Category: Featured Stories

The U.S. Economic Development Administration recently awarded Wichita State University and South Kansas $500,000 to Build Back Better with the potential opportunity for a Phase 2 award of $25-75 million.

The Build Back Better Regional Challenge will provide $1 billion in American Rescue Act funding to invest in America’s communities. This historic investment supports bottom-up economic development  focused on advancing equity, creating good-paying jobs, helping workers to  develop in-demand skills, building economic resilience, and accelerating the economic recovery for the industries and communities hit hardest by the  coronavirus pandemic.

The second phase of renovations is close to complete on Wichita State’s Henrion Hall, the 100-year-old building that houses WSU’s studio arts.

“It is paramount for our students to conduct art-making in classrooms that are tailored to the functionality and safety needs of the art we make,” said Tanna Burchinal, studio manager for the School of Art, Design and Creative Industries. “Each phase of Henrion Hall’s renovations has addressed this. We are adding beauty back to this 100-year-old building, as well.”

The College of Health Professions (CHP) has initiated a major expansion to its clinical simulation capabilities. Students across the CHP’s clinical degree programs will have increased exposure to high-tech robotic simulated patients in preparation for treating humans.

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%.