Category: Kudos

Kansas English — edited by Dr. Katie Cramer, professor of English education in the School of Education, and published in WSU’s Open Journal Systems by the Kansas Association of Teachers of English — has been named a recipient of the 2022 NCTE Affiliate Journal of Excellence Award, given by the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE). This is the third year in a row that Kansas English has earned this distinction.

Established in 1995, this award honors outstanding affiliate journals and their editors who demonstrate excellence. The journals are judged on content, organization, and scholarly exploration, appeal to many groups within the affiliate, coverage of important issues in English language arts education, and inclusion of other types of writing.

The Affiliate Journal of Excellence Award winners will be announced on Nov. 20 at the 2022 NCTE Annual Convention in Anaheim, California.

The Wichita Arts Council has announced that Andrea Banke, Wichita State associate professor of music, has been chosen to receive the Burton Pell Award. The award is given annually to an outstanding musician from the Wichita area. Banke will be honored at the 52nd annual Art Awards dinner on Nov. 3 at Wichita Art Museum.

Wichita State Property Manager Crystal Stegeman has been named Facility Manager of the Year by the Wichita chapter of the International Facility Management Association.

As the university’s property manager, Crystal is the liaison between Wichita State and landlords/tenants for the leased properties, as well as properties the university leases.

Crystal will accept her award at IMFA’s celebration on Nov. 3.

The Academy of International Business (AIB), the oldest, largest and most prestigious scholarly association in International Business recently interviewed Usha Haley — W. Frank Barton Distinguished Professor in International Business.

The AIB chose Haley as a top international business scholar for AIB’s Frontline Series. Frontline interviews top scholars that the field of international business sees as impactful through their research for personal insights as to what motivates them.

Haley also had her award-winning research on competition posed by China to the USA’s industries covered in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The Journal Sentinel ran an in-depth analysis of the paper industry,

Recently, four women made history to become Wichita State’s first all-female crew to officiate a WSU intramural Flag Football game. The officiates included the following students:

• Kimberly Stuercke, referee
•  Itzel Perez, line judge
• Jessie Mooney, field judge
• Elizabeth Martinez, back judge

To break the record, the referees, as well as every other intramural official, learned and applied life skills such as quick decision-making, conflict management, communication and teamwork.

Dr. Michael Rogers, human performance studies and research director Center for Physical Activity and Aging, was recently consulted by Consumer Reports for his expertise on treadmills, ellipticals, exercise bikes, rowing machines or stair climbers. The article focused on the type of equipment to select when trying to achieve fitness goals.

Wichita State University’s Esports Rocket League team traveled Sunday, Sept. 11, to Kansas City to compete at the Kansas Speedway Rocket League tournament. The event was part of a 9/11 remembrance celebration at the NASCAR Hollywood Casino 400 race. 

The Esports tournament was part of a major motorsports event Sunday. The Hollywood Casino 400 is part of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.

The Rocket League tournament also featured two teams from Kansas State University and one from Missouri State University. WSU defeated both K-State teams, losing twice to Missouri State during the final match in overtime. Missouri State is known to have a strong Rocket League program, winning a national title in 2021. 

Congrats to Dr. Sarah Jolley and Vanessa Lohf, Wichita State’s Community Engagement Institute (CEI,) for their project being recently highlighted by the United Nations Foundation as part of its American Leadership on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) series.

The United Nations Foundation was formed to support the United Nations and serve as a strategic partner and resource for the United Nations in solving global problems.

In the first year of this project, Jolley and Lohf facilitated a virtual Learning Collaborative with the five community teams that involved presentations from community foundations in the United States, Canada, England and Sicily. For the second year of the project, CEI will bring the communities together four times as part of a Community of Practice to facilitate progress on implementation plans developed by each Foundation.

CEI is also documenting learnings from the process to develop a white paper on the results of the pilot project that will be shared with other community foundations in the United States and around the world.

John Colclazier — Wichita State University Environmental Finance Center (EFC) program manager and recent graduate of the Hugo Walls School’s Master of Public Administration — traveled to Nome, Alaska, to lead a workshop on water utility management in late August. Colclazier also led a workshop in Anchorage for water utility operators while in Alaska.

The EFC is a recognized leader in asset management for water utilities and leads workshops on this and other topics nationwide. The workshop was funded through a grant to EFC from the Environmental Protection Agency to have the EFC provide technical assistance to small water and wastewater systems throughout the country.