Category: News

Take a look at the Shocker Career Accelerator’s 2023-24 annual report. As Shocker Career Accelerator reflects on the 2023-24 academic year, it is proud to celebrate the remarkable achievements of students, employer partners and the team.

At the heart of everything Shocker Career Accelerator does is the mission to empower Shockers with the skills, experiences and connections they need to thrive in their career journey and beyond. It also wants to express its gratitude to partners and Wichita State faculty and staff.

Due to the increase of students bringing in cell phones and other materials that go against testing integrity, OSAT has modified its testing policies. Starting April 7, OSAT will implement the following policies:

• Examinees when checking in at the front desk must provide OSAT staff with the course prefix, course number, CRN number, test name/number and instructor’s name to ensure that the examinee is taking the correct test. If the examinee does not know the information, then they can pull it up on Blackboard.
• Examinees will be monitored by camera while in the testing room. Any appearance of cheating will be investigated and reported to the instructor and to Student Conduct.
• Examinees must present proper, physical, valid ID before entering the testing room and after testing. Physical IDs must be kept on the examinees’ testing surfaces (desks) and be visible to proctors and the camera system throughout testing
• Examinees will be wanded with a metal detecting wand before entering the testing room (unless there is a documented disability in which it would do harm).
• Examinees will raise slacks/pants legs/long skirts just above their ankles and pull sleeves up (if long sleeves are worn) prior to every entry into the testing room.
• Examinees will empty and turn out all pockets in clothing worn into the testing room prior to every entry into the testing room to confirm that they have no prohibited items.
• Examinees will be asked to pull their hair back from their ears so OSAT staff can verify that earbuds are not in the examinee’s ears.
• Examinees leaving the testing room to go to the bathroom (on the first floor near the OSAT office) will have to sign in and out at the OSAT front desk. If the bathrooms on the first floor are being cleaned, then the examinee will advise an OSAT staff member that the first-floor bathroom is being cleaned. An OSAT staff member will then escort examinee to the second-floor bathroom. The examinee will then be re-wanded, etc., before they enter the testing room.
• Examinees are responsible for supplying materials specified by the instructor (e.g., blue books, graphing paper, calculators, etc.) as required for the test. OSAT will provide writing utensils and computer access as appropriate.
• Examinees should ask any questions they have before beginning a test.
• If an examinee is late for a testing appointment, he or she may be asked either to sign a waiver of time (opt-out form) or to reschedule the test for another date. Examples include an OSAT-registered student testing in a group space rather than a private room if a private room is their accommodation. Another example would be a student appearing late for an exam and receiving a shorter time for their appointment, as the office closes at 5 p.m.
• Examinees are not allowed to bring unauthorized items into the testing area. While not an exhaustive list, the following items are not permitted in the testing room, and you will need to leave them in your OSAT locker, unless you have the permission of the instructor in writing or an OSAT accommodation. OSAT staff will examine the object before use during the test.
  • Backpacks, purses/handbags, wallets
  • Calculators/laptops/other electronic devices *
  • Cameras or recording devices
  • Cell phones and wireless communication devices of any kind
  • Flash drives *
  • Listening devices (radios, headphones, recorders) *
  • ChapStick/lip balm/makeup
  • Food or drink * (will be examined by OSAT staff)
  • Watches of any kind (there are clocks in each testing room)
  • Wrist bands/sports bands/bracelets
  • Hair bands or “scrunchies” not worn in hair (i.e., on wrists)
  • Hats/caps/headgear #
  • Hoodies/hooded jackets or hooded clothing of any type
  • Heavy coats (if the testing room is too cold for you then we will give you a disposable emergency blanket)
  • Keys
  • Mechanical pencils *
  • Notes or books *
  • Papers of any kind *
  • Pens *
  • Rulers *
  • Sunglasses *
  • Personal tissues (there are facial tissues in testing rooms)

* Allowed only with permission of instructor or OSAT accommodation. OSAT staff will examine the object before use in the test.
# Allowed only for religious reasons.

Personal belongings must be stored in a locker during testing. Lockers have limited space, so examinees must plan accordingly when bringing personal items into OSAT. All tests must be completed prior to the OSAT’s close of business time of 5 p.m. Examinees whose appointments are scheduled late in the day must understand that they may not receive the full allowed time for their tests due to this closing rule. Examinees who wish to lodge a complaint about a test administration must do so immediately after the test to a proctor or other OSAT staff and/or email us at osat@wichita.edu. Irregularities will be investigated and reported to the director of the Office of Student Accommodations and Testing.

