Category: Faculty and Staff Resources

Faculty need one another. The Office of Faculty Advancement, Retention, and Excellence (FARE) wants to help create the space for that support to happen by launching our Faculty Support Network. Join the FARE Office in April for:

• A Faculty Support Network discussion on navigating the current political environment as a faculty member, facilitated by Dr. Rhonda Lewis, professor and graduate coordinator of psychology, from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 8 in 102C McKinley Hall.
• FARE Open House Coffee Hour from 9 to 10 a.m. every Friday in April in 112 Jardine Hall. The office is stocked with coffee, tea, soda and snacks. Drop by any Friday morning in April to meet colleagues and check out the new office.

It seems like there are numerous digital platforms with profiles to keep updated, but which are really needed for what you want to accomplish? If your goal is to build a research network and create collaborations (inside or outside WSU), the FARE Faculty Exchange workshop is for you.

The workshop will be from 3:30 to 5 p.m. April 18 in 266 Rhatigan Student Center, Pike Room.

• Hear from Fran Cook, Office of Research, about updating your ORCID profile to update your Pivot. You may think about Pivot as being just for grants, but it can also be a powerful tool for networking with other researchers and finding mentors.
• Learn the how and why of updating your WSU faculty profile and LinkedIn to build industry partnerships and to make your work visible to foundations, other researchers and media.
• As with every FARE event, you’ll also get to hear from faculty peers what has worked for them in building research partnerships.
• Bring your laptop and updated CV to make the best use of the time.

Spend three days of your spring break working in a peaceful setting, free from distractions of everyday life, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. March 18-20 in the lower level of Ablah Library. Come and go to the retreat as needed.

The writing retreat offers faculty members:

• A chance to focus on their research and writing projects, with ample time and space to delve deep into their work.
• Morning coffee/tea, lunch, and afternoon soda and snacks provided.
• The motivation and camaraderie (and positive peer pressure) of surrounding yourself with people who are leveraging the teaching break to make research/writing progress.

Attend one of the FARE office’s Mutual Mentoring information sessions to learn how to submit proposals for funding collaborative, peer-driven professional development.​

Unlike traditional one-on-one mentoring, Mutual Mentoring groups are peer networks that focus on shared learning and collective growth. ​

Upcoming information sessions:​

• 9:30 a.m. Monday, Feb. 24 virtually via Teams (meeting link​)
• 4 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 25 virtually via Teams (meeting link​)
• 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 5 in person in 203 Rhatigan Student Center, Lancelot Room

​The sessions are sponsored by the National Science Foundation, FARE office, Academic Affairs and the Office of Research​

Periodically, information will be posted regarding Watermark’s Course Evaluations & Surveys (CES) tool to help users better understand Wichita State’s new course evaluation tool.

Today’s focus is on CES results.

• Results will only be available at the end of the completed semester. It does not matter when your course took place during the semester. Holding results until the end of the semester complies with KBOR policy and allows for accurate norming.
• Results will become available the Friday after grades are due to the Registrar’s Office.
• The electronic results can be found through the Instructor Dashboard under Project Results
• There are restrictions on results. If the response rate is 0% or if the number of respondents is lower than four, then there will be no results. This restriction includes both statistics and comments.
• Results will include the mean, standard deviation and median for the course. Reports will also show these statistics by university and division benchmarks. This benchmark data will be from the same semester as the evaluation and will not include any other data.
• There is a new report option available to instructors. Results Home incorporates the previous report options under one roof. It also provides a quick glance at the results without creating a report.
• Also included is a table of the “Mean of Means” by course and instructor questions.
• There is a dedicated CES website that includes additional information.

For questions, contact Sandy Ranney at evaluations@ces.wichita.edu.

Periodically, information will be posted regarding Watermark’s Course Evaluations & Surveys (CES) tool to help users better understand Wichita State’s new course evaluation tool.

Today’s focus is on response rate.

