Category: News

Earlier this year, Kansas Kids @ GEAR UP received a seven-year, $3.5 million dollar per year grant that will serve 2,500 students in foster care across the state of Kansas.

Kansas Kids @ GEAR UP has been hosted by Wichita State since 2002. In August 2023, the project learned its proposal for another seven-year grant was tied with another state in the grant competition and was subsequently awarded to the other state.

In May of this year, with permission from Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly, Deltha Colvin, associate vice president for College Readiness and Retention Programs; and Corinne Nilsen, executive director of Kansas Kids @ GEAR UP collaborated to write a new grant proposal to the U.S. Department of Education, which was approved.

Since 1999, GEAR UP projects across the nation have been instrumental in transforming the lives of students, families and communities. By providing invaluable resources, mentorship and support, GEAR UP plays a pivotal role in expanding opportunities for students from underserved backgrounds.

Kansas Kids @ GEAR UP goals:

• Ensure students in foster care enrolled in secondary school are on track for graduation
• Improve high school graduation and college enrollment rates for students in foster care
• Increase the number of seniors in foster care who complete and submit the FAFSA application

GEAR UP brings together middle and high schools, colleges and universities, state agencies, and community organizations in pursuit of the same mission. Kansas Kids @ GEAR UP will continue its impact for another seven years to help students in foster care complete high school and go to college, thanks to the new grant.

Kansas Kids @ GEAR UP by the numbers:

• 20,059 students served across the State of Kansas (2002-2023)
• 369 schools attended by KKGU students in 2022-2023
• $79 million dollars from the U. S. Department of Education (including the new grant 2024-2031)
• Over $54 million dollars in matching non-federal funds from partners, school district and community donations (as of October 2023)
• For the 2022-2023 academic year, KKGU served 399 seniors in high school. Of those, 301 graduated (75.44%) and 203 completed a college application (67.44%)

The annual Expanding Your Horizons Day hosted by Wichita State is scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 2. The one-day event introduces middle school girls to a variety of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) areas.

Attendees will meet STEM role models, participate in hands-on activities and learn more about careers in those fields. Registration is free this year and includes three interactive workshops, lunch and a WSU bag for all that pre-register by Oct. 28.

Volunteers are also being recruited to lead or assist with workshops. Sign up to volunteer.

Get into the Halloween spirit and meet Shockers and campus partners at the annual Trunk or Treat, a fun and Shocker-alternative to traditional trick or treating, from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 19 at the John Bardo Center parking lot.

Costumes are encouraged and WSU students are free to attend.

Ryan Summerlin, a senior sport management major at Wichita State, spent his summer as a sport management intern at Ballparks of America in Branson, Missouri. His internship provided an immersive experience in various aspects of the sport industry, from event management and public relations to facility maintenance and crisis management.

Dyslexia Awareness Month is an annual event aimed to further the understanding of dyslexia. To promote dyslexia awareness, head over to the Rhatigan Student Center from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 10 to the Office of Student Accommodations & Testing informational table.

It will also promote Kurzweil 3000 during the tabling event. Kurzweil 3000 is an assistive technology and learning literacy tool recommended for students who have difficulties reading (ESL, dyslexia, etc.). It is designed to help students learn course materials in school. With functions such as text-to-speech, highlighting and integrated notetaking and brainstorming, the assistive technology enables students with learning difficulties to fully engage in what they are learning and to focus on the tasks at hand. The program is available to all WSU students.

Help your students tackle research challenges more effectively by encouraging them to attend University Libraries’ workshop from 3 to 4 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 22 at Ablah Library Digital Scholars Commons (in-person and online). And with the new attendance tracking system in place, offering extra credit for student participation is now simpler than ever.

The session will provide practical tips on using artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT to streamline research tasks and critically evaluate the limitations of these tools. It’s an excellent opportunity for students to enhance their research skills and ensure AI supports their academic success.

New hire/rehire ePAFs for pending NBE onboarding:

All pending NBE onboarding (received on or before Sept. 27) can still be processed using the onboarding system and new hire/rehire ePAF. However, the cut-off date for submission of these ePAFs is Friday, Nov. 1.

Add jobs for current job extensions

The same cut-off date, Nov. 1, applies to any add job ePAFs or job extensions for an existing position. If a department plans to extend an NBE position for the spring semester and would prefer to complete that extension through the ePAF system, any add job ePAFs must be processed by this date. Note that this applies only to extensions for the exact position number. After Nov. 1, position extensions will be processed through WuHire.

New submissions

Beginning Monday, Nov. 4, we will no longer accept submissions for new hires, rehires or add jobs through the ePAF system, regardless of whether NBE paperwork was submitted on or before Sept. 27. Submissions made up until Nov. 1, will continue through the approval process, but we will closely monitor these and return any submissions made after the cut-off date.

Visibility of ePAF categories

Once all ePAFs have been fully approved and applied, we will disable the visibility of all new hire/rehire and add job ePAF categories in self service banner. add comp, change of status, funding change and termination ePAF categories will still be available.

Students, would you like to represent your home country during commencement? The Rhatigan Student Center Shocker Store now carries various stoles in store from different countries and can order stoles from over 100 more countries/territories.

To see which countries have stoles currently available in store, visit the lower level of the RSC store. To see the selection of countries the Shocker Store can order stoles for, visit the Shocker Store website. The store will place orders at the listed deadlines, with approximate delivery dates listed as well. For more information or to order a stole, email shockerstore@wichita.edu.

Order deadlines are Oct. 18, Nov. 1 and Nov. 15 for delivery dates by Nov. 12, Nov. 25 and Dec. 9.

Did you know that staff and faculty can also participate in study abroad travel seminars? Whether you would like to participate for the credit toward a bachelor’s or master’s degree or just for the international experience, staff and faculty can also participate in these programs, however they must be enrolled in at least one credit hour for the program during summer 2025.

Paraguay is one of Study Abroad’s top countries at Wichita State for international students and the country that it receives the most students from for Latin America. Join this program and learn more about Paraguay, it’s culture and the partnership between the state of Kansas and Paraguay that has existed for over 50 years through a service-learning program.

Study Abroad will offer the Paraguay Honors Service-Learning Program in May/June 2025 as a two week faculty-led program that is open to all undergraduate and graduate students. Anyone who would like to learn more about the program should attend the information session at 4:30 p.m. Oct. 24 in 265 Rhatigan Student Center, Lucas Room.

For questions, contact Study Abroad at studyabroad@wichita.edu.

Attend a come-and-go training session for faculty who want to learn more about Watermark Faculty Success, the new platform for the Faculty Annual Activity Report (FAAR). Learn how to get started or bring your questions to these open labs. All sessions are offered in remote format through Microsoft Teams. If you have questions, contact Rachel Crane at rachel.crane@wichita.edu.

Get started:

• Entering activity data
• Importing citations
• Running reports

Schedule:

• 11 a.m. Monday, Oct. 7
• 10 a.m. Friday, Oct. 11
• 2 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 16
• 10 a.m. Friday Oct. 18