The Barton School of Business is excited to announce that Chase Koch, an entrepreneur known for scaling disruptive, bottom-up solutions, has been named the school’s Entrepreneur-in-Residence and will serve as the James Schwartz Distinguished Keynote Speaker for spring 2025. Chase is executive vice president of Koch and is recognized for his work building transformative partnerships in business, technology, social change and music. He will speak at a fireside chat titled “The Sound of Change: Music as a Catalyst for Social Impact.”

The fireside chat is scheduled from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 30, followed by a networking reception in Woolsey Hall. The conversation will be moderated by Marquis Bradley, CEO of Omnicut Motivational Fitness. This event will provide attendees with a unique opportunity to hear firsthand the vision behind Somewhere Fest & Conference— a community-driven music festival that combines entertainment with social impact. Chase will share how the festival, now in its second year, has evolved into a movement that blends culture, artists and social change to bring people together and create value for local communities. 

This event is open to the public, and all are welcome to bring colleagues, associates and friends. This event is expected to reach maximum capacity quickly, so attendees are encouraged to RSVP as soon as possible to reserve their spot.

The Capitol Graduate Research Summit took place in Topeka March 25. Over 40 graduate students from various Kansas public universities presented their research and how it contributes to the economic development of the state.

Two Wichita State students were awarded at the summit, Mary Peterson and Adithya Melagoda, both electrical engineering majors. Mary’s poster was entitled, “Solar Energy to Improve Electrical Service Reliability During Winter Weather” and Adithya’s was entitled, “Power Distribution System Restoration During Extreme Events: Equality or Equity?”

Both of these students were advised by Dr. Visvakumar Aravinthan, chair and professor of electrical and computer engineering.

Do you want to be prepared to care for patients with non-English language preference? Alce su Voz’s professional development videos examine the best practices for the care of linguistically diverse patients, clinician language proficiency testing, and clinician language self-assessment.

The annual update for the CourseLeaf CIM and CLSS systems will take place at 5 p.m. Friday, March 28 through Monday, March 31. During this time, access to the systems will be unavailable. This includes the approve pages for proposals currently in the workflow.

Access to CIM and CLSS will be restored by Tuesday, April 1.

Communication Sciences and Disorders (CSD) undergraduate and graduate students joined Katharine Fitzharris, associate clinical professor, to provide free hearing screenings in Hays, Kansas March 22 for a Special Olympics Healthy Hearing Event.

The event was held during the Hays State Basketball Tournament from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Gross Memorial Coliseum for a day dedicated to improving athletes’ health and wellness. They served over 50 participants at the event.

On March 16, the university discovered flooding in the lower level of Ablah Library. Currently, the lower level is closed as clean-up work is underway, but the rest of the library remains open.

Water did not reach the bottom shelves of the R-Z call number ranges on the lower level, which cover medicine (including nursing), engineering and technology, and quick action by library staff kept significant water out of the vaults of WSU Special Collections and University Archives, so there was no damage to materials.

The materials in the R-Z call number ranges are being packed up and moved to off-campus storage so that water can be extracted from under the shelving. All microform collections are also being moved to off-campus storage. An exact timeline for the return of these collections to campus has yet to be determined, but it is expected to be several months.

Researchers who need print materials from those subject areas are encouraged to use the library’s interlibrary loan services. All WSU digital collections (including streaming audio and video) remain active and can be accessed via the library’s discovery function. Materials from the WSU Special Collections and University Archives will be available to researchers by request.

President Rick Muma and First Gentleman Rick Case will be on KMUW starting at 7 a.m. Thursday, March 27 during KMUW’s spring pledge drive. Listen in on 89.1 FM.

They will be matching listener donations. Listeners can make a donation by calling 316-978-6700, using the KMUW smartphone app or visiting the website.

If you’re an aspiring entrepreneur with a business idea, now is the time to take action. Submit your pitch video and application for the Shocker New Venture Competition by noon Thursday, March 27 for a chance to compete for prizes, mentorship and valuable networking opportunities.

What to submit:

• A pitch video introducing your business idea
• A completed application form

To apply, visit the Shocker New Venture Competition website. Click on the “How to Compete” button to find out how to compete in the competition.