Category: Featured Stories

The COVID-19 pandemic pushed public health into the forefront and Wichita State University graduates such as Tara Nolen are leading the effort.

“Working in public health – people don’t really know what we do,” Nolen said. “It shone a light on what public health is and activated us all. What I’m doing impacts patients and everybody every day.”

As of today, Strategic Communications has switched to the updated format of Shocker Blast. You might not notice much difference, but read below to learn more about some upgraded features.

Improvements to the updated format: 

• Those who submit items to the newsletters will now have more control over the content-creation process, including being able to add links, bullet points and notes to the Strategic Communications staff. See above to watch a short video on how to submit.
• Each submission to the newsletter will now live on its own web page, so you can share your own submission with whomever you want.
• Each headline in the daily newsletter email will be clickable, taking you to that item in the web version of the newsletter.
• For us here in Strategic Communications, these changes will allow us to greatly streamline the newsletter process and decrease errors.

What else do you need to know?

• There is now a new link to submit to newsletters: news.wichita.edu. Click “Submit a News Item” to begin. We suggest you bookmark this link for future use. If you forget and submit to the old link instead, don’t worry; Strategic Communications will still receive your submission.
• You do not need to do anything for previously submitted items. Those are being transferred to the new system.
• Once we launch, you can view the old newsletters at wichita.edu/wsutodayarchive and wichita.edu/shockerblastarchive. The existing links (wichita.edu/wsutoday and wichita.edu/shockerblast) will then be redirected to the new newsletters.

For more information about how to use the new form submission link, or to submit feedback or questions, email sara.ornelas@wichita.edu or lainie.mazzullo@wichita.edu.

As of today, Strategic Communications has switched to the updated format of WSU Today. You might not notice much difference, but read below to learn more about some upgraded features.

Improvements to the updated format: 

• Those who submit items to the newsletters will now have more control over the content-creation process, including being able to add links, bullet points and notes to the Strategic Communications staff. See above to watch a short video on how to submit.
• Each submission to the newsletter will now live on its own web page, so you can share your own submission with whomever you want.
• Each headline in the daily newsletter email will be clickable, taking you to that item in the web version of the newsletter.
• For us here in Strategic Communications, these changes will allow us to greatly streamline the newsletter process and decrease errors.

What else do you need to know?

• There is now a new link to submit to newsletters: news.wichita.edu. Click “Submit a News Item” to begin. We suggest you bookmark this link for future use. If you forget and submit to the old link instead, don’t worry; Strategic Communications will still receive your submission.
• You do not need to do anything for previously submitted items. Those are being transferred to the new system.
• Once we launch, you can view the old newsletters at wichita.edu/wsutodayarchive and wichita.edu/shockerblastarchive. The existing links (wichita.edu/wsutoday and wichita.edu/shockerblast) will then be redirected to the new newsletters.

For more information about how to use the new form submission link, or to submit feedback or questions, email sara.ornelas@wichita.edu or lainie.mazzullo@wichita.edu.

For the 10th year straight, Wichita State University has been named as the top transfer destination for Kansas community college students.

About 900 Kansas community college students transferred to Wichita State, and one in every four students who choose to transfer from a Kansas community college to a four-year school chose Wichita State in 2019, the most recent data available.

Learning the signs of digital distress can help you recognize when students or friends might be struggling.

• Change in tone: If someone you know suddenly changes their general tone or expresses hopelessness, it may be a sign of distress, especially if they starting talking about death or disappearing.
• Change in frequency: If someone suddenly changes the amount they post or talk — either notable increase or decrease — it may be important to reach out.
• Change in amount appearing on camera: Not appearing in a Zoom class or an online hangout isn’t always indicative of distress, but someone changing the amount they appear could be.
• Distressing environment: If it appears from video calls or online classes that someone’s environment is chaotic or distressing, consider reaching out or connecting them to resources.
• No show: Someone not showing up for class or online hangouts without letting others know could be a sign of distress.
• Unresponsive: Not replying to the group chat isn’t necessarily a sign of distress, but a sudden change or going completely unresponsive could be a sign of distress.
• Disengaged: While on a video call, someone appearing disengaged could be a sign of distress, especially if that’s a sudden change.

Student Success First-Year Programs is pleased to announce the 2021-22 Common Read book, “What the Eyes Don’t See,” by Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha.

We are excited to welcome our new students using the themes of this book throughout the year! If you have a program, student organization or course that may be interested in using the book, or have any questions, contact First-Year Programs at 978-5420 or Tahrima Musa at tahrima.musa@wichita.edu. Go to www.wichita.edu/commonread for more information.