Category: Human Resources

All benefits-eligible state employees must participate in Open Enrollment. Log in to the Member Administration Portal to make your elections.

Virtual and in-person presentations will be offered:

• Oct. 3: Virtual presentation at 9 a.m.
• Oct. 7: In person presentation at 3 p.m. in 301 Rhatigan Student Center, Gridley Room

This is a very busy time, so the Total Rewards team is not available for walk-in traffic or to make individual appointments regarding Open Enrollment. Take advantage of the scheduled virtual and in-person presentations, as well as on-demand options. For additional information, visit the Open Enrollment website. Any questions should be directed to TotalRewards@wichita.edu.

This is once again an active enrollment, meaning that all covered state employees must participate, or be enrolled in a default plan. 

Upcoming events:

• 1 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 24: SEHP’s final Open Enrollment presentation is online. Register to attend.
• Wednesday, Oct. 1: SEHP will begin opening enrollment portals throughout the day. All benefit-eligible employees should have access to their benefits open enrollment portal by close of business on Oct. 1.

Take advantage of the scheduled virtual and in-person presentations, as well as on-demand options. For additional information visit the Open Enrollment website. Any questions should be directed to TotalRewards@wichita.edu.

Managers, it’s time to complete the mid-review step of the myPerformance evaluation cycle for your non-teaching employees. The mid-review step is your opportunity to do a formal progress check-in with your employees now that we’re halfway through the annual performance evaluation period that began March 1, 2025 and ends Feb. 28, 2026. Go to myPerformance to access and complete mid-reviews which should be completed by Sept. 30.

Follow these steps to complete mid-reviews for your non-teaching employees:

• Add comments regarding your employee’s performance and progress on their expectations and goals for the first half of the evaluation period.
• Make any necessary updates to expectations and goals for the last half of the evaluation period.
• Save and submit your updates.
• Meet with your employees to review their progress, share any updated expectations and goals, and provide them with a copy.

Helpful hints:

• Managers have unlimited access to update and edit content on evaluations in myPerformance until the employee self-evaluation step begins Jan. 1, 2026.
• Be sure to save and submit anytime you update or make changes to an evaluation. You still have access to make changes after you save and submit.
• Employees don’t have access to their 2025-26 myPerformance evaluation until the employee self-evaluation step which is why it’s important to review and provide a copy of their evaluation for reference throughout the year.
• Managers can add co-planners during this step. A co-planner is someone who has managed a portion of the employee’s work assignment during the evaluation period.
• To find in-progress or past evaluations in myPerformance, check the small box “Show completed and expired tasks” then click “Search.”

For more information (including myPerformance training, quick reference guides, and other resources) go to wichita.edu/myPerformance.

The 2026 fiscal and academic year annual appointment notices are now available online and will not be printed or distributed to departments. Log in and acknowledge your appointment notice by Aug. 31.

Note that University Support Staff (USS) and non-benefit-eligible employees (students, lecturers and temporary employees) are not subject to the annual appointment notice process.

Therefore, Unclassified Professionals (UP) and faculty of WSU can view, electronically acknowledge and print their 2026 appointment notice through myWSU:

• myWSU (Chrome is the preferred browser)
• Faculty/Staff tab
• Human Resources links
• Notice of appointment (You may need to clear the browser cache to see the link)

The 2026 appointment notices will be available to view, electronically acknowledge, print and revisit through Aug. 31. Due to the sensitive nature of this data, always close the browser to protect privacy.

Contact the Help Desk at 316-978-4357 for assistance with logging into myWSU, if needed.

For questions with any of the information contained on your fiscal year 2026 appointment notice, discuss with your supervisor and they may contact HR.ServiceCenter@wichita.edu if needed.

Note: Appointment notices are generated at a specific point in time with the beginning of the fiscal year for staff (or academic year for faculty). If your information changes after that point in time, it will not be reflected on the 2026 appointment notice.

The 2026 fiscal and academic year annual appointment notices are now available online and will not be printed or distributed to departments. Log in and acknowledge your appointment notice by Aug. 31.

Note that University Support Staff (USS) and non-benefit-eligible employees (students, lecturers and temporary employees) are not subject to the annual appointment notice process.

Therefore, Unclassified Professionals (UP) and faculty of WSU can view, electronically acknowledge and print their 2026 appointment notice through myWSU:

• myWSU (Chrome is the preferred browser)
• Faculty/Staff tab
• Human Resources links
• Notice of appointment (You may need to clear the browser cache to see the link)

The 2026 appointment notices will be available to view, electronically acknowledge, print and revisit through Aug. 31. Due to the sensitive nature of this data, always close the browser to protect privacy.

Contact the Help Desk at 316-978-4357 for assistance with logging into myWSU, if needed.

For questions with any of the information contained on your fiscal year 2026 appointment notice, discuss with your supervisor and they may contact HR.ServiceCenter@wichita.edu if needed.

