Category: News

Multiple opportunities to engage with the Dorothy and Bill Cohen Honors College are available to faculty and staff. Spring is a good time to consider proposing a new Honors seminar or request to teach an existing Honor seminar course topic such as HNRS 351 Survey of Leadership, HNRS 352 Survey of Law and Public Policy or HNRS 486 Collaborative Research.

How to propose an Honors course: Submit a course proposal through Course Information Management (CIM) system that includes information about what makes the course an Honors-level experience, or submit a course proposal form for more preliminary ideas and discussion with the faculty council. For more information about Honors curricula, 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. These courses are reviewed by the faculty council and, if approved, scheduled and supported by the department. Department chairs are welcome to contact Kimberly Engber, dean of the Cohen Honors College, or contact your college’s honors faculty council member with any questions.

And, if you’d like to receive the honors weekly update, a Friday email bulletin with honors news, information and opportunities, email honors@wichita.edu.

Elizabeth Kelley, psychology major, studied abroad in Asuncion, Paraguay in summer 2024 as part of the Honors Paraguay Service-Learning Seminar. Learn more about Elizabeth’s experience in South America in her spotlight.

Wichita State’s Open/Alternative Textbook (OAT) Committee would like to congratulate:

• Samantha Corcoran
• Trevor R. Nelson

For their successful creation and approval of new OAT-Z (zero-cost) courses for fall 2025 and on their commitment to making higher education within reach for more students.

If you would like more information on OAT courses, visit the Open/Alternative Textbook Initiative, where you can also access the OAT course designation request forms.

The deadline to submit OAT designation request forms for spring 2026 is Sept. 30, 2025.

Do you have a special skill/talent? Want to win a $1,000 scholarship for it? Then apply for the second annual Shockers Got Talent show. Last year’s stage welcomed singers, rappers, pianists, dance groups and a three-piece band.

Submit your five-minute audition video and application by 11:59 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 27. The top three winning acts receive scholarship dollars in the amounts of $1,000, $800 and $500. Additionally, SAC is looking for a student with amazing energy and stage presence to keep the audience entertained between acts. Learn more about performing or the emcee position at wichita.edu/SGT. For more information or question, email traditions@wichita.edu.

Shockers Got Talent is at 7 p.m. March 28 in the CAC Theatre.

Upward Bound Math and Science is looking for students to mentor and inspire high school students this summer. Students can apply for one of four spots by March.

Students who want to learn more can contact Lorene Berg at lorene.berg@wichita.edu.

The 2025 Kansas Undergraduate Research Day at the Capitol features up to 40 students from all Kansas Board of Regents institutions, including five from Wichita State.

Students, faculty, Kansas Board of Regents members, state lawmakers and members of the public are invited to visit the Capitol Rotunda from 2 to 4 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 26 to view the students’ presentations.

Student presenters from WSU:

• Sejun Moon
  Major: Computer science
  Project title: “Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning Approach for Robot Teaming in Mars Exploration”
  Faculty mentor: Dr. Fujian Yan, assistant teaching professor, School of Computing
• Diego Fuentealba
  Major: Aerospace engineering
  Project title: “Robust and Scalable Quantum Repeaters using Machine Learning”
  Faculty mentors: Dr. James Steck, professor, Department of Aero Space Engineering; and Dr. Elizabeth Behrman, professor, Department of Mathematics, Statistics and Physics
• Daniel Reichart
  Major: Aerospace engineering and physics
  Project title: “Simulation of Solar Wind Charged Particle Energy Deposited and Particle Identification by ΔE-E Discrimination in the SNAPPY Cubesat Detector”
  Faculty mentor: Dr. Nickolas Solomey, professor, Department of Mathematics, Statistics and Physics
• Lille Nightingale
  Major: Dance
  Project title: “Embodied Research on the Physical and Emotional Challenges Wildebeests Face While Migrating”
  Faculty mentors: Denise Celestin, professor; Cheyla Clawson Chandler, director for the School of Performing Arts and associate professor; Mina Estrada, assistant professor; Sabrina Vasquez, senior educator; School of Performing Arts
• Anna Brake
  Major: Honors Baccalaureate, concentration in biology and public health sciences, second major in biology
  Project title: “Increasing Obstetrics Care Access in Rural and Underserved Areas: The Effect of Health Literacy Levels and Age on Fetal Monitoring Device Acceptability”
  Faculty mentor: Dr. Nikki Keene Woods, interim chair and professor, Department of Public Health Sciences.

For questions about the 2025 Research Days at the Capital, contact Dr. Michael Birzer, director of the Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity Hub, at michael.birzer@wichita.edu

Wichita State and its College of Applied Studies are leading efforts to improve literacy education across Kansas through structured literacy initiatives and teacher preparation programs. A recently awarded AmeriCorps planning grant will support the launch of the READ Initiative, providing structured literacy support in underserved elementary schools.

Additionally, the CLEAR Initiative, launching in spring 2025, will serve as a statewide hub for literacy research, educator training and direct student support. WSU is also partnering with KBOR institutions and Washburn University to develop new graduate-level coursework for in-service teachers. These efforts align with the Blueprint for Literacy Kansas legislation, ensuring students and educators have access to high-quality literacy education.

Several events organized by the College of Engineering to celebrate National Engineers Week this week have been impacted by the weather:

• The Vision Boards event for students that was scheduled for the afternoon of Tuesday, Feb. 18 has been cancelled.
• An event later in the evening for students, staff and faculty, “Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader,” has been postponed
• Additionally, an event for area high school students, Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day (IGED), that was scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 20, has been postponed.

Further information will be provided once postponed events have been rescheduled.

The Japanese Culture Association’s annual haiku contest is now open to submissions in both English and Japanese. Haiku is a traditional form of Japanese poetry that consists of three lines following a 5-7-5 sentence pattern. Traditionally, haiku were most commonly written about nature, often containing a “kigo,” or seasonal word. For the Photo Haiku Contest, we ask that you also submit an image to accompany your poem. Drawings or photographs are both accepted. While AI can be used to create the image, the poem itself should be an original poem.

Prizes will be given to the first-place winner in each category. Entries will be accepted through March 31, and winners will be announced in person at the Japan Festival April 11 in the RSC. Prize winners will also be announced on the submission page on Padlet following the festival.

For questions, email Jennifer Musaji at jennifer.musaji@gmail.com.

Students are requested to provide updated information to WSU anytime there is a change to contact information. This includes mailing address, phone number and emergency contact. It is especially important that you provide and update an emergency contact.

The person you list will only be contacted in the event of a health or safety emergency in which you are personally involved. If you live on campus, this will also be the person contacted should you be reported as missing. You may list a parent, family member, spouse, or other trusted individual as your emergency contact. You will find the link to your profile page on the myWSU Home tab, under Student Tools > myContact Info. A separate link there also provides an opportunity to update self-reported military affiliation.

Please take a few minutes right now and ensure WSU has your updated information and an emergency contact.