Category: News

Student Engagement, Advocacy & Leadership (SEAL) is seeking judges for the following annual award competitions:

• Greek Awards
• Shocker Leadership Awards
• Undergraduate and Graduate Student Leader of the Year

It needs help from faculty and staff to judge presentations and interviews for all the Shockers at the awards. The deadline to apply is by Friday, March 17.

For questions, reach out to Randi Courter, assistant director at SEAL, at randi.courter@wichita.edu.

The Service-Learning Showcase is a unique opportunity for students to showcase their service-learning experience through a research or reflective poster about the application of their course work to current community issues. The showcase this year will be held in a digital format and judged by a team of community partner leaders.

The showcase is an open forum for students to interact with faculty, staff, community partners and other students to engage in conversation about Wichita State’s commitment to the public good. Submissions are due on April 7.

Awards are presented in the following categories:

• Outstanding overall service-learning project, $150 scholarship to winning entry.
• Innovation and creativity in problem solving, $100 scholarship to winning entry.
• Community impact/community choice, $100 scholarship to winning entry.
• Collaboration and leadership in service-learning, $100 scholarship to winning entry.

Each year, the Division of Student Affairs selects 10 students to receive the Senior Honor award. This is the highest honor awarded to WSU students who demonstrate outstanding scholarship, leadership, involvement at WSU, and service to the university and the surrounding community.

The deadline to submit an application is Friday, March 3.

Get ready to compete in the Shocker New Venture Competition for up to $10,000 for a business idea. Throughout the three stages of the competition, participants will learn business skills and gain invaluable feedback from seasoned business owners, successful entrepreneurs, subject matter experts and faculty members.

This year’s Shocker New Venture Competition applications open Monday, Feb. 27. The applications include a business model video.

For those who want to “be the change,” social work may be the right path for that goal. Wichita State’s Master of Social Work (MSW) program is accepting additional applications for the 2023-24 school year through Saturday, April 1.

The program is open to all majors and has both full- and part-time schedule options. MSW students go on to work in mental health, forensics, health care, addiction treatment, aging, human resources, schools, international settings, child and family welfare, disaster relief, athletic programs and more.

For more information, contact Shaunna Millar, MSW director, at shaunna.millar@wichita.edu.

More than 430 students have been named to Wichita State’s fall 2022 Dean’s Honor Roll.

To be included on the honor roll, a student must be enrolled full time (at least 12 credit hours) and earn at least a 3.5 grade point average on a 4.0 scale. 

Students earned honors within the following colleges at WSU:

• Fairmount College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
• College of Fine Arts
• Dorothy and Bill Cohen Honors College
• College of Innovation and Design
• College of Applied Studies
• College of Health Professions
• W. Frank Barton School of Business
• College of Engineering

The deadline approaches to participate in the survey over WSU’s master plan. The survey link will be active until 5 p.m. Sunday, March 12. Participants who started filling out the survey are encouraged to pick up where they left off and finish before the deadline.

Building on the momentum of WSU’s strategic plan, the university is embarking on a master plan update with design partner, Gensler, to provide a physical manifestation of WSU’s vision and mission.

The most important part of that plan is charting the course together as a campus community, with all voices invited to contribute across a variety of engagements.

Gensler is conducting the campus-wide survey to engage the wider community at WSU, bringing together voices, experiences and priorities. All students, faculty and staff are invited to take this 10-15 minute survey to ensure you are heard.

As a bonus, all participants will have a chance to win $150 Shocker Dollars.

Harold Wallace III joins Wichita State as the new director for the Office of Diversity and Inclusion (ODI), effective Feb. 19. Harold is a proud Los Angeles native and is rejoining his alma mater from Austin Peay State University, where he served as the director of the Wilbur N. Daniel African American Cultural Center. In addition, he also served as the assistant director of Student Diversity Programs at Pittsburg State University.

He has created and implemented programming to enhance the atmosphere of diversity on the various campuses he worked at. During his time at Pittsburg State, he was a professor of freshmen experience and academic advisor for the undeclared student population.

His educational background includes a bachelor’s degree in ethnic studies, business and sociology from WSU and a master’s degree in college student personnel from Arkansas Tech University. Harold is excited to move ODI’s mission, vision, and values and pursue inclusive excellence at WSU.

The Frank Barton School of Business has awarded Isabella (Bella) Kilman, a senior from Valley Center High School, the 2023 Clay Barton Scholarship. The $50,000 scholarship is one of the largest business scholarships in Kansas.

Kilman, who plans to major in marketing, was named the 2023 Barton Scholar after competing against numerous other high school seniors in a series of speeches, group exercises and other activities.

Along with securing a perfect 4.0 GPA, Kilman is involved in cheer, DECA, Principal’s Advisory Council and Site Council at Valley Center. She also works as the business development intern with the USD 262 communication office. She will begin taking classes at WSU in fall 2023.

The Department of Women’s, Ethnicity and Intersectional Studies (WEIS) in the Fairmount College is accepting applications for the Carol Konek Legacy Award. This is a new annual award open to tenured, tenure-track and non-tenure track faculty who teach or cross-list courses in WEIS. Applications are due by April 7.

Funds will be used for projects that allow faculty to become more involved in their studies, research and professions through leadership development and education projects, or allow individual members to attend a conference that relates to their work. The annual award is $1,000.

No individual will be excluded from consideration on the basis of age, ancestry, color, disability, gender, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information, marital status, national origins, political affiliation, pregnancy status, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, or status as a veteran.

For more information, contact Robin Henry, interim chair of WEIS, at robin.henry@wichita.edu.