Category: News

The School of Music is delighted to share the outstanding news that its very own Catherine Consiglio, professor of viola, is set to be honored with induction into the Kansas Chapter of the American String Teachers Association (KASTA) Hall of Fame at this year’s state music convention. The prestigious accolade truly reflects Consiglio’s lifelong commitment and remarkable contributions to string music education.

On Saturday, Feb. 17, the Barton School of Business hosted its first-ever “Beyond” Hall of Fame gala. The event took place at the beautiful and iconic Mark Arts and inducted three members into its inaugural class: W. Frank Barton, former president of Barton Distributors and co-founder of Rent-A-Center; Clark Bastian, chairman of the board at Fidelity Bank; and Fran Jabara, founder of the Center for Entrepreneurship at the Barton School of Business. Business and university leaders, community members, esteemed alumni, and family and friends of the inductees attended. Each honoree was recognized in a special manner and received their well-deserved awards. Family members of Frank Barton and Fran Jabara accepted these posthumous inductions on their behalf.

The proceeds from the “Beyond” Hall of Fame were raised to enhance and enrich the student experience, ensuring their success. These initiatives are instrumental in shaping the next generation of business leaders, attracting and retaining exceptional student talent and ultimately strengthening the workforce pipeline for businesses in Wichita and across Kansas. As a result, the Barton School is investing in the future of business education and empowering the leaders of tomorrow. More than $800,000 was raised in support of this effort, exceeding its target goal.

Faculty, it’s time to collect summer and fall 2024 textbook information. The adoption due date for summer courses is April 1 and fall is April 15.

Verba Collect is a simplified faculty experience including pre-populated course assignments, easy-to-adopt past adoptions and smart book search. Verba Collect will send out customized emails to faculty and department coordinators with a unique link that logs you into a walk-through process without any need for username or password. Once you get into Verba Collect, there are four short videos for your perusal showing how to get started, add materials and submit your adoptions. Keep an eye on your email inboxes for an email from Verba.

If you are interested in providing your course materials digitally through the Shocker Store’s “Access Now” program, where students will access them in Blackboard, select that option in the “Item Questions.” Should you choose to have your courses participate in the program and those courses cross list with another course. please order the same thing for both and note that on your order.

Those planning on using open resource materials can indicate that on their order as well and to flag the course as such and the information can be made available to students.

Those interested in learning more about Access Now can reach out at accessnow@wichita.edu. For any other questions or concerns, contact the Shocker Store at shockerstore.books@wichita.edu or 316-978-7032.

Shockers are encouraged to apply to be a Passage 2 Success Mentor for the summer and next school year term, an opportunity to help diverse backgrounds transition to Wichita State.

The program will be hosted the week before classes begin. The group of leaders will ensure that Passage 2 Success is operated smoothly and efficiently as possible. This year, the Office of Diversity and Inclusion is seeking 12 to 16 current WSU students to serve as the leaders for Passage 2 Success.

Requirements of becoming a Passage Leader:

• Currently in good academic standing with a minimum of a 2.5 GPA
• Ability to perform duties in an ethical and professional manner
• Ability to be on campus as early as Aug. 5
• Preferred: Experience working with diverse populations, such as AALANA (African American, Latino, Asian and Native American), international, LGBTQ+ and ally groups

The deadline to apply is March 1.

Recent updates to the Ultra Course format for Blackboard has added an exciting new feature in the gradebook. You can now see key metrics such as minimum/maximum value, range, average, median, standard deviation and variance for individual gradebook columns.

Read more about Ultra Gradebook statistics and other February Ultra updates. For questions, send the Office of Instructional Resources an email at OIR@wichita.edu

On Thursday, Feb. 22, the College of Engineering will host about 200 high school girls for the Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day (IGED) event, commonly known as Girl Day. The event will be from 9:45 a.m. to 2 p.m. in 305/306 Rhatigan Student Center, Beggs Ballroom.

Although a private event, staff and faculty are encouraged to have positive interactions with students, educators and event volunteers when in common areas. According to the College of Engineering, IGED is a national event that takes place during National Engineers Week. The purpose of IGED events is to foster a positive connection between young women and STEM.

The Barton School of Business is launching a Bachelor of Business Administration in hospitality. The program will begin in fall 2024 with applications now open for interested students. It was developed in response to growing local and national employment needs in the industry.

“The hospitality industry employs 15 million people and is on track to add another 500,000 jobs by the end of this year,” said Michelle Korsmo, president and CEO of the National Restaurant Association. “The hospitality major at the Barton School of Business could make important contributions to our industry’s talent development by preparing graduates to efficiently lead operations, ensure superb customer experiences and operate financially sound enterprises.”

The Barton School of Business’ School of Accountancy has announced the return of its annual Barton Accounting Forum on May 15. This one-day conference is tailored for accounting and finance professionals, as well as students studying accounting. Attendees can receive eight hours of Continuing Professional Education credits by participating in the conference in addition to invaluable networking opportunities.

This marks the first conference held by the School of Accountancy since 2022, and it will take place on Wichita State’s campus.

The Office of Instructional Resources has recently begun offering meditations through a new program called Quiet Time, and it is now offering a newsletter to augment the Quiet Time program, which you can read the first issue of online.

The Quiet Time newsletter will come out bi-monthly and include research-based information about mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) and related meditation habits. It will also include short MBSR trainings and links to recorded versions of its Quiet Time meditations.

Think of the Quiet Time newsletter as a little oasis of mental wellbeing info in a busy week. After checking out the inaugural issue, reach out to the Office of Instructional Resources at oir@wichita.edu to subscribe. As always, all OIR resources are free and available to everyone, so spread the word to those friends you think might be interested, whether they work at WSU or elsewhere. 

Partners in the Community Engagement Institute are gathering all of the feedback provided during the Feb. 8 Campus Climate Launch discussion.

Once Campus Climate Working Groups have that information, they will review those and begin sharing out different goals as well as progress towards improving the community.

Those who are interested in being directly involved can sign up for one of the four working groups. For more information, email vpsa@wichita.edu.