Author: Lainie Mazzullo

Dear colleagues,

You may have heard this week that the Kansas Board of Regents approved our request to raise fall tuition by 5.9%. I know that number feels big, and raising tuition is something we wish we could avoid.

However, each year, we must consider all the costs of doing business so we can provide the best quality education and continue to support Kansas families, businesses and the economy.

An important note is that three of the past four years, Wichita State has avoided raising tuition. And with this increase, that averages a 1.7% increase over five years — still keeps WSU as one of the most competitively priced universities in our state.

But the realities of growing inflation costs have made it harder for all Regents universities to maintain current tuition.

With that background, I wanted to provide more detail about what WSU is doing with that increased tuition.

The 5.9% increase to fall 2023 tuition will help fund the following:

• student success and recruitment
• graduate teaching assistants
• scholarships
• retaining talented faculty and staff to support students
• facilities operation
• capital assessment

As always, growing need-based aid and scholarships for students is a huge priority for us.

A great recent example is the $4.2 million in additional funds recently allocated to WSU so we can continue to provide need-based aid for those who struggle most to pay for college.

We remain proud of and committed to our efforts to provide an accessible and affordable education and will continue to work hard to help all students succeed at Wichita State.

Shirley Lefever,
Provost

Anyone on campus today will notice a huge influx of visitors. We’re expecting more than 7,000 Science Olympiad competitors, families and teachers through Saturday, as well as middle and high school students from throughout the region.

They’re here for today’s STEM Expo and Saturday’s Science Olympiad competition, both of which will be held throughout campus.

The visitors have been equipped with information on maps, food and points of interest — but anyone who notices someone looking lost can use the information here to help guide them so our guests can have the best experience while here.

In addition, any faculty/staff interested in taking part in the STEM Expo are welcome. The schedule can be seen here.

Dear colleagues,

I wanted to provide an update on pay and benefits. As you may remember, we communicated earlier in the semester about the possibility of a 4-5% pay increase for university employees, however, what was signed into law only allows for a 2.5% across-the-board pay raise for benefits-eligible employees starting July 1. (Areas that are funded by external sources, such as contracts and grants, may be handled differently and as appropriate in affected departments.)

It is a cornerstone of our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion plan that we invest in our faculty and staff by providing a fair and competitive compensation program for WSU employees. That includes not only this upcoming raise, but also our continued investment in Wichita State’s Market-Based Compensation (MBC) initiative – a comprehensive compensation plan focused on creating internal and external pay equity. This year, one of our MBC goals was to bring all staff who were not already at the minimum of their pay range to the minimum of that range. Our other MBC goal was to re-analyze pay for our faculty who had previously earned a Professor Incentive Review (PIR) and apply pay adjustments as needed based on the results of the analysis. Managers will communicate the details of these pay changes to their respective employees throughout June.

In addition to pay, WSU is committed to consistent improvement to health benefits for all employees. To that end, we have covered increases in health benefits for the past four years, resulting in no increase to employee premiums.

As we look back on this academic year, I want to thank each one of you for your hard work and commitment to our students and the success of every aspect of the university you touch.

Go Shockers!

President Rick Muma

There will be a special announcement related to the College of Health Professions and Ascension Via Christi at 10 a.m. Friday, May 12.

All are welcome to watch the announcement live on Facebook.

Remote access to the Wichita State network via VPN has been partially restored and is available for use now for individuals using university-owned devices. Some changes have been made to the login procedures, however, so users will need to follow the following steps in order to connect:

• Employees using university-owned Windows operating system devices should change their VPN configuration to log in to VPN-EMP.wichita.edu.

• Employees using university-owned Apple MacOS or iOS devices should change their VPN configuration to log in to VPN-Mac.wichita.edu.

More detailed instructions can be found at wichita.edu/vpnupdate.

At this time, VPN access using personally owned devices is not permitted.

If you have any questions, please contact the IT Help Desk at 978-HELP.

Internet and email access has been restored. Most key systems should now be functional, though ITS continues working to bring back a few more applications.

Remote access to the network through VPN continues to be offline. We will provide an update on VPN access when able.

Anyone experiencing network, internet or application issues can contact the Help Desk at 978-HELP.

Thank you to the campus community for your patience and understanding.

This week’s Student Success and Persistence highlight comes from senior Gregory VanDyke Jr.

Junior, as he’s more well known, is a criminal justice major, minoring in political science, organizational leadership and learning, and an honors track in leadership.

Junior found that becoming more involved in campus activities and leadership helped him get a better sense of who he is. But it was the guidance he received from a WSU faculty member that got him to that point.