Note: Appointment notices are generated at a specific point in time with the beginning of the fiscal year for staff (or academic year for faculty). If your information changes after that point in time, it will not be reflected on the 2026 appointment notice.

The 2026 fiscal and academic year annual appointment notices will be available online through myWSU during the week beginning Monday, July 7. You will then need to log in and acknowledge your appointment notice by Aug. 31.

Note that University Support Staff (USS) and non-benefit-eligible employees (students, lecturers and temporary employees) are not subject to the annual appointment notice process.

Appointment notices are generated at a specific point in time with the beginning of the fiscal year for staff (or academic year for faculty). If your information changes after that point in time, it will not be reflected on the 2026 appointment notice.

Human Resources has identified opportunities to increase compliance and improve the experience for new hires and front-end users. This includes streamlining the onboarding experience and reducing the possibility for errors and delays to help ensure new hires have a great experience starting with their first day on the job. To achieve this, HR is adopting deadlines for hiring dates, effective July 1.

These deadlines are designed to support front-end users in planning for new hires while also giving HR and other departments sufficient time to process requests efficiently, so new hires are set up for success on day one. A few key items to note on these deadlines:

• Sunday is the hire date for all new hires.
  • Benefit Eligible (BE) and salary positions (GA’s, lecturers, U4, Z4) will experience no change in their hire date — they will continue to have their hire date at the beginning of a pay period.
  • Hourly Non-Benefit Eligible (NBE) employees (regular students RS, U3, Z3) can begin working in their respective departments on any day after the hire date.
• Onboarding must be fully completed by the close of business the Thursday before the hire date. This is to allow time for system access and email setup so the new employee has what they need when they start working. Please remember that new hires cannot begin work until they’ve completed onboarding and are officially marked as “Hired” in WuHire by HR.

The 2025 Offer and Onboarding Calendar, which has hire dates and respective deadlines, is also available on the WuHire Information Hub under the “Announcements” section. Please be aware that beginning July 1, offers that are sent to HR that do not adhere to these deadlines will be declined and sent back for correction to their respective departments. Please note that if an offer is declined due to missing the required deadlines, the candidate cannot begin work on the originally proposed start date. A new offer with an updated start date must be submitted and approved.

Thank you for supporting this important step toward creating a positive onboarding experience, long-term system compliance and hiring efficiency. We appreciate your partnership.

Wichita State University will be closed Thursday, June 19 in observance of Juneteenth.

Juneteenth commemorates the end of slavery in the United States. It was recognized as a federal holiday in 2021, and Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly declared it a state holiday in 2023.

Eligible employees will receive the day as a paid holiday, and the time will be automatically recorded on eligible employees’ timesheets. Holiday hours will be added according to each employee’s standard hours per day, and no action is required from employees who report leave via leave reports.

To further our continuous efforts to move toward a standard university practice of efficiency and optimization, starting May 27, all job requisitions for staff* and lecturer positions will undergo an initial hiring review. This change aims to enhance our understanding of the need for each position and to facilitate efficient and effective staffing decisions across the organization.

Departments will be required to provide detailed information in the position justification section of their requisitions. The committee will meet every other week to ensure a thorough evaluation of each position’s necessity and to support departments in appropriately staffing their areas.

*IDP and ICAA are exempt from this process.

To help employees plan their work schedules and time-off usage throughout the year, Wichita State is happy to share the winter break schedule has been approved this year, which will commence at the end of the day Friday, Dec. 19, with the university reopening Monday, Jan. 5, 2026. The break is 10 business days, two of which are paid holidays. Thanks to President Muma, employees may use four “Additional Personal Days” to remain in pay status during winter break. Classes will not be in session during this period.

Unclassified Professional and University Support Staff may use accumulated paid leave, Additional Personal Days, or their 2026 discretionary day* to cover time off during the winter break. Non-exempt employees may also use accumulated compensatory time off during the winter break.

If an employee’s role requires them to work during the winter break, it must be approved in advance by their immediate supervisor.

Dates of winter break:

• Monday, Dec. 22, 2025
• Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2025
• Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2025
• Thursday, Dec. 25, 2025 (paid holiday)
• Friday, Dec. 26, 2025
• Monday, Dec. 29, 2025
• Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2025
• Wednesday, Dec 31, 2025
• Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026 (paid holiday)
• Friday, Jan. 2, 2026

An employee must be in pay status the entire workday before and the entire workday after state holidays to receive holiday pay. The official state holidays (bolded) are Christmas Day and New Year’s Day.

Employees required to work during the winter break will be allowed to use their four Additional Personal Days anytime from Monday, Dec. 22, 2025, through Jan. 31, 2026. Wichita State appreciates your dedication and service to the university.

*The discretionary day for 2025 must be used on or before Friday, Dec. 19, 2025, prior to the beginning of the winter break. The discretionary day for 2026 will be available as of Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025, and may be used during the 2025 winter break.