Category: Featured Stories

Arts at Wichita State University benefit the city and state in ways that range from tourism to education to mental wellness.

People enjoy the university’s arts and culture community when they visit the Ulrich Museum of Art and benefit when a child participates in a class taught by Wichita State graduates. The Wichita Symphony Orchestra is staffed by many Wichita State professors and alumni, another example of the numerous interactions between the university and community.

Since its inception, the National Institute for Aviation Research’s digital twin program has been rife with opportunities to progress research, digital transformation, engineering technology and sustainability efforts. It’s also been an important career steppingstone and training ground for more than 250 Wichita State University students, who have gained valuable applied learning experiences while working on the project.

The same data, software and tools used by the world’s leading business and financial decision-makers can now be accessed in the Koch Global Trading Center of the W. Frank Barton School of Business at Wichita State University.

Wichita State University and all of Shocker Nation will celebrate the inauguration of our 15th president, Dr. Rick Muma, at 2:30 p.m. today in the Lowe Auditorium of the Hughes Metropolitan Complex.

Muma has been a member of Wichita State’s family for 25 years as a professor, department chair, and provost. The Kansas Board of Regents appointed him to the presidency on May 6.

Fairmount College of Liberal Arts and Sciences faculty and staff are invited to a town hall with President Rick Muma at 3 p.m. today, Oct. 15 via Zoom (Zoom Meeting ID: 944 1646 4950  Passcode: 606906). Interim Executive Vice President and Provost Shirley Lefever will also be a featured guest.

Undergraduate and graduate students majoring in liberal arts and sciences are invited to President Muma’s Town Hall with Fairmount College students at 9 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 14 via Zoom (Zoom Meeting ID: 925 4542 1214 Passcode: 322262). Interim Executive Vice President and Provost Shirley Lefever will also be a featured guest.

Enrollment for fall 2021 at Wichita State University and WSU Tech is showing strong growth despite a decline in 2020 caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the loss of thousands of local jobs.  

Returning to its pre-pandemic enrollment numbers, WSU enrolled 16,097 students this fall. That’s an increase of 3.5% over last year and the largest enrollment Wichita State has seen since 1990. Wichita State also has the largest first-time-in-college class in history at 1,735 students, an increase of 14.5%.   

Wichita State invites the local campus and Wichita community to the inauguration ceremony for Dr. Richard Muma at 2:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 29, in the Hughes Metropolitan Complex, located at 29th Street N. and Oliver. A university reception will follow the event.

Members who wish to attend the in-person ceremony must RSVP no later than Friday, Oct. 15. The event will also be livestreamed on YouTube and on campus television monitors. The theme for the event is “Inspired by the past. Focused on the future.”

To save the date or for more information, call 316-978-3258 or email inauguration@wichita.edu. You can also visit the link below.

One of Wichita State’s most entertaining traditions, the annual Yard Show, was held Aug. 24. The annual event is hosted by the WSU Multicultural Greek Council.

Ahlberg Hall on the WSU campus is secure following a report of smoke from an electrical motor. There were no injuries, and damage was minor. 

Elevators are temporarily out of order. Classes normally held on floors 3, 4 and 5 will either be remote, relocated or canceled Thursday and Friday.