Category: News

In November every year, the Teaching Today newsletter takes a moment to give thanks and recognize the value of connection. In this year’s Thankful edition, OIR staff shares what they’re thankful for at Wichita State. You will also find a piece on connection and loneliness that encourages you to think about how you are connecting with others. There is also a piece on Blackboard Annotate and all of the tools available for instructors to use there

The December 2024 Food For Fines will take place Dec 2-6. Food for Fines is an initiative to support the Shocker Support Locker while providing a cheaper alternative to pay parking citations. All donations for Food for Fines can be dropped off at the Student Government’s Office in 219 Rhatigan Student Center or the Parking Services building.

Note that donations can only be accepted during the donation period and that citations can not be more than two months old. Questions can be directed to sga@wichita.edu.

The College of Applied Studies is pleased to announce that Dr. Julie Thiele will serve as the new chair of the Teacher Apprenticeship Pathways, Literacy and Special Education (TALS) Department. Dr. Thiele brings experience in education and leadership, and successfully funded research initiatives, making her a valuable addition to the college.

As department chair, Dr. Thiele will focus on enhancing student success, fostering academic excellence and promoting faculty development and scholarship. She is committed to strengthening partnerships with educational organizations and ensuring that programs such as the Teacher Apprentice Program are aligned with the evolving needs of schools and communities. She also plans to focus on the enhancement of collaborations between faculty within TALS to create pathways from CAS undergraduate programs to TALS graduate programs including, ME.d in special education and literacy certificates.

“We are thrilled to welcome Dr. Thiele to this important leadership role,” said Dr. Jennifer Friend, dean of the College of Applied Studies. “Her commitment to our students and her expertise in the field of educator preparation will help advance our mission and support our students, faculty and staff in achieving their goals.”

Wichita State students and faculty made a strong impact at the Kansas Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (KAHPERD) Convention, held from Nov. 6 to 8 at Emporia State University. During the convention, 21 WSU physical education students participated, presenting interactive sessions on physical education games that combined fun and learning.

Ian Stevens was elected chair of the Future Professionals Committee, and faculty member Olivia Butler was voted president-elect of KAHPERD for the 2024-25 term. At just 29, Butler will be the second youngest president in the association’s history.

The convention featured over 80 sessions on health, physical education, recreation and dance. WSU students and faculty contributed to the event’s success, showcasing leadership and advancing the fields of health and physical education in Kansas. University Libraries and the School of Education sponsored the trip, enabling student participation and learning.

The Barton School of Business is excited to announce Dr. Bekah Selby-Leach as the new director of the Center for Economic Development and Business Research (CEDBR). Dr. Selby-Leach, an accomplished researcher and leader in economic analysis, previously served as interim assistant provost, director of institutional research and accreditation, and associate professor of economics at Emporia State University. She succeeds Jeremy Hill, who directed CEDBR since 2009 and recently joined the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City as assistant vice president and regional executive.

“We are thrilled to welcome Bekah to the Barton School of Business,” said Dr. Larisa Genin, dean of the Barton School. “Her extensive background in economic research and her proven leadership skills make her an ideal choice to drive the Center for Economic Development and Business Research forward. Her expertise and vision will benefit our stakeholders immensely, furthering the Center’s mission to deliver vital economic insights for the region and beyond.”

Order a WuShock bowling ball as a holiday gift and support the student athletes of the men’s bowling program. They are available in 8, 10, 12, 14, 15 and 16 lb. options online or in-person at the Shocker Sports Grill & Lanes.

All proceeds go towards the Shocker Men’s Bowling Scholarship Fund.

Spring 2025 Welcomefest takes place Jan. 20 through Feb. 15 and features dozens of activities. Hosted by various student groups and campus departments, most events are free and give all students a chance to get acquainted with each other, learn their way around campus and find ways to connect with the community.

If your department or organization plans to host an event during this time, you can submit it to be included in the official Welcomefest schedule. The deadline to register your event for inclusion in Welcomefest marketing is Friday, Dec. 6.

Welcomefest is sponsored by Student Engagement & Belonging. For more information on events like this, email us at SEB@wichita.edu or visit the website at wichita.edu/SEB.

