Holidays for state of Kansas employees are designated on an annual basis by the governor and the Kansas Board of Regents (KBOR) for eligible employees.

The following dates have been designated as paid holidays for all departments of Wichita State for the 2023 calendar year. This information is also available online at any time.

  • Discretionary day*
  • New Year’s Day (observed) – Monday, Jan. 2, 2023
  • Martin Luther King, Jr. Day – Monday, Jan. 16, 2023
  • Memorial Day – Monday, May 29, 2023
  • Independence Day – Tuesday, July 4, 2023
  • Labor Day – Monday, Sept. 4
  • Veterans Day – Friday, Nov. 10 (classes are in session on this day)
  • Thanksgiving Day – Thursday, Nov. 23 and Friday, Nov. 24
  • Christmas Day – Monday, Dec. 25

*The discretionary day must be used during the payroll calendar year. For 2023, it must be utilized between Dec. 25, 2022-Dec. 23, 2023. This paid leave benefit is used for observance of a holiday, family event or other special day. Employees who work a Monday through Friday schedule should plan to use their discretionary day on or before Friday, Dec. 22, 2023.

Employees will not be paid for the discretionary day in lieu of taking the time off, and the banked hours expire at the end of each payroll year. Employees will use standard leave request procedures to seek leader approval in advance of taking the discretionary day.

HealthQuest logo

Employees enrolled in 2023 coverage through the State Employee Health Plan can earn a premium discount worth $480 annually and HSA/HRA rewards dollars up to $500 per year, just by participating and logging healthy activities throughout the year.

Take advantage of some of the on-demand and online options to earn HealthQuest credits:

  • Program overview and quiz: Earn 10 credits for completing this assessment.
  • Health education modules: Earn one point for each health education module completed through the Marathon HealthQuest portal (10 total points possible).
  • EAP on-demand trainings: Earn up to 10 points combined by completing EAP on-demand trainings that you can access through the HealthQuest portal and attending EAP webinars. 

Upcoming events will be published each month, but if you’d like to plan in advance, check out all currently scheduled HealthQuest events.

Looking ahead:

  • State of Kansas – Mindfulness: Being Present in Your Work and Life: July 5, 1 p.m.
    • The idea of mindfulness or being mindful is complete engagement in the present moment. It is a state where you are not thinking, reflecting, judging or deciding, but are instead simply experiencing the things currently in your available experience. In many ways people are largely unaware of our present moment and often operate on “auto-pilot” to some degree. The auto-pilot mode is our default mode of operation. Even when we find ourselves in a pleasurable quiet moment we automatically begin to daydream about others, plan/worry about the future or ruminate about the past. We miss living in the present moment because we fail to pay attention to it. Mindfulness is about waking up to the present moment and paying attention to our experience. Learning mindfulness is not difficult; however, it is difficult to remember to do it. This training discusses mindfulness and how to incorporate its practice into your life.
HealthQuest logo

Employees enrolled in 2023 coverage through the State Employee Health Plan can earn a premium discount worth $480 annually and HSA/HRA rewards dollars up to $500 per year, just by participating and logging healthy activities throughout the year.

Take advantage of May HealthQuest events:

  • 2023 HealthQuest program overview video and quiz: Earn five credits for watching this video and completing the short quiz.
  • Learning modules: Earn up to 10 credits by completing on-demand learning modules in the HealthQuest portal. There are many different topics to choose from.
  • EAP on-demand trainings: Earn up to 10 credits combined by completing EAP on-demand trainings that are available through the HealthQuest portal and attending EAP webinars (max one credit per day).

Take advantage of some of the On-Demand and online options to earn HealthQuest credits.

  • On-demand training: Connecting mind and body for healthy living – 1 p.m. Wednesday May 3. Register online.
  • Wellness webinar: Purpose and your wellbeing – 1 p.m. Thursday May 11. No registration required. Follow the instructions on how to access this webinar directly on the HealthQuest Portal under Marathon Health Webinars.

Upcoming events will be published each month, but if you’d like to plan in advance, check out all currently scheduled HealthQuest events.

HealthQuest logo

Employees enrolled in 2023 coverage through the State Employee Health Plan can earn a premium discount worth $480 annually and HSA/HRA rewards dollars up to $500 per year, just by participating and logging healthy activities throughout the year.

Take advantage of April HealthQuest events:

  • 2023 HealthQuest program overview video and quiz: Earn five credits for watching this video and completing the short quiz.
  • Learning modules: Earn up to 10 credits by completing on-demand learning modules in the HealthQuest portal. There are many different topics to choose from.
  • EAP on-demand trainings: Earn up to 10 credits combined by completing EAP on-demand trainings that are available through the HealthQuest portal and attending EAP webinars (max one credit per day).

Take advantage of some of the on-demand and online options to earn HealthQuest credits.

