Category: Kudos

Retired U.S. Army Lt. Col Larry Burks Sr., director for the Military and Veteran Center at Wichita State, received recognition for his military service and his work with the greater Wichita community at two  Martin Luther King Jr. Day (MLK) community celebrations Jan. 17.

The African Americans Renewing Interest in Spirituals Ensemble Ensemble (ARISE) recognized Burks with their Sankofa Award honoring his military service and his volunteer work and activism.

The Greater Wichita Ministerial League honored Burks with their Spirit of Unity Award recipient, which is awarded to individuals who participate in making the local community a better place while representing the vision and dreams of MLK.

Three first-year educators from Wichita State were recently recognized by the Kansas Department of Education (KSDE) for their outstanding teaching skills through the 2022 Kansas Horizon Award program.

The Kansas Horizon Award program, sponsored by KSDE, gives all school districts in the state an opportunity to nominate one elementary and one secondary teacher for the award. To be eligible for the award, teachers must have completed their first year of teaching and have performed in such a way as to distinguish themselves as outstanding.

The following WSU educators were recognized by KSDE for 2022:

• Kynnedy Myers: Myers graduated from WSU’s Teacher Apprentice Program (TAP) in 2020 and teaches at Ewalt Elementary School, Augusta USD 402.
• Emily Crawford: Crawford will graduate from TAP in spring 2022 and teaches at Northridge Elementary School, Newton USD 373. Crawford has been teaching in the classroom on the limited apprentice license TAP candidates receive through the program.
• Nicole Menard teaches at Buhler High School, Buhler USD 313, and is a 2020 graduate of WSU’s English Education program.

TAP is an online bachelor of arts in early childhood education and elementary education at WSU. The program prepares candidates for licensure as a Kansas teacher with a flexible program of study, specially designed for paraeducators to earn their bachelor of arts in Early Childhood Unified/elementary Education so that they can become the classroom teacher of record in a shortened time.

Inside Higher Education recently published an opinion essay by Dr. Keith Pickus, vice president for corporate and foundation relations, Wichita State University Foundation about the similarities between managing professional employees and teaching university students. Pickus, who recently returned to a full-time faculty role after serving in various campus administration roles for 19 years, penned the essay after teaching this past spring.

The Kansas Council for Economic Education (KCEE) has received a $20,000 grant from the Office of the State Bank Commissioner (OSBC). The KCEE is a nonprofit organization that is affiliated with all of Kansas’ six public universities and hosted by the W. Frank Barton School of Business at Wichita State. The KCEE will use the grant in providing its financial literacy programs for middle and high school students throughout the state of Kansas.

The KCEE strives to increase the economic and financial literacy of K-12 students by equipping their teachers to teach economics and personal finance and by providing programs and competitions that engage students through experiential learning and practical applications of knowledge. The KCEE reaches more than 100,000 students through more than 1,000 teachers statewide each year.

“The KCEE and the middle and high school students in Kansas sincerely appreciate this grant,” Jim Graham, KCEE president and chief executive officer, said.

The OSBC regulates all state-chartered banks, trust companies, mortgage businesses, supervised lenders, credit service organizations and money transmitters that do business in the State of Kansas. Its mission is to ensure the integrity of regulated providers of financial services through responsible and proactive oversight while protecting and educating consumers. The OSBC has supported the KCEE for many years as part of its mission of educating consumers so they will become financially literate.

The OSBC has awarded $103,150 in grant funds this year to six Kansas organizations to provide financial literacy education throughout the state. The recipients of OSBC Consumer Education grants are Consumer Credit Counseling Service Inc., Housing and Credit Counseling Inc., Kansas Council for Economic Education, The Pando Initiative Inc., Jobs for America’s Graduates-Kansas (JAG-K), and Mirror, Inc.

Dr. Voncella McCleary-Jones, associate dean for academic affairs in the College of Health Professions, has been appointed to a two-year term on the National League for Nursing’s Academy of Nursing Education Review Panel.

McCleary-Jones was named an Academy of Nursing Education Fellow (ANEF) in 2016. ANEF is a national distinction recognizing individuals who have contributed to nursing education in sustained and significant ways.

Thank you to everyone who participated in the Nov. 15-19 United Way campaign week. For the 2021 campaign, Wichita State was able to exceed its goal of $35,000 and raised more than $37,9995 in total contributions that will impact local communities. Thanks to everyone who shared the message and helped donate. Next year, we hope to raise more.

Associate professor Cathy Moore-Jansen has announced that she will retire from the University Libraries at the end of December.

Cathy Moore-Jansen joined the University Libraries in 1989, holding several positions during her 32 years in the libraries — including interim associate dean of public services. For the past 21 years, she has served as the coordinator for collection development. During her time in this role, the world of scholarly communication changed, and Cathy was instrumental in introducing the campus community to new digital formats such as online scholarly databases, ebooks, ejournals, and streaming media.

Beyond growing the University Libraries’ collections, she also has been a strong college and campus citizen, serving on numerous faculty, library, and university committees. The University Libraries deeply thanks Cathy Moore-Jansen for her many important contributions to the University Libraries and the university.

University Business recently featured an article acknowledging Wichita States efforts to meet the needs of first-generation students, with many of the initiatives made by the First-Generation Coordinating Council (FGCC).

The FGCC is composed of Wichita State individuals who are involved in first-gen efforts that support current university activities, explore opportunities for departmental collaboration and look for opportunities to enhance the campus-wide approach to serve first-gen Shockers.

Recently the Wichita State’s CARE Team reached an all-time high for overall reports, with an increase of 59.6 % for the academic year. For November, there was an increase of 58.82% reports. The CARE Team exists to support students through difficulty by connecting them with the resources and help they need to succeed academically and personally.

Thank you CARE Team for all the hard work you do for Wichita State students.

Rosella Regier, a client at the Evelyn Hendren Cassat Speech-Language-Hearing Clinic, recently collaborated with her husband Harold Regier, to publish a book about their journey with speech therapy. In the book they share about their positive experience working with graduate students and supervisors at the Speech-Language-Hearing Clinic to gain better communication following a diagnosis of Aphasia, a language disorder.

Rosella and Harold have also created a technique called “Aphasia Friendly Readings” that is introduced in the book and includes scripts to assist individuals who would like to try the communication method. The technique is being researched in the Clinic by Dr. Erin O’Bryan, assistant professor in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, and several clients have seen the benefits of this approach to increase conversation.

This book, a labor of love and source of inspiration, and is available to purchase on Amazon: