Category: News

Graduate students, show us your research. The Graduate School is now accepting abstract submissions for the 18th Annual Graduate Research and Scholarly Projects (GRASP) Symposium to April 29 at the Rhatigan Student Center Ballroom. Submissions will be accepted through 11:59 p.m. March 11.

GRASP participation provides students an opportunity to showcase their research and practice their presentation skills. For information about participation and submission, visit the GRASP website.

The members of the Molecular Diagnostics Lab (MDL) received cookies as part of the Rick Rewards Presentation on Thursday, Feb. 10.

Rick Rewards is a program by President Rick Muma that launched in December 2021. The program allows President Muma to show his appreciation for the efforts of a member, or members, of the campus community.

The MDL was recognized for their efforts during the pandemic. At the beginning of the pandemic, there was an extremely limited supply for COVID testing. The MDL’s researchers, staff and students came together to solve this problem and now the Wichita community has access to highly accurate and 24-hour turnaround testing that allows the region to stay healthy and open. 

Wichita State’s Promo Solutions is now on social media. Promos Solutions is a full-service advertising specialties store offering a wide range of promotional SWAG to promote your department, student group and outside interests, and more.

Posts will feature giveaways and discounts. Customers can follow Promo Solutions on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Nominate yourself or another student for membership in Wichita State’s Student Ambassador Society (SAS). All nominations will be accepted through March 1.

SAS is supported by the Office of Admissions and provides support and outreach to prospective students with Shocker spirit. SAS is a community of selfless, hardworking and involved students from all areas of our campus who seek to give back to our university through service to others.

The SAS nomination application is an anonymous form that allows the WSU community to recognize remarkable students.

For more information about SAS or SAS nominations, contact SAS VP of Selections at sasvpselections@wichita.edu.

Need to renew or receive your Kansas ID or Driver’s License? Schedule an appointment at the Kansas Department of Motor Vehicles website and you can begin the process of renewing or receiving a Kansas ID or license at a DMV Mobil Event Feb. 17 at the Rhatigan Student Center (RSC) Room 266. Representatives from the Kansas DMV will be available by appointment at the RSC during this time.

This opportunity is available to both international and domestic students, staff, and faculty. Members are required to have a wichita.edu email to sign up reserve a time. Appointments are limited.

Visit the Wichita State Mobile at DMV Event website for a complete list of services and items required for the event.

To successfully advance our new SEM 2025 Plan, we need engagement campus-wide. We want to grow our student body and see greater student success through improved retention and more equity for our underserved students.

Check out the featured strategy this week to see if it aligns with work in your area:

Objective 2.4.7: Advance initiatives to smooth the process for students to transfer to WSU.

More than half of Wichita State’s new students each year bring in transfer credits with them.

Ideas for the classroom:  Share department connection opportunities in upper-division classes (clubs, honors societies, research or internship experiences) – transfer students may not have heard about these opportunities. Share with your non-traditional students that we have an Office of Adult Learning that provides a number of services to support them.

Ideas beyond the classroom: Complete articulation agreements with community college partners so classes readily transfer, promote dual advising for transfer students before they enter a WSU program and work with community college partners to align courses for equivalency.

Shout-out to: John Perry and the Barton School of Business for updating and establishing new agreements with more than 22 community colleges and building bridges with two-year institutions, including partnerships with WSU Tech.

For more information, contact Dr. Carolyn Shaw at 316-978-7130 carolyn.shaw@wichita.edu.

To successfully advance our new SEM 2025 Plan, we need engagement campus-wide. We want to grow our student body and see greater student success through improved retention and more equity for our underserved students.

Check out the featured strategy this week to see if it aligns with work in your area:

Strategy 2.3: Grow the diversity of our student body through recruitment and retention efforts.

Ideas for the classroom: Include multicultural course content and get a diversity attribute in the course catalog so students are aware of this content. Invite students from the cultural ambassador program to visit your class or invite students from pre-college TRIO, Upward Bound, Gear Up and other programs to visit your class/department. For more information on how to do this, contact Deltha.Colvin@wichita.edu

Ideas beyond the classroom: Provide bi-lingual materials and support services or hire diverse student assistants and ambassadors to connect with prospective and current students with a broad range of experiences.

Shout-outs to:

• The staff in the Office of Financial Aid provides extensive outreach to high schools for FAFSA completion to help local and low-income students secure funding. They also promoted the launch of the Shocker Promise and Neighborhood programs to reach more students from underrepresented backgrounds.
• Ana Lazarin, College of Engineering director of Broadening and Student Recruitment, provides extensive outreach through admissions events for low-income and first-generation student populations in western Kansas.
• The Office of Admissions creates multiple publications in Spanish, including a Parent Guide, Housing brochure (with assistance from Housing and Residence Life), a scholarship flyer and hosts Shocker Information Programs and Shocker Saturdays entirely in Spanish.
• Anna Dixon, admissions representative, has worked with the WSU-USD 259 Better Academics and Social Existence initiative and produced a dedicated newsletter for more than 230 parents and students in the program.

For more information, contact Dr. Carolyn Shaw at 316-978-7130 carolyn.shaw@wichita.edu.

To successfully advance our new SEM 2025 Plan, we need engagement all across campus. We want to grow our student body and see greater student success through improved retention and more equity for our underserved students.

Check out the featured strategy this week to see if it aligns with work in your area:

Strategy 2.1: Regularly assess recruitment practices to leverage our most impactful efforts and promote continuous improvement for each initiative.

Assessment Ideas: Identify the desired outcomes for specific recruitment activities and communications. These can include a number of participants or media engagements (likes or shares), positive feedback on a post-event survey or contacts collected for future outreach.  Ask for suggestions for improvements. By collecting and evaluating feedback, we can focus our energy and resources on our most productive activities. We can help each other by sharing our successful ideas with others.

For more information, contact Dr. Carolyn Shaw at 316-978-7130 carolyn.shaw@wichita.edu

During fall 2021, Wichita State launched its new 2025 Strategic Enrollment Management (SEM) Plan with the overarching goals of expanding enrollments to 17,000 students, increasing first to second-year retention rate to 75%, and closing the equity gap for underserved students. The success of the new plan is dependent on the contributions of everyone on campus.

Check out the featured strategy this week to see if it aligns with work in your area:

Strategy 1.5 Offer opportunities to develop graduate teaching assistants, (GTAs), faculty and staff competencies around issues relating to first-generation students and other underrepresented populations.

Ideas for the classroom:  Ensure that all GTAs engage in professional development to improve support for underserved students and encourage first-gen faculty to connect with and share their stories with our first-gen students.

Ideas beyond the classroom:  Engage in regular professional development opportunities; identify and celebrate first-generation staff members and develop ways for students who visit the office to note this identity.

Shout-outs to: Dr. Bobby Berry, assistant dean for Diversity and Outreach and convener of the First-Gen Affinity group. Berry led a book discussion of “Eat First, Cry Later: Life Lessons of a First-Generation College Graduate, Penn State Alumna and Female CEO.”

Dr. Jason Bosch, assistant dean for Student Success and the College of Engineering, facilitates the Spirit Strong program for first-gen freshmen by offering tutoring, peer mentoring, professional development workshops and scholarships.

For more information, contact Dr. Carolyn Shaw at 316-978-7130 carolyn.shaw@wichita.edu

To help prevent items in your vehicles from being stolen, please hide any items left in your vehicle in the trunk or somewhere out of sight. You should also take your keys and anything of value with you and lock your vehicle.

If you see any suspicious activity or experience a break-in, call the Wichita State Police Department at 316-978-3450.