Category: News

Applications are now open for the 11th annual Shocker Leadership Awards. The Shocker Leadership Awards recognize the work of student-led organizations, students, faculty and staff at Wichita State.

Official WSU student organizations, university-affiliated student groups and individuals may be nominated by a student, faculty member, staff member or organization. Nominations can also be made by an individual for themselves. Nominations are due by 11:59 p.m. Friday, March. 3.

For any questions, contact abbi.whisler@wichita.edu.

The annual Phenomenal Women Awards recognize women for their accomplishments and contributions to the community through their scholarship, activism and commitment to excellence.

Individuals are encouraged to nominate women who have made a difference in their lives. Nominations close at 11:59 p.m. Friday, March 3.

The annual Strategic Communication Seminar was held Jan. 26 in the Rhatigan Student Center. Attendees were able to choose to attend three of six sessions to gain additional insights, tools and tips to help improve marketing and communication efforts in their university departments.

Materials from the seminar are now available to view.

The Wichita State Child Development Center has open pre-K spots. This is for children who will be entering kindergarten in fall 2023. For more information, call 316-978-3109 or email Amy Mease at the Child Development Center at amy.mease@wichita.edu.

Dr. Sara Mata has been appointed as the executive director of Hispanic-Serving Initiatives in Academic Affairs. In the role, she will develop and implement strategies to support WSU’s initiative of being a Hispanic-Serving Institution by collaborating with campus and community partners and other institutions. She will also teach courses at WSU and serve as a graduate mentor for the Intervention Services and Leadership in Education department of the College of Applied Studies.

Throughout her career in higher education, the core of Dr. Mata’s work has been to mentor and advocate for students. Dedicated to promoting undergraduate research, Dr. Mata has mentored McNair scholars, honors scholars, and Oklahoma Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation scholars.

Dr. Mata received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in sociology, her master’s degree in community counseling, and her doctorate in social foundations all from Oklahoma State University.

“We are excited to have Dr. Mata as part of our Shocker family,” said Shirley Lefever, provost and executive vice president. “She is a strong advocate with a passion to help students. She will play a lead role in WSU’s initiative of being a Hispanic-Serving Institution and to promote student success and persistence efforts here at Wichita State University.”

Due to an ongoing increased demand for its services, Shocker Printing Solutions will no longer have the available resources to take in-person orders or accommodate same-day service for non-university or personal orders.

Please submit all future orders via the Shocker Printing Solutions storefront or by email at shockerprinting@wichita.edu and email Shocker Printing Solutions for any additional questions. It apologizes for any inconvenience this may cause in the short term.

Course Evaluations are being conducted for both SPTEs and the Course Evaluations and Surveys (CES) pilot. Since CES is a pilot, not all courses will be available for administration. It’s suggested that you elect to use one or the other evaluation tool for a single course. If you are unsure which evaluation tool to use, check with your department.

The results from the CES pilot cannot be submitted for any official review process. including T&P, FAR, post-tenure review or department policies, so here are the steps needed for if you do or do not need official reviews:

If you need course evaluations for any official review:

• Submit the SPTE request form by Wednesday, Feb. 22.
• When you receive an email from evaluations@CES.wichita.edu, you will need to opt-out the courses you don’t want in the CES Pilot. This way your students will not receive two course evaluations for the same course. These emails are distributed according to the part-of-term your course(s) is assigned.

If you do not need course evaluations for any official review:

• Do not submit the SPTE request form.
• When you receive an email from evaluations@CES.wichita.edu, you will need to only opt-out the courses you do not want evaluated through the CES pilot.

All instructors who are in the pilot group will receive emails from evaluations@CES.wichita.edu.  Steps to opt-out by deleting courses in CES and additional information can be found on the Watermark Tools homepage under the section menu.

Kathy Downes, dean of WSU Libraries, will retire at the end of the year. Downes has served as dean since 2017 and has worked for over 40 years at Wichita State.

During her time with WSU Libraries, she spearheaded many facility expansions, including coordinating the west addition project from 1985 to 1989 and helping with the 2019 expansion of the 24-hour study room.

She also co-led the systems migration from NOTIS to Voyager and initiated an ongoing project to prepare for the next generation of cloud-based library services. Many other transformations and enhancements of Ablah Library’s learning spaces, collections and services were also led by her.

“Dean Downes is leaving a lasting impact and legacy at WSU and will be missed,” said Shirley Lefever, provost and executive vice president. “The WSU community wishes her well on her well-deserved retirement.”

The W. Frank Barton School of Business has named Stephanie Cockrell as its new director of graduate programs. In the role, Cockrell will work to define and execute strategies to increase enrollment and retention as well as deliver robust experiences for graduate students. This includes study-abroad programs as well as experiential education and applied leadership opportunities.

Cockrell will also lead all recruiting marketing and communication activities for graduate degree programs. Her first day in her new position was Jan. 23.

Prior to her role with the Barton School, Cockrell served as the assistant director for First-Year Programs at WSU’s Office of Student Success. During her time, she received her Master’s of Business Administration from the Barton School with a concentration in marketing.

Over the past decade, the Office of Student Money Management (OSMM) has served prospective and current students by providing information and services about making good financial decisions and preparing a financial plan for college.

As financial wellness programs have grown in high schools and services in financial aid have become more focused around financial wellness, OSMM announced that student money management services are now available through the Office of Financial Aid.

Students can schedule an appointment with a financial aid counselor to talk about budgeting and financial wellness while learning how financial aid opportunities may help. Additionally, students have access to an online resource, CashCourse, which helps them develop these skills on demand.