  • Marathon Health webinar: Exercise to prevent chronic disease – 1 p.m. Thursday, April 13. Register online. Deadline to view for incentive credits is Friday, April 21. Credits will be awarded 7-10 business days after the viewing period has closed for the webinar.
    • In this session, participants will review types of physical activity and how exercise can enhance musculoskeletal health. They will also explore how exercise can help prevent and manage today’s most common chronic diseases.

Upcoming events will be published each month, but if you’d like to plan in advance, check out all currently scheduled HealthQuest events.

It’s time for 9-/10-month faculty members or 9-/10-month exempt staff members to elect or cancel annualized salary spread for the 2023-24 academic year.

If you currently are paid over your 9-/10-month appointment and would like to have that pay spread out over 12 months beginning with the pay period starting Aug. 6 for the 2023-24 academic year, please complete the Annualized Salary Spread Agreement no later than July 7.

If you are currently paid your 9-/10-month appointment salary over 12 months and would like to cancel that election for the 2023-24 academic year, please complete the Salary Spread Cancellation Form no later than July 14.

If you do not wish to make any changes, no action is necessary. Questions can be emailed to HR.ServiceCenter@wichita.edu.

W-2 graphic element

2022 electronic W-2s are now available in the State of Kansas Employee Self-Service Portal (ESS) for State of Kansas employees.

Employees are encouraged to consent to receive W-2s electronically. Instructions for completing the consent are detailed by clicking this link.

If you experience issues when trying to complete your W-2 consent, try a different web browser such as Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome.

For assistance with the State of Kansas Employee Self-Service Portal passwords, please call the State of Kansas Help Desk at 785-296-1900 or 866-999-3001.

For employees receiving a printed W-2, the form will be printed and mailed by the end of January 2023. 

Pursuant to Wichita State and Kansas Board of Regents policy, all employees are required to annually disclose certain external interests, activities and consulting arrangements. WSU’s annual reporting period runs starting April 1 and ends April 30.

Employees who have submitted an online disclosure any time on or before March 31 will be prompted to review information previously submitted and make any necessary updates. Employees who have never submitted a disclosure will be prompted to complete a new COI disclosure. Note: several of the questions have been updated due to new compliance requirements, so read each question carefully and select the appropriate response. You can access the COI disclosure form on myWSU.

Information about the COI disclosure processes and disclosure form can be found on WSU’s COI website. Other questions can be emailed to COI@wichita.edu.

W-2 graphic element

2022 electronic W-2s are now available in the State of Kansas Employee Self-Service Portal (ESS) for State of Kansas employees.

Employees are encouraged to consent to receive W-2s electronically. Instructions for completing the consent are detailed by clicking this link.

If you experience issues when trying to complete your W-2 consent, try a different web browser such as Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome.

For assistance with the State of Kansas Employee Self-Service Portal passwords, please call the State of Kansas Help Desk at 785-296-1900 or 866-999-3001.

For employees receiving a printed W-2, the form will be printed and mailed by the end of January 2023. 

W-2 graphic element

2022 electronic W-2s are now available in the State of Kansas Employee Self-Service Portal (ESS) for State of Kansas employees.

Employees are encouraged to consent to receive W-2s electronically. Instructions for completing the consent are detailed by clicking this link.

If you experience issues when trying to complete your W-2 consent, try a different web browser such as Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome.

For assistance with the State of Kansas Employee Self-Service Portal passwords, please call the State of Kansas Help Desk at 785-296-1900 or 866-999-3001.

For employees receiving a printed W-2, the form will be printed and mailed by the end of January 2023. 

Image showing a graphic and text with the performance evaluation cycle for non-teaching evaluations.

The 2022-23 annual non-teaching employee performance evaluations will be available for manager signatures beginning Wednesday, March 8 provided that their direct report has submitted their employee signature in myPerformance.

Managers should log into myPerformance to electronically sign and submit their 2022-23 evaluations by 11:59 p.m. Tuesday, March 14.

Note: The first step of the 2023-24 evaluation cycle, planning, should now be accessible to managers through myPerformance. Planning should include expectations for competencies and goals from March 1, 2023 through Feb. 29, 2024. If you have not already done so, you should enter this information into myPerformance, then meet with your direct reports by Friday, March 31. Direct reports will not have access to their 2023-24 evaluation until Jan. 16, 2024, so it is important to provide them with a copy to use as a reference throughout the year.

For more information — including myPerformance training, quick reference guides and other resources — go to the myPerformance webpage.

Helpful hints:

  • Progress through each page of the evaluation and select “save” then “submit” on the final summary page for the evaluation to be complete.
  • Check the box that says, “Show completed and expired tasks” if an evaluation has disappeared from the scheduled tasks.
  • Don’t forget that the first step of the 2023-24 myPerformance evaluation cycle, planning, is due on Friday, March 31.
  • myPerformance training is available as an online module through myTraining and includes a condensed “myTraining for managers” version.