Category: News

The search for WSU’s new executive vice president and provost position is under way. A search committee with shared governance representation from academic affairs and other constituencies has been formed.

The committee members are:

• Dr. Whitney Bailey (co-chair), president of Faculty Senate and Athletic Training Clinical Education coordinator, Human Performance Studies
• Werner Golling (co-chair), vice president of Finance and Administration
• Kathy Downes, dean, University Libraries and associate professor
• Dr. Marche Fleming-Randle, vice president, chief diversity officer and director of Military and Veteran Programs
• Gabriel Fonseca, Staff Senate president
• Dr. Linnea Glenmaye, associate vice president, Provost Office
• Kamilah Gumbs, vice president of Student Government Association
• Dr. Teri Hall, vice president of Student Affairs
• Dr. Andrew Hippisley, dean, Liberal Arts and Sciences and professor
• Vijay Matheswaran, graduate student
• Dr. Doug Parham, chairperson and associate professor, Communication Sciences and Disorders
• Fiffy Petty, executive assistant, VPFA
• Jeff Pulaski, director of the School of Art, Design and Creative Industries and professor
• Jodie Simon, associate educator and undergraduate coordinator
• Sheelu Surender, Staff Senate
• Dr. Sheree Utash, president, WSU Tech
• Dr. Gergely Zaruba, interim director and professor, School of Computing

Academic Career & Executive Search (ACES), an executive search firm, has been engaged to assist WSU with this important search. Jennifer Muller, managing partner and senior search consultant, will lead the ACES team.

The search committee had its kick-off meeting on Nov. 11, with President Muma joining the meeting to give the committee its charge.

Muller and the ACES team met with the search committee via Zoom on Nov. 23 to discuss various aspects of the search and search process.

ACES will conduct its work and present candidates for the search committee to review at the end of January 2022.

Ideally the new executive vice president and provost will be named in April 2022, with a starting date no later than July 1, 2022.

Wichita State University’s Center for Entrepreneurship (CEI) has granted two students the Women for Women’s Innovation Award — one who wants to use an app to help those with chronic illnesses, the other who wants to support local businesses by creating Wichita artisan gift boxes.

Further extending its community outreach, Wichita State partnered with Wichita Habitat for Humanity to build a house near campus for a Wichita family with three children.

The first step was a wall raising Dec. 1 at Wichita Habitat’s Rock the Block. WSU President Rick Muma and First Gentleman Rick Case were in attendance and helped with the wall raising. 

Wichita State University’s efforts to recruit and retain students from historically underserved and underrepresented areas rank it in the top 28% of the 2021 Social Mobility Index (SMI).

The 2021 SMI, calculated by CollegeNET Inc., benchmarks 1,549 four-year colleges and universities in the United States according to how effectively they enroll students from low-income backgrounds and graduate them into well-paying jobs.

Beginning fall 2022, eligible students from Illinois will be able to attend Wichita State University for the same cost as in-state tuition, a significant savings that will provide increased access and affordability to a growing number of students.

The Office of Financial Aid will temporarily close Friday, Dec. 3 for staff development. For more information or assistance during this time, please contact OneStop at 316-978-7440 or visit the OneStop office at Jardine Hall (Room 112).

A live YouTube virtual faculty and staff town hall will be held from 3:30-4:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 3. This is an opportunity to hear and interact with President Rick Muma and Interim Executive Vice President and Provost Shirley Lefever. The town hall will also kick off the launch to the university’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Plan by Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer Marche Fleming-Randle. The event will be moderated by Gabriel Fonseca, Staff Senate president and Whitney Bailey, Faculty Senate president.

Further extending its community outreach, Wichita State has partnered with Wichita Habitat for Humanity to build a house near campus for a Wichita family with three children.

The Registrar’s Office will close temporarily 11:15 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 3 for a staff event.

For more information or assistance during this time, please contact WSU OneStop at  316-978-7440 or visit the OneStop office at Jardine Hall (Room 112).

Proposals are currently being accepted for the 2023-24 Cohen Honors College seminars. The college is particularly interested in fall first-year seminars, team-taught and social justice topics. For consideration, participants should submit a course proposal through the Course Information Management system (CIM) and include information about what makes the course an honors-level experience and, if applicable, how this course meets general education requirements. Proposals will be accepted through Feb. 1, 2022.

Course proposals will be routed to the Honors College Faculty Council and relevant university committees for review. Faculty should speak with their department chair or supervisor before submitting a proposal. Instructors whose courses are approved will be asked to confirm college and chair approval and other details related to course scheduling.

Faculty may also use the separate course proposal form to request to teach an existing honors seminar course topic such as HNRS 351 Survey of Leadership, HNRS 352 Survey of Law and Public Policy or HNRS 486 Collaborative Research. For more information about the Cohen Honors College curriculum, please visit the current student page of the college’s website or the undergraduate catalog.

Departmental honors courses: Departments may offer an honors (H-suffix) section of any existing department course by adding a cross-listed course through the CIM. These courses are reviewed by the department and college curriculum committees and honors faculty council. If approved, these courses are scheduled and supported by the department.

For more information, department chairs are welcome to contact Kimberly Engber, dean of the Cohen Honors College or honors@wichita.edu. Members can also visit the Resources for Faculty in Honors website for more information.