Author: Lainie Mazzullo

Welcome to Wichita State, Shockers! Or if it’s not your first time here – welcome back!

I love this time of year. It’s always so fun to meet new students and their families and to be part of the excitement of new beginnings!

I hope these first few weeks of campus life are a great experience for you. You may find yourself with a multitude of questions, from “Where is Jabara Hall?” to “Who’s my advisor?” If so, please know that’s OK! Everyone has questions. There is nothing wrong with that. You are not supposed to know everything. But, if you DO have questions, please ask them! 

Go to OneStop, reach out to your instructors, your success coach or anyone really, and ask your question. We are all here to help.

In my role as provost of WSU, I am privileged to lead the academic experiences that shape your educational journey. My goal is to support every single one of you in academics and your growth as thoughtful, engaged and successful individuals.

From our offices in 107 Morrison Hall — please feel free come by and see me — my team and I are committed to enhancing your overall university experience in several ways.

For example: 

• Academic excellence: Our team in Academic Affairs works with each college and student support offices to ensure that the academic experiences you are engaged in are intellectually stimulating and aligned with the demands of our evolving world.
• Diversity, equity and inclusion: As the most diverse campus in the state, I firmly believe that the vibrant mix of cultures and backgrounds that characterize Wichita State University is our most valuable asset. We strive to create a space where everyone flourishes.
• Supporting you holistically: Your emotional and physical well-being are crucial to your success. Our team collaborates with departments and offices across WSU to ensure that support systems are in place to address your holistic needs. That includes services such as counseling, health and wellness, tutoring, paid internships and co-ops, our Shocker Support Locker and many others… the list is extensive.
• Research and innovation: Wichita State is a hub for innovation and discovery, and we’ve built a solid reputation around solving problems for our community and our state. One way we do that is through the applied research happening across campus. Whether you’re a first-year undergrad or earning your Ph.D., there are tons of chances to participate in incredibly interesting and useful research.
• Applied learning: This term may be new to you. Basically, because of our location in Kansas’ largest city – and through the many partnerships we have with businesses all over the state and right here on our Innovation Campus — students have more opportunities than you’ll ever find in the typical college town to apply their learning in real-world settings through internships, co-ops, student employment and applied research positions. Last year, WSU students earned more than $30 million through nearly 9,000 of these applied learning experiences.

I’m honored to be a leader at Wichita State, and everyone in my office and across campus is dedicated to ensuring that your educational experience is transformative, inspiring and empowering.

I’m privileged to work alongside our talented faculty and staff to make this journey exceptional for each student. Our doors are always open, and your voices are heard.

If you have any questions about what you read here today, check out our website, ask me on my social media (@wsuprovost on Instagram; @WSU_Provost on X) or send an email here.

Have a great year.

Go Shockers!
Provost Shirley Lefever

With the fall semester upon us, it’s always a good time to remain aware of the health care services available at Wichita State for faculty, staff and students. 

In May, the public health emergency for COVID-19 expired, which prompted changes at WSU, including how to get tested and receive vaccinations. Visit wichita.edu/covid for more information. 

Testing is available for free through the WSU Molecular Diagnostics Lab, at certain sites throughout the city or through Student Health by appointment only. Vaccines are available for a fee through Student Health, while supplies are available, or at sites throughout Wichita. 

Individuals may choose to wear a mask at any time. 

Wichita State monitors COVID and other health advisories in our community and stays connected to the latest CDC guidance. Stay up to date on WSU guidance and information here.  

In other health reminders, faculty and staff can visit the Faculty/Staff Acute Care Clinic for minor and acute medical issues. Appointments are required for the clinic. 

Learn more about the clinic. 

If you work directly with students, please let them know that if they have any physical health needs, they can go to the Student Health website or directly to the Wellness Clinic in the Steve Clark YMCA. Students with mental health needs have robust services available to them via WSU’s Counseling and Psychological Services. 

The U.S. Government has issued an interim rule for federal contractors that prohibits the presence or use of any applications developed by ByteDance — including the social networking service TikTok — on any devices used for federal contract work, including personally owned devices and those issued by the university. These newly imposed restrictions require WSU to immediately prohibit access to these applications on any university network.

Individuals who have the TikTok app on a personally or university-owned device (such as a computer or cell phone), and who use or intend to use such device in the performance of a federal contract, must immediately remove the TikTok application from that device. Individuals who are not performing under a federal contract may access TikTok while on campus on their personal devices using their personal cellular networks.

Individuals will still be able to access TikTok on the university’s network throughout most residential areas (Shocker Hall, The Flats and The Suites).

The university will continue to provide updates and guidance as it becomes available. Please direct any questions or comments to general.counsel@wichita.edu.

Thank you for your cooperation as we continue to navigate these important security compliance obligations.

The Office of Student Affairs, under Vice President Teri Hall, is temporarily changing up its organizational structure.

Gabriel Fonseca is now interim executive director of student engagement. The three areas now under that position include the following:

• Office of Diversity and Inclusion
• Student Engagement, Advocacy and Leadership
• Student Government Association

These temporary measures are being implemented while Student Affairs explores a longer term solution to maximize student experiences.

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.