 2024.

Employees will not be paid for the discretionary day in lieu of taking the time off, and the banked hours expire at the end of each payroll year. Employees will use standard leave request procedures to seek leader approval in advance of taking the discretionary day.

The 2024 Winter Closedown period has not yet been developed and approved by university leadership. Once that has been completed, the schedule will be communicated to ensure all employees can manage their time off appropriately.

It has come to WSU’s attention that the winter closedown schedule overlaps with the beginning of spring 2024 pre-session classes by one day, Jan. 2, 2024. The decision has been made to shift the winter closedown dates to begin and end a day earlier. This means the winter closedown will commence at the end of the day on Monday, Dec. 18, 2023, and reopen on Tuesday morning, Jan. 2, 2024. The closedown is ten (10) days, two of which are paid holidays. Classes will not be in session during this period.

Employees who would normally be scheduled to work the days may use accumulated vacation leave or their 2023 discretionary day* during the winter closedown. Non-exempt employees can also use accumulated compensatory time off during the winter closedown.

If your role requires you to work during the winter closedown it must be approved in advance by your immediate supervisor. For those that are required to work during the winter closedown, we appreciate your dedication and service to the university.

Schedule of winter closedown:

• Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2023
• Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2023
• Thursday, Dec. 21, 2023
• Friday, Dec. 22, 2023
• Monday, Dec. 25, 2023 (Paid Holiday)
• Tuesday, Dec. 26, 2023
• Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2023
• Thursday, Dec. 28, 2023
• Friday, Dec. 29, 2023
• Monday Jan. 1, 2024 (Paid Holiday)

An employee must be in pay status the entire workday before and the entire workday after state holidays to receive holiday pay. The official state holidays are Christmas Day and New Year’s Day.

*The discretionary day for 2023 must be used on or before Dec. 23, 2023.

Holidays for state of Kansas employees are designated on an annual basis by the governor and the Kansas Board of Regents (KBOR) for eligible employees.

The following dates have been designated as paid holidays for all departments of Wichita State for the 2023 calendar year. This information is also available online at any time.

• Discretionary day*
• New Year’s Day (observed) – Monday, Jan. 2, 2023
• Martin Luther King, Jr. Day – Monday, Jan. 16, 2023
• Memorial Day – Monday, May 29, 2023
• Independence Day – Tuesday, July 4, 2023
• Labor Day – Monday, Sept. 4
• Veterans Day – Friday, Nov. 10 (classes are in session on this day)
• Thanksgiving Day – Thursday, Nov. 23 and Friday, Nov. 24
• Christmas Day – Monday, Dec. 25

*The discretionary day must be used during the payroll calendar year. For 2023, it must be utilized between Dec. 25, 2022-Dec. 23, 2023. This paid leave benefit is used for observance of a holiday, family event or other special day. Employees who work a Monday through Friday schedule should plan to use their discretionary day on or before Friday, Dec. 22, 2023.

Employees will not be paid for the discretionary day in lieu of taking the time off, and the banked hours expire at the end of each payroll year. Employees will use standard leave request procedures to seek leader approval in advance of taking the discretionary day.