Category: News

The Office of Diversity and Inclusion (ODI) will be closed from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Thursday, May 4 to host its end of the year celebration.

Any questions can be sent to diversity@wichita.edu.

Formally known as the Office of Institutional Equity and Compliance (OIEC), the newly renamed Office of Civil Rights, Title IX & ADA Compliance (CTAC) will continue its commitment to ensuring members of the campus community feel included and engaged.

The name was changed to provide a clearer picture of how the office can help members of the campus community. In addition to the name change, students, faculty and staff can expect an increase in staff, campus-wide visibility, education and program initiatives, new and improved Title IX and EEO training, and an implementation of a CTAC monthly newsletter.

CTAC is helmed by Dr. Courtney McHenry, who started in the role in January. His experience consists of several years leading civil rights investigative divisions in both higher education and city government. Dr. McHenry is also a graduate of Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University, the University of Central Florida, and St. Thomas University.

“As CTAC continues to evolve and expand, the bottom line, aside from the compliance component, is undoubtedly customer service. The late great Dr. Maya Angelou once said, ‘I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.’ Compliance and policy enforcement can be intimidating, but it doesn’t have to be.”

Learn more about the newest research and innovation coming out of Wichita State by reading the April 2023 edition of Research & Innovation News.

Learn more about recent findings from Dr. Don Blakeslee, professor of anthropology and archaeologist, over the prehistoric Great Plains; the EPA selecting Wichita State as a site for an environmental justice center; and a WSU senior who presented her physics research at the annual American Astronomical Society meeting.

Research & Innovation News publishes every other month. Subscribe to the mailing list.

Graduating Shockers can now order their commencement T-shirts. Graduates’ names will be listed on the back with all the other spring 2023 grads.

The shirts are only available by ordering online. Shirts will be available for pickup at commencement.

A farewell reception for Nayeli Cano, Office of Diversity and Inclusion (ODI), will take place from 1 to 3 p.m. Tuesday, May 2 in 208 Rhatigan Student Center.

Come for snacks and beverages as ODI bids farewell to Nayeli and the years she’s been a part of Wichita State.

The Shocker Support Locker will be open until May 12 for the rest of the spring semester. It will post the summer hours in May.

The Office of Academic Affairs will celebrate the career and accomplishments of Dr. Rodney Miller, dean of the College of Fine Arts, from 4 to 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 10 in 305/306 Rhatigan Student Center, Beggs Ballroom.

Miller has served as dean for 19 years, starting in June 2004. During his tenure, the School of Digital Arts was created and enrollment in the college has grown to over 1000 students. Working with the Foundation and Alumni Engagement office, the college scholarship/fellowship funds have reached $1 million in annual awards to College of Fine Arts students.

Miller will retire in June 2023. Join Academic Affairs in congratulating him on a successful academic career and wishing him a happy retirement.

Six teams emerged as victors from the Shocker New Venture Competition Trade Show that was held April 21. The trade show featured the top 16 teams showcasing their innovative business ideas to judges and attendees. The judges, composed of successful entrepreneurs and industry leaders, evaluated each team’s pitch and product demonstrations to determine which teams had the best chance of succeeding in the marketplace. 

Congratulations to the six teams that are advancing to the final round of the Shocker New Venture Competition, presented by the WSU Center for Entrepreneurship. 

The six advancing teams:

• Female Engineering Matters:
  • Triple B Support is a medical device that targets the back, belly and breasts that will alleviate pain and discomfort to help pregnant people continue with their daily tasks.
• Optimum Wellness:
  • An improved psychiatric restraint system for stretcher cot use
• Player Card:
  • Player Card is a business in the Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) industry that connects college athletes with local companies for deals to remove friction from the NIL deal process.
• TARAM:
  • Unlock new possibilities in global trade with the secure, digital platform. Say hello to hassle-free logistics and finance.
• Testkey:
  • Portable, user-friendly medical diagnostic testing made simple. Unlock the power to digitize the health testing experience for rapid, accurate results anytime, anywhere.
• Vision Vest:
  • Vision Vest is a tool that replaces sight with touch, allowing blind people to avoid objects, navigate hallways and identify what they are facing.

The public is invited to attend the final round, which will include a in-depth presentations of each team’s business model followed by a Q&A session with the judges. This will take place from 2 to 4 p.m. Friday, April 28 in Devlin Hall. A reception will be held following the presentations from 4 to 5 p.m., with the awards being presented at 5 p.m. 

WSU’s Center for Entrepreneurship thanks all the sponsors of this year’s Shocker New Venture Competition, including Erin Cummings, IMA Financial Group, INTRUST Bank, Moral Holdings, NetWork Kansas and UBS.

The Maternal and Child Health Equity Conference brings together researchers and practitioners from across the state of Kansas from a variety of disciplines and geographic locations to work toward proven solutions to improve maternal and child health outcomes in our state by casting a wide net on the social determinants of health (i.e., housing, economic issues, domestic violence, substance use and abuse, mental health, access to care, houselessness, environmental issues, exposure to toxins, and nutrition). Attendees will have the opportunity to hear from expert speakers as well as network with colleagues from around the state.

The 2023 Maternal and Child Health Equity Conference: Addressing the Social Determinants of Health theme is “Connect, Create and Collaborate: Generating Proven Solutions for our State.” The deadline to submit an abstract is Friday, May 5.

All are invited to a celebratory reception for Dr. Don Blakeslee, professor of anthropology and archaeologist, who is retiring at the end of the spring semester, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday, May 5 in the 107 Devlin Hall and the Devlin Atrium. This is a come and go reception with remarks scheduled for noon.

Blakeslee joined Wichita State in 1976 as an assistant professor of anthropology. He is known for his research in the archaeology of the Great Plains. His main contributions include — aside from his research on the Middle Ceramic period and the Walnut River Basin — the discovery of the Wichita settlement of Etzanoa in Arkansas City and his research into the larger nation of Quivira. He served as department chair from 1990 to 1993 and was awarded full professorship in 1997. From 1988 to 1991 and from 2004 to 2007, he was a coordinator of general education program at WSU. He also served as president of the Professional Archaeologists of Kansas and of the Archaeological Association of South Central Kansas (AASCK), a society for amateur archaeologists.