Author: Carolyn Shaw

In honor of Earth Day in April, Wichita State is highlighting several sustainability programs available at the university.

In 2021, a group of WSU students collected a load of old and worn-out athletic shoes and sent them to Nike’s Reuse-a-Shoe program, which repurposes old sneakers. Athletic shoes take about 40 years to decompose and when they do, they leave behind toxins that are in plastics and adhesives. The students organized to be a part of the solution to end this practice.

In honor of Earth Day April 22, Wichita State is highlighting several sustainability programs available at the university.

In 2021, Wichita State’s Green Group applied for a $5,000 grant from Evergy to supply recycle bins for every room in the Flats and Suites. These bins have made it easier for students to recycle and reduce waste going to Wichita landfills.

WSU has also recycled more than 19 tons of material and Reusable water flasks were also purchased to distribute to students to reduce reliance on single-use plastic water bottles. The Green Group has received a second grant for the coming that will be used to support further sustainability education initiatives.

Our new SEM 2025 goals include expanding our enrollments to 17,000 students, increasing our first to second-year retention rate to 75%, and closing the equity gap for our underserved students.  Everyone on campus plays a direct or indirect role in the recruitment and retention of our students.  Promoting student success is at the heart of what we do.

Check out the featured strategy this week to see how it aligns with work in your area.

Strategy 3.11 Create summer bridge programs for students with identified needs to transition smoothly into the college setting

Ideas beyond the classroom: Faculty and staff should create programming targeted at a specific incoming student population that helps them connect with peers, identify support resources on campus and refresh academic skills in preparation for the semester. Groups can be linked to planned majors, first-generation students or other student populations.

Shout-outs: The Office of Diversity and Inclusion for their Passage 2 Success program, the Shocker Engineering Academy program in Engineering and the Student Affairs, and the Math, English and Communication departments for their new Launch Week plans for fall 2022 which all help advance Strategy 3.11.

For more information, contact Dr. Carolyn Shaw 316-978-7130 carolyn.shaw@wichita.edu

Our new SEM 2025 goals include expanding our enrollments to 17,000 students, increasing our first to second-year retention rate to 75%, and closing the equity gap for our underserved students.  Everyone on campus plays a direct or indirect role in the recruitment and retention of our students.  Promoting student success is at the heart of what we do.

Check out the featured strategy this week to see how it aligns with work in your own area.

Objective 3.7.4: Maintain and grow student affinity groups to promote student connectedness

Ideas for the classroom: Faculty should let students know about student organizations in their departments and encourage students to get connected with others who share common interests, career goals or other experiences. (Learn more about culturally-based student organizations on campus). Faculty can also serve as a advisor to a student organization.

Shout-outs to:

• Men of Excellence – Facilitated by Quang Nguyen, Dr. Bobby Berry and Gabriel Fonseca
• Phenomenal Women – Facilitated by Alexus Scott and Trang Bui
• Latinos Lead – Coordinated by Nayeli Cano
• Black Excellence – Coordinated by Alexus Scott, Dr. Bobby Berry
• Alpha Alpha Alpha First Gen Honor Society (Tri-Alpha) – Advised by LaWanda Holt-Fields and Vanessa Souriya-Mnirajd
• Asian Student Conference – Advised by Alicia Newell
• Black Student Union – Advised by Carmen Hytche and Alexus Scott
• Hispanic American Leadership Organization – Advised by Alicia Sanchez, Armando Minjarez and Rocio Del Aguila
• First Generation Student Organization – Advised by Anita Barrett
• Spectrum: LGBTQ and Allies – Advised by Dr. Jennifer Pearson
• International Student Union – Advised by Dr. Alan Dsouza

For more information, contact Dr. Carolyn Shaw 316-978-7130 carolyn.shaw@wichita.edu

Faculty and staff can now reserve space outside for their meetings or classes. The outdoor meeting spaces include 20 adirondack chairs at five different locations on campus. To participate, complete the reservation form at least two hours in advance.

Our new SEM 2025 goals include expanding our enrollments to 17,000 students, increasing our first to second-year retention rate to 75%, and closing the equity gap for our underserved students.  Everyone on campus plays a direct or indirect role in the recruitment and retention of our students.  Promoting student success is at the heart of what we do.

Check out the featured strategy this week to see how it aligns with work in your area:

Strategy 3.7: Establish a consistent welcoming environment across the university that promotes a sense of community. Improve physical and virtual spaces associated with offices and departments to promote community and belonging; Embrace PROUD service standards.

Ideas for the classroom: Faculty should list their office hours as student hours to encourage visits and include an explicit invitation to contact the instructor with questions on all of their email communications. Faculty should also directly share that that they are interested in their students’ success by taking time for a few icebreakers at the start of the semester to build community within the class. This makes it easier to connect with potential study partners later.

Shout-outs to: Dean Engber and current students in the Cohen Honors College send hand-written postcards to all of the accepted incoming students who have been accepted. Similarly, the Office of Admissions sends more than 5,500 valentines to incoming freshmen and transfer students that are handwritten by volunteers from across campus.

For more information, contact Dr. Carolyn Shaw 316-978-7130 carolyn.shaw@wichita.edu.

Everyone on campus plays a direct or indirect role in the recruitment and retention of our students.  Promoting student success is at the heart of what we do. Check out the featured strategy this week to see how it aligns with work in your area:

Strategy 3.2: Prioritize outreach to students needing higher levels of service and support;  Improve efforts to coordinate support to students to address the range of support needs that students have; Deliver targeted support for students with personal, financial, and other non-academic challenges.

Ideas for the classroom: Make students aware of resources available to them through the Office of Student Success (time management, money management, note and test-taking skills); make referrals to your college success coach or the CARE team as appropriate; encourage students to get connected on campus to have a peer support network; include a supplemental student instructor (SI) for traditionally challenging classes.

Ideas beyond the classroom: Engage in targeted outreach to select student populations expressing interest in their success and directing them to valuable resources.

Shout-outs to: The staff in Counseling and Prevention Services (CAPS), our CARE team, WSU’s Financial Aid team, and all of WSU’s academic advisors and specialized advisors who excel at advancing SEM Strategy 3.2.

For more information, contact Dr. Carolyn Shaw 316-978-7130 or carolyn.shaw@wichita.edu.

In honor of Earth Day April 22, the Office of Strategic Management and Enrollment is highlighting several sustainability programs available at the university.

In February 2020, Evergy supported the purchase and installation of eight solar panel configurations on the roof of the Bardo Center.  These solar panels provide green power to the building and are a valuable training tool for Wichita State’s engineering students.

The machinery allows Wichita State to gather and analyze solar energy production and utilization data. The energy generated provides about 2.5% of the total load for the Bardo Center.