Category: Awards and Recognitions

Dr. Brett Bruner, assistant vice president for Student Success & Persistence, will receive the 2024 National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA) Region IV-West Distinguished Service Award at the Regional Conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Oct. 22.

The award is presented to a NASPA member who has provided volunteer service to the association via leadership roles at the state, regional, national and international levels; has progressed from entry-level to senior-level leadership roles within NASPA volunteer leadership experiences; has been involved in multiple branches (regions, knowledge communities, divisions and groups) of the association; and has significantly impacted NASPA as an association through their volunteer service.

“Kansas English,” edited by Dr. Katie Cramer, professor of English education in the School of Education, and published in WSU’s Open Journal Systems by the Kansas Association of Teachers of English, has been named a recipient of the 2024 NCTE Affiliate Journal of Excellence Award, given by the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE). This is the fifth year in a row that “Kansas English” has earned this distinction.

Established in 1995, this award honors outstanding affiliate journals and their editors who demonstrate excellence in these publications. The winning affiliate journal must be a magazine-type publication — print or online — and provide members with scholarly articles on issues and topics related to English language arts teaching. The journals are judged on content, organization and scholarly exploration, appeal to many different groups within the affiliate, coverage of important issues in English language arts education and inclusion of other types of writing (e.g. poetry, affiliate news, book reviews).

The Affiliate Journal of Excellence Award winners will be announced at the 2024 NCTE Annual Convention in Boston, Massachusetts, during the Affiliate Session Nov. 24.

Kaytie Brozek from LAS Advising Center and current Educational Leadership/Educational Psychology doctoral student has received the “Best of KAAN” award at this year’s annual KAAN Conference in Lawrence, Kansas.

Her presentation, “In My Advising Era: Relating Taylor Swift Songs to Chickering’s Seven Vectors for Enhancing Academic Advising Practice,” was selected as the most outstanding session by conference attendees. This award includes a stipend for Kaytie to present her work at the upcoming NACADA Region 7 Conference in Memphis Tennessee, where she will represent as “Best of Kansas.”

Sheree Utash, vice president of workforce development and president of WSU Tech, was inducted into the 2024 Kansas Aviation Hall of Fame from the Kansas Aviation Museum.

Inductees will be celebrated at the Kansas Aviation Honor Awards Nov. 19 at the Kansas Aviation Museum.

Utash has been the president of WSU Tech since 2015 and previously served as its vice president of academic affairs. She oversaw the college’s transition to WSU Tech

Wichita State University has announce the receipt of a $1 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for its ADVANCE project, “REACH for Excellence: WSU’s ADVANCE Adaptation Initiative for Equity in STEM Faculty.” Leading this initiative are principal investigator Jan Twomey and co-principal investigators Linnea GlenMaye, Rhonda Lewis, Moriah Beck, David Eichhorn and Tiffany Franks.

This important ADVANCE award is a direct response to the challenges highlighted in WSU’s previous institutional assessment, focusing on increasing the representation of female and underrepresented faculty. With proven strategies, REACH aims to break down barriers and create a more inclusive academic environment.

The REACH project is driven by three ambitious objectives:

1. Revolutionize recruitment and hiring practices to ensure equity.
2. Establish robust support systems for faculty success and career progression at all levels.
3. Foster a culture of equity, with clear expectations and accountability for deans and department chairs.

Although the initiative is centered on STEM faculty, all faculty members at WSU will have the opportunity to benefit from the REACH programming. This is more than a grant; it’s a commitment to shaping a diverse and equitable future for Wichita State University. More details will be shared in the fall. 

Wichita State’s Office of Instructional Resources was a winner of the Anthology’s 2024 Catalyst Award for Training and Professional Development.

The award recognizes those driving innovation and excellence within higher education, and WSU was specifically celebrated for displaying an organization-wide dedication to innovative training and development programs for their educators and staff. WSU Tech was also recognized for Leading Change.

The College of Applied Studies (CAS) announced the selection of nine distinguished individuals to be inducted into the class of 2024 CAS Hall of Fame. The inductees come from various backgrounds representing several departments within the college and are being recognized for their outstanding contributions to their field.

The class of 2024 CAS Hall of Fame inductees are:

• Stacy Chestnut, alumni and educator
• Chase Curtiss, alumni and entrepreneur
• Credit Union of America, partner
• Christine Downey-Schmidt, patron and higher education leader
• Cathy Razook-Ellsworth, alumni, educator, and staff member
• Becky Endicott, alumni and staff member
• Susan Rippe, alumni and educator
• Rex Schott, alumni and athletic trainer
• Vicki Worrell, alumni and faculty member

The college will celebrate the inductees with a banquet at 6 p.m. Friday, Sept. 27 in the John Bardo Center lobby.

Stephanie Versch, manager of library resource acquisitions services, is the 2024 recipient of the Kansas Library Association College and University Libraries Section Support Staff Award. The award honors academic library support staff for their significant contributions and dedication.

Stephanie began her journey as a library assistant in access services and later became a digital resources acquisitions specialist in technical services. She has been the manager of library resource acquisitions services since 2023.

Shocker Printing has been awarded the prestigious Platinum Award for poster printing at the ACUP+ Annual Conference held in Rochester, New York, last month. The award-winning poster, titled “Wichita State Mural,” was designed by Annelise Muret, art director in the Office of Strategic Communications and Marketing.

Selected as one of six finalists, the poster was ultimately chosen by the board of directors of the Association of College and University Printers Plus (ACUP+), a testament to the team’s exceptional talent and dedication to excellence.

You can view the award and the winning poster on display in Morrison Hall, just outside the Shocker Printing Solutions print center.

Congratulations to Annelise and the entire Shocker Printing team for the achievement.

NIAR staff Jeremy Sitz and Hunter Robertson, a senior in engineering, brought home Top Gun awards from the 2024 COExperience in Dallas last week.

Sitz placed first and Robertson took third. The Top Gun competition identifies the “Best of the Best” CATIA engineers and designers through a competition that tests their skills at developing the most accurate and correctly-structured three-dimensional model in the least amount of time.

NIAR staff have a history of bringing home honors in the competition. WSU student Dane Moorehead placed second in 2023.