• A response rate widget will appear on the instructor’s dashboard when the semester’s project starts. However, data for a course may not appear until that course evaluation is available to the students.
• In the list below, there are some suggestions to potentially increase response rates and receive useful and constructive feedback.
  • Designate time in class for students to complete evaluations.
  • Add a blurb about course evaluations in the syllabus.
  • Let students know that you value their honest and constructive feedback and tell them how you use their feedback.
  • When evaluations open for the course, remind students that they are available.
  • Remind students that evaluations are completely anonymous, and results are not available until after grades are turned in to the Registrar’s office.
  • It is best to complete the evaluations sooner in the evaluation period rather than later. Blackboard will be affected if the student has not taken some action regarding the evaluation towards the end of the administration period.
• There is a dedicated CES website that includes additional information.

For questions, contact Sandy Ranney at evaluations@ces.wichita.edu.

Periodically, information will be posted regarding Watermark’s Course Evaluations & Surveys (CES) tool to help users better understand Wichita State’s new course evaluation tool.

Today’s focus is on the student experience.

• Students will receive an email and notification on Blackboard when an evaluation is open.
• Students can access the evaluation through Blackboard and through links provided in an email sent during the CES collection window.
• When students login to the CES system, they will see a table containing evaluation information. This table will show which evaluations are completed along with the date and time. It will also show upcoming evaluations with the dates they are scheduled to open.
• Students will see regular pop-up notifications in Blackboard during the CES evaluation time window.
• Students will receive a certificate of completion for each evaluation that is submitted.
• There is a dedicated CES website that includes additional information.

For questions, contact Sandy Ranney at evaluations@ces.wichita.edu.

Periodically, information will be posted regarding Watermark’s Course Evaluations & Surveys (CES) tool to help users better understand Wichita State’s new course evaluation tool.

Today’s focus is on the basic timeline.

• The CES Administrator programs the pre-determined dates for each process. This pre-determined schedule cannot be modified.
• The CES tasks are sent at midnight on the scheduled start date and will end at 11:59 p.m. on the scheduled end date.
• The manage course process for instructors: Instructors have 10 days from notification of the opt-out window to delete courses from CES.
• CES evaluations will be open for students for varying lengths of time, depending upon the length of the course term:
  • Fall and spring one-week to four-week courses: Two days
  • Fall and spring five-week to 16+ week courses: 10 days
  • Summer one- and two-week courses: Two days
  • Summer four-week to 10+ week courses: Seven days
• Current CES results will be available at the end of the semester. Results will continue to remain accessible afterwards.
  • The availability date will be the Friday after grades are due to the Registrar.
• New in spring 2025, a full timeline with specific dates is on the website. These dates will also appear as separate posts in WSU Today, with emphasis on the most relevant information for a specific date.
• There is a dedicated CES website that includes additional information.

For questions, contact Sandy Ranney at evaluations@ces.wichita.edu.

Periodically, information will be posted regarding Watermark’s Course Evaluations & Surveys (CES) tool to help users better understand Wichita State’s new course evaluation tool.

Today’s focus is on Main Course Evaluation.

• The “Main Course Evaluation” is a core set of questions that will be sent to all courses in which the instructor has not selected to “opt-out.”
• Instructors can find these questions in CES. While in “Manage Courses,” click on the semester’s project, and then click on “Preview” to view the questions. The questions can also be found in the FAQs on the CES website.
• Some courses are not eligible for the “Main Course Evaluation.” These are courses that are appointment-based, research, COOP, Intensive English, Market-Based and weekend-only courses.
• There is a dedicated CES website that includes additional information.

For questions, contact Sandy Ranney at evaluations@ces.wichita.edu.

Periodically, information will be posted regarding Watermark’s Course Evaluations & Surveys (CES) tool to help users better understand Wichita State’s new course evaluation tool.

Today’s focus is on accessing CES.

• While in Blackboard, instructors can access CES anytime by choosing “Tools” from the main menu and selecting “CES Course Evaluations.” It can also be directly accessed via the links provided in emails sent to the instructor.
• Watermark Course Evaluations & Surveys Dashboard will appear.
• Widgets will appear on the dashboard. When a task is available for a course, it will display information. If not, it may state “No Project Found.”
• The “Manage Courses” widget will only appear when that option is open and available to instructors.
• There is a dedicated CES website that includes additional information.

For questions, contact Sandy Ranney at evaluations@ces.wichita.edu.