Category: Faculty and Staff Resources

Did you know that Blackboard’s test question generator can create custom test questions for the materials you have loaded into Blackboard? The tool can create essay, matching, true/false, multiple choice and fill-in-the-blank questions tied to your readings and other materials, and once the questions are created, they are easy to edit.

The whole process is quick and easy and can be used to build both individual tests and test banks. Save time and improve the quality of test questions at the same time through the use of this simple Blackboard feature. Learn how to generate test questions.

Wichita State recognizes the importance of mental health and well-being for faculty and staff. The university offers a variety of resources to support employees during challenging times.

• Employee Assistance Program (EAP): EAP provides confidential counseling services, crisis intervention and workshops on stress management and coping strategies.
• Peer support: In addition to professional resources, employees are encouraged to lean on their colleagues for support. Building a strong network of coworkers can provide emotional support and a sense of community. If you are concerned about one of your colleagues or students, submit a CARE Team report.

Wichita State has renewed its membership to the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U), and that means faculty, staff and students have access to a number of perks that are available to members:

• Find a list of upcoming events designed for those in academia, including conferences, webinars and workshops. Check out all AAC&U events at aacu.org/events. Coming up is the online 2025 Conference on Global Learning Nov. 12-14 and AAC&U’s next annual meeting Jan. 21-23 in Washington, D.C.
• Check out the latest news from AAC&U and about higher education at aacu.org/newsroom and get news and event details delivered straight to your email inbox.
• Read the latest publications from AAC&U, designed for students and employees alike to stay up on the latest trends and developments at aacu.org/publications.
• Find even more benefits at the Membership Marketplace, including discounted rates for a number of higher education services and products.

Get started by making your account with AAC&U and put Wichita State University as your affiliated institution, and encourage your students to take advantage of their benefits as members of an AAC&U institution.

All faculty and staff are invited to attend one of the upcoming Curriculum Management (CIM) virtual training sessions available this semester at the following dates and times:

• 10-11:30 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 16
• 1-2:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 17

The Zoom sessions will provide a demonstration of how to submit a curriculum change proposal via the online CIM course and program forms, how to search for existing proposals, how a proposal moves through the electronic workflow and how to approve proposals.

Registration is required to attend the session. To register, visit the myTraining link on the Faculty/Staff tab of myWSU, then search for “CourseLeaf Curriculum (CIM) Administrator & Faculty Remote Training.”

After registering, a link to the session will be emailed 24 hours in advance of the training. Reach out to the corby.redington@wichita.edu if a Zoom link has not been received within 24 hours of the session start time.

To log into CIM during the training session, participants will need a dual authentication (DUO) device.

Staff and faculty who are unable to attend a session can view CourseLeaf user guides on the Registrar Office’s website.

Promoting your work (and by extension, yourself) can be terribly uncomfortable and awkward, but it’s a necessary component of research networking and professional advancement. This fall, the Office of Faculty Advancement, Retention, and Excellence (FARE) is holding a two-part Faculty Exchange series called “The Uncomfortable Art of Promoting Your Work (Without Sounding Like a Jerk).” The first session will be from 9:30 to 10:45 a.m. Friday, Sept. 19 262 Rhatigan Student Center, Herrman Room and focuses on promoting your work internally at WSU and in person, while the second workshop Nov. 6 will focus on external and online promotion.

What to expect: Time to meet and get to know colleagues over snacks and coffee/tea, with content presented by fellow faculty (including Adam Lynch and Jan Twomey from the College of Engineering) on how to effectively tell your professional story when it matters and in terminology that those across disciplines understand. You’ll leave with a practiced pitch you can share about your recent professional accomplishments.

The table below is to assist instructors with certain dates regarding CES. The dates shown are for the fall 2025 semester.

• The first column includes the various start/end (part-of-term) dates for fall semester courses.
• The second column includes dates meant for instructors. This is the timeframe when instructors will receive emails about the CES process and procedures that they should complete. Instructors will receive additional emails during and after the student CES access dates.
• The last column includes the dates that CES will be available for the students to complete course evaluations.

If your course is in bold, then your fall 2025 CES evaluation process will start soon. Review the start/end dates in each column so you know when your access to the CES system will start and end.

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

Today’s focus is on emails.

• CES uses email communication to send out information regarding the evaluation process. 
• Emails will come from WSU Evaluations (evaluations@ces.wichita.edu).
• Emails are sent according to a specific timeline. CES operates from the course’s part-of-term, meaning the course start and end dates will determine when emails are sent out.
• If you teach courses that are in different terms, you will receive duplicate emails. These emails provide information that pertains to that part-of-term.
• The emails will also inform instructors if they need to take any specific actions regarding their course(s) within CES. 
• Students will receive an email certificate once an evaluation is submitted.
• There is a dedicated CES website that includes additional information.

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

Watermark’s Course Evaluations & Surveys (CES) tool is Wichita State’s course evaluation tool. Find information throughout the semester in WSU Today about CES.

Today’s focus is on “What Is CES?”

• CES is a course evaluation platform from Watermark. The evaluation portion of the platform is called “Course Evaluations & Surveys” and at WSU is referred to as CES.
• CES is easy to use and is integrated with Blackboard.
• CES results are electronic and will be available at the end of the semester, shortly after official grades are due.
• Using CES should increase response rates.
• There is a dedicated CES website that includes additional information.

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

The WSU Office of Faculty Advancement, Retention, and Excellence (FARE) is working to create a better experience for new faculty adjusting to their positions at WSU, and it needs your help to make that happen. FARE would like to hear about the experiences of early-career faculty who have been at WSU fewer than seven years, both tenure track and non-tenure track. There are two ways to get involved:

• Complete the survey by Friday, Sept. 12
• Email fare@wichita.edu if you would like to share more about your experiences in an interview or focus group with Dr. Debby Hinsdale from FARE.

FARE thanks everyone who has taken the time to complete the survey so far. Your input is invaluable to making WSU an even better place to work.

Have questions about the tenure and promotion process? Come hear from Gery Markova, professor in the Department of Management, and connect with other tenure-track faculty in an informal conversational environment to ask your questions from 12:30 to 1:45 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 9 in 262 RSC, Herrman Room.

Contact Markova at gery.markova@wichita.edu with any questions.