Few sculptures have captured hearts quite like the iconic “LOVE” series. The “LOVE” series is a collection of sculptures by Robert Indiana, an American artist. Characterized by large-scale letters stacked to spell out the word “LOVE,” these sculptures add a pop art touch to their surroundings, from bustling city corners to busy college campuses.

There are 50 LOVE sculptures installed around the world, one of which is on Wichita State’s campus, now between the Ulrich Museum of Art and McKnight Art Center. WSU and the Mechanical Maintenance department at Facilities Services were glad to make a spot to display it. Thank you to Christian White, Dan Reader, William Wray and Carl Hearn for their work on making this happen.

Multiple opportunities to engage with the Dorothy and Bill Cohen Honors College are available to faculty and staff. Now is a good time to consider proposing a new Honors seminar or inquire about teaching an existing seminar. Interested faculty can submit a course proposal through the Course Information Management (CIM) system that includes information about what makes the course an Honors-level experience. Course proposals are routed to the Honors College Faculty Council for review. Instructors whose courses are approved by the council will be asked to confirm college and chair approval and other details related to course scheduling.

Faculty also may use the separate course proposal form to request to teach an existing Honor seminar course topic such as HNRS 352 Survey of Law and Public Policy or HNRS 486 Collaborative Research. For more information about Honors curriculum, visit 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 system. These courses are reviewed by Honors then scheduled and supported by the department. Department chairs are welcome to contact Kimberly Engber, dean of the Cohen Honors College, with any questions at kimberly.engber@wichita.edu.

Additional questions? Visit the Resources for Faculty in Honors page or contact your college’s honors faculty council representative at wichita.edu/honorsfacultycouncil.

On Friday, Nov. 15, graduate ambassadors from the College of Engineering hosted the annual Engineering Research Symposium in the Digital Research and Transformation Hub on the Innovation Campus. The symposium was from 2 to 5 p.m. and consisted of a poster competition that enabled students to showcase their research projects, develop their presentation skills and compete for certificates with cash prizes. Following the symposium, there was a presentation of awards and dinner from 5 to 7 p.m. The winners were selected within three categories and are listed below.

Proficient
The Proficient category was for doctoral students with three or more years of advanced study and research experience, with first place earning a $1,000 prize, second place earning a $500 prize and third place earning a $250 prize.

• First place: Ali Asgari, “Physics-Informed Artificial Intelligence For Failure Prediction of Spacecraft”
• Second place: Adrian Arustei, “Spacecraft trajectory optimization using adjoint sensitivities”
• Third place: Sangar Shanthanam, “A Multi Criteria Load Prioritization Framework To Minimize Social, Technical and Economic Losses during Major Power Outages”

Emerging
The Emerging category was for master’s degree students and doctoral students with one and a half to three years of study, with first place earning a $750 prize, second place earning a $400 prize and third place earning a $200 prize.

• First place: Md Raihan Uddin, “Enhancing Scalability of Heterogeneous Systems using Tiny Transformer and Attention Based Multi Agent Proximal Policy Optimization”
• Second place: Adelyn Heuer, “Modeling Electric-Vehicle Infrastructure Impact Using an Agent based Simulation Approach”
• Third place: Reilly Jensen, “Detecting and Classifying Cerebral Hemorrhage Growth Using Radio Frequency Resonance and Deep Learning”

Novice
The Novice category was for bachelor’s degree students and doctoral students in the first year and a half of study, with first place earning a $500 prize, second place earning a $250 prize and third place earning a $150 prize.

• First place: Sachinth Viththarachchige, “Social Equity Based Optimal Power Flow Framework to Hedge Against Price Events”
• Second place: Elmira Salari, “Towards Generalizable ECG Classification with Large Language Models and Domain Adaptation”
• Third place: Mark Angelo Ronaldo Anacin, “Enhancing Noise Robustness in Anti-Spoofing Systems using Speech Enhancement and Multitasking Models”

In addition to the above, there were two Scholarly Presence Awards presented to College of Engineering departments. The Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering won an award for the highest student representation in the competition, and the Department of Industrial, Systems and Manufacturing Engineering won an award for the highest faculty representation at the competition.