“I will say that meeting Dr. Chelsea (Redger-Marquardt) has been the most helpful learning experience here at Wichita State. While I have a strong strong passion for criminal justice, I still felt like there was an ounce of passion for something else that was being left out, and I could not pinpoint it. It was not until Dr. Chelsea took the time to pour into me that I realized that the ounce of passion I was missing was a passion for leadership. Ever since I picked up a leadership minor and leadership track, Dr. Chelsea has not only been beneficial in my learning experience at Wichita State, but she also has been very supportive in helping me to find something in myself that I did not see before.”

Chelsea says students like Junior make her job at Wichita State enjoyable.

“I feel incredibly lucky to be able to connect with students each and every day, help them maximize their time at Wichita State, welcome them back as alumni, and see all the amazing things they are doing for our communities.”

Do you know of a faculty or staff member who promotes student success, or a student who has been helped by a faculty or staff member, that should be highlighted in WSU Today? Email your ideas to Caelin Bragg, newsletter editor with the Office of Strategic Communications, at caelin.bragg@wichita.edu.

As the United States looks toward the May 11 expiration of the public health emergency related to COVID-19, Wichita State is beginning the process of updating the website, campus signage and Student Health Services operations to reflect the transition away from the emergency phase.

We appreciate your patience as we move forward with this process. Stay tuned for further communication.

If you have questions regarding COVID content on your department or office website, please contact your supervisor.

Students who work an on-campus job at Wichita State are required to complete mandatory yearly training on preventing harassment and discrimination. The deadline is Friday, April 7.

Student employees can access the training in myWSU, on the myFinances tab under “Student Required Training,” then click on Preventing Harassment and Discrimination Training.

If you have not completed the training, it is very important that you do so no later than April 7.

This prevention training, which is led through WSU’s Office of Institutional Equity and Compliance, is not only important in making our campus a welcoming and equitable environment, but it’s also important for Title IX compliance. If you have completed your training this year, thank you for helping us make real progress in making our campus safe, inclusive and equitable.

Wichita State will introduce Paul Mills as its 27th head men’s basketball coach at 3:30 p.m. Thursday inside Charles Koch Arena. This event is free and open to the public, with streaming available live and on-demand via ESPN+.

“My family and I are extremely excited about being a part of Wichita State University,” Mills said. “The rich history, winning tradition and unbelievable community support will keep us working on behalf of the greatest fans in all of college basketball. We can’t wait!”

Mills has spent the past six years rebuilding the program at Oral Roberts (2017-23), earning bids to two of the past three NCAA tournaments.

In 2021 Mills became just the second coach in history to guide a No. 15 seed to the Sweet 16, upsetting Ohio State and Florida in the first two rounds.

This past season he coached ORU to a 30-5 record, an undefeated run through the Summit League (18-0) and a No. 12 seed in the Big Dance.

Mills is currently a finalist for the Jim Phelan National Coach of the Year award as well as the NABC’s Skip Prosser Man of the Year honor, presented annually to a coach who achieves success on the basketball court and displays moral integrity off of it.

“Paul Mills’ heart for people, passion for life and approach to the development of young people and programs is energizing,” WSU Director of Athletics Kevin Saal said. “He aligns with Shocker Athletics’ core values, facilitates a first-class student-athlete experience and fuels broad-based competitive excellence. We are thrilled to welcome the Mills family – Paul, Wendy, Audrey and Abbey – to Wichita, Wichita State University and Shocker Nation!”

“We are looking forward to the next chapter of WSU basketball under Paul Mills’ leadership,” WSU President Dr. Richard Muma said. “He’s fully aligned with our priorities, which includes creating success for our student athletes and a winning culture for all of Shocker Nation.”

Mills’ teams play an exciting brand of basketball, annually ranking among the NCAA leaders in scoring and three-point field goals while playing tough, gritty defense.

Over the years Mills has also demonstrated a knack for finding and developing talent. His greatest success story is 6-foot guard Max Abmas, an overlooked recruit, turned NBA prospect who scored more than 2,500 career points in Mills’ system and was twice named Summit League Player of the Year.

Prior to ORU, Mills spent 14 seasons on staff at Baylor under head coach Scott Drew, the last eight as assistant coach during which he helped the Bears to six NCAA tournaments, tallying four Sweet 16 and two Elite Eight appearances, as well as the 2013 NIT title.

Mills, age 50, graduated from Texas A&M in 1996 with a degree in finance and completed a Master of Biblical and Theological Studies from Dallas Theological Seminary in the summer of 2020.