Category: News

Begin your leadership journey. Emerging Leaders is a unique opportunity for WSU students to get on the fast-track to student leadership and campus and community involvement at no additional charge.

Students participating in the Emerging Leaders program will have an opportunity to establish a leadership foundation by understanding and developing their capabilities to uncover new and innovative ways to lead, helping students lead with authenticity.

The Emerging Program is great for first-year students with any level of leadership experience. Topics include leadership styles, emotional intelligence, values congruence and leading through conflict.

Emerging Leaders is held from 4 to 5 p.m. Mondays starting Feb. 26 Through April 22 (eight sessions) in the Rhatigan Student Center. After the application closes, you will receive the room locations via email.

On Wednesday, February 7, members of the W. Frank Barton School of Business at Wichita State University stopped by Maize High School to award senior Faith Swart the 2024 Clay Barton Scholarship. The surprise, coordinated between the Barton School and Maize High School officials, included an announcement and presentation of a ceremonial check to Swart during one of her classes. The $50,000 scholarship is one of the largest business scholarships in Kansas.

“I was not expecting it at all,” said Swart after receiving the exciting news. “Now that I’ve won it, I’m able to do so much more. This will open up opportunities like internships, a sorority and clubs that I wouldn’t have had time for. I’m so happy, I can’t wait to call my dad.”

Swart, who plans to major in marketing, was named the 2024 Barton Scholar after competing against numerous other high school seniors in a series of speeches, group exercises and other activities.

The Sunflower is an entirely student-led newspaper that covers Wichita State and the surrounding area. Its newsletter comes out every Monday, delivering some of the most important news from the previous week straight to inboxes.

To subscribe to the newsletter, visit The Sunflower website and enter an email address. Subscribers can unsubscribe at any time.

For questions or concerns, contact The Sunflower editor-in-chief at editor@thesunflower.com or visit The Sunflower’s office in the basement of Elliott Hall, room 019.

Four clinical mental health counseling students from Wichita State have launched the “Are You Theorious?” podcast. Greg Chewning, Alec Dulaney, Damian Montanez and Timber Keller aim to foster community and inspire creativity in clinical mental health.

Covering topics like counseling theories, emotions, diagnoses, relationships and client experiences, the podcast seeks to spark wonder, aid in personal growth and empathize with listeners. Drawing from their Wichita State experiences, the podcast serves as a platform to share insights, with weekly episodes featuring group discussions, smaller formats and insightful monologues.

The Regional Institute on Aging (RIA) at Wichita State is pleased to announce a new funding opportunity for graduate student or faculty projects and research, supported by a gift from the estate of Evelyn Cassat, that addresses issues related to facilitating well-being in older adults.

The RIA is currently accepting applications until April 1.

The Barton School of Business has announced that Dr. Seth Cockrell will serve as the next chair of the Marketing Department. Cockrell, who has been working at the Barton School for more than five years as a faculty member, will take over from Duane Nagel, recently appointed as the Barton School’s senior associate dean.

“Seth is well-suited to guide our marketing department to unprecedented levels of excellence, building upon the growth trajectory established by Duane’s leadership,” remarked Dr. Larisa Genin, dean of the Barton School.

Cockrell has a wealth of experience from working in both corporate settings and academia. He has served as an SAP consultant with HCL AXON where he worked in the areas of logistics, operations management, MIS and CRM on projects for notable companies such as Sikorsky Aircraft, Schweizer Aircraft, TXU Energy and Consumers Energy.

Wichita State has a single website for all students, staff and faculty to utilize for reporting any incidents of concerning behavior. If you see something that gives you cause for concern, submit any information you have through the appropriate form on the website, which includes reporting forms for:

• Care Team: Used to report any person who is concerned about the health or safety of a WSU student, employee, visitor or the campus community at large.
• Title IX/ Discrimination: Used to report any discrimination on the basis of sex and all forms of protected characteristic discrimination.
• Bias Incident: Used to report any bias related incidents.
• Student Advocate: Used to report any student complaint, where the student advocate can help provide resources and resolution options.
• Conduct: Used to report behavior that is disruptive to the campus community, infringes on any person’s ability to successfully pursue their academic progress, violates the Student Code of Conduct or puts others or themselves in danger.
• Academic Integrity: Used to report violations of the WSU Policies and Procedures Manual Section 2.17 / Student Academic Integrity.
• Clery: Used to report any clery crimes.

Remember, if there is an emergency, always call Wichita State University Police at 316-978-3450 or dial 911.

The College of Engineering has announced that Dr. Jacob Mendez will serve as its interim assistant dean for student success. The position was previously held by Dr. Jason Bosch, who recently accepted a new position at the Kansas Leadership Center. The assistant dean role involves leading the Engineering Student Success Center (ESSC) which currently includes five other staff members.

Before accepting the interim assistant dean position, Dr. Mendez served as the director of student engagement and career readiness within the ESSC. His track record includes spearheading transformative student engagement initiatives and propelling the growth of signature programs like the ACE Mentoring Program, Engineering Living Learning Communities and GEEKS Tutoring Center. College-wide events like Engineering Welcome Week and National Engineers Week have also flourished under his leadership. Recently, Dr. Mendez collaborated closely with Dr. Bosch on a student professional development program.

The Office of Financial Aid & Scholarships is here to help students and families unlock every dollar. With the new 2024-25 FAFSA simplification, things seem to be taking longer than expected. However, financial aid is here to ease your mind and reassure you its team is ready to support Shockers in the process.

In response to the delay, it has extended its 2024-25 FAFSA priority date to April 1. It currently is available for in-person and virtual appointments. Financial aid encourage all prospective and current Shockers to attend one of its completion events during the WSU FAFSA Tour. Visit the links below for more information on the events and about the FAFSA at Wichita State University.

• About FAFSA (wichita.edu/FAFSA)
• FAFSA completion events (wichita.edu/financialaidevents)
• Make an appointment (wichita.edu/finaidappt)

Once FAFSA data is released to financial aid, it is committed to sharing financial aid information as soon as possible. It assures you that there will be enough time and it is here for you. For quick information, follow financial aid on Facebook and Instagram.

“Completing the FAFSA form is the first step to unlocking thousands of dollars in need-based scholarships, grants, work-study and student loans to help pay toward your college costs. We are here to help you through this process” said Sheelu Surender, executive director of Financial Aid & Scholarships.

Wichita State has released the list of all 1,280 Shockers who graduated in fall 2023.

Overall, graduates completed a total of 1,380 degrees — 834 undergraduate degrees and certificates and 549 graduate degrees and certificates — with 168 honored as cum laude, 184 honored as magna cum laude and 48 honored as summa cum laude.