Category: News

Faculty and staff, don’t miss this opportunity to refresh your closet. Find everything you need for a professional wardrobe. Visit JCPenney Towne East from 3 to 6 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 8 to receive a 30% off coupon on select career wear at the JCPenney Suit-Up event. Shocker ID is required for coupon.

Want to shop online? Text SHOCKS to 67292 to get a 30% off coupon.

There are major changes and improvements coming to the 2024-25 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form. As a result, the new form will be available in December 2023, not the usual Oct. 1 date.

The launch date will apply only for the 2024-25 FAFSA form.

The changes to the FAFSA form for the 2024-25 aid year include:

• Expanded eligibility for federal student aid
• A more streamlined application process

For more information, visit studentaid.gov

WSU Math Circle resumes meetings for the fall semester. The next meeting is at 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 1 in 101 Lindquist Hall. Math Circle is a program for middle school students. Sunday’s speaker is Dr. Mai Dao, who will discuss the workings of QR and bar codes along with guiding students on how to make their own during the discussion.

Math Circles are education enrichment and outreach groups that bring mathematicians and mathematical scientists into direct contact with pre-college students. These students meet with math professionals in an informal setting, after school or on weekends, to work on interesting problems or topics in mathematics. The goal is to get the students excited and passionate about mathematics.

Middle school students should bring a completed registration and consent form from the website.

Food For Fines is an initiative to serve the population of Wichita State while supporting the Shocker Support Locker. During the week of Oct. 2-6, certain parking and traffic citations can be forgiven with a designated donation to the Shocker Support Locker.

Donations can be dropped off at the Student Government Association office in 219 Rhatigan Student Center or the University Police Department.

For more information and details about the program and donation eligibility, visit the Student Advocate webpage or email our student advocates at sga.gradadvocate@wichita.edu or sga.ugadvocate@wichita.edu

The College of Applied Studies announced that Travis Yang, director of Shocker Esports, has been nominated for the Scholars – Collegiate Gaming Awards Program Director of the Year.

Since joining Wichita State in 2021, Yang has played a pivotal role in driving the growth and success of the university’s Esports program. Public voting is open for, which is open daily until Nov. 20.

Graduating students, if you are a member of any of the listed groups below and would like to order the group’s corresponding graduation stole, pre-orders must be completed by Oct. 20.

• Shocker Bowling
• Japanese Culture Association
• University Innovation Fellows
• Dental Hygiene
• Medical Laboratory Sciences
• BS in Nursing
• SOSW (Student Organization of Social Work)

The stoles are only available by pre-order, they will not be carried in store later. For questions, email shockerstore@wichita.edu or call 316-978-7021.

Watermark’s Course Evaluations & Surveys (CES) tool is Wichita State’s new course evaluation tool. Find more information over the coming weeks in WSU Today about CES.

Today’s focus is on how to use CES.

• While in Blackboard, instructors can access CES any time by choosing “Tools” from the main menu and selecting “CES Course Evaluations.” It can also be directly accessed via the links provided in emails sent to the instructor.
• The “Watermark Course Evaluation & Surveys” dashboard will appear.
• Widgets will appear on the dashboard. When a task is available for a course, it will display information. If not, it may state “No Project Found.”
• The “Manage Courses” widget will only appear when that option is open and available to instructors.
• There is a dedicated CES website that includes additional information.

For questions, contact Sandy Ranney at evaluations@ces.wichita.edu.

Students are requested to provide updated information to Wichita State any time there is a change to contact information. This includes mailing address, phone number and emergency contact. It is especially important that Shockers provide and update their emergency contact.

The person listed will only be contacted in the event of a health or safety emergency in which you are personally involved. If you live on campus, this will also be the person contacted should you be reported as missing. You may list a parent, family member, spouse or other trusted individual as your emergency contact. You will find the link to your profile page on the myWSU home tab, under “Student Tools” and “myContact Info”. A separate link also provides an opportunity to update self-reported military affiliation.

President Rick Muma spoke at the annual ICT Summit, “Downtown: A Vision for Our City’s Core,” Sept. 21. Three sets of panelists discussed the history of downtown Wichita, the developments currently underway and the future of downtown.

President Muma spoke about the upcoming Wichita Biomedical Campus in downtown Wichita, which will house the College of Health Professions and WSU Tech’s Health Professions program, and the vision of creating a health care corridor to strengthen learning, collaboration and research for the Wichita community.

The Barton School of Business has announced Pyet DeSpain, an award winning and global private chef, as its Entrepreneur-in-Residence for the fall 2023 semester. DeSpain was the first winner of Gordon Ramsay’s “Next Level Chef” TV show on Fox. In 2021, she was named one of the top 25 best private chefs in Los Angeles by Entrepreneur Magazine.

“I am very excited to share my passion for cooking, entrepreneurship and my heritage with the students and faculty of the Barton School,” DeSpain said. “While I now call Los Angeles home, my heart belongs with where I grew up – in the Midwest. This will serve as a pseudo homecoming for me.”

As the Barton School’s Entrepreneur-in-Residence, DeSpain will host a keynote presentation titled “A Recipe For Success: When Business Meets Passion” at 11 a.m. Nov. 2 in Woolsey Hall. There she will discuss her life’s journey and transformational experiences including winning “Next Level Chef.”