Category: Volunteer Opportunities

Wichita State students from the Linguistics and Foreign Languages course are requesting volunteers from student and faculty for a survey regarding their opinions on the current state of foreign language requirements at both WSU and in the general community.

Wichita is a very linguistically diverse city, so it is important to receive the opinions of all of its residents, but especially those currently involved in the education system.

For more information, contact Zoey Norton at zmnorton@shockers.wichita.edu.

A doctoral student in communication sciences and disorders is conducting a study comparing an existing and a newly developed clinical technique for evaluating the function of the middle ear. Participants must be between the ages of 18 and 35, have normal hearing, have not had an ear infection in the past three months, nor had a cold or flu in the past two weeks.

Participants will receive a no-cost comprehensive hearing evaluation and ear examination before testing. The testing will last approximately one hour at Hubbard Hall (Room 106). The staff has implemented a virus protection plan following Wichita State Institutional Review Board guidelines.

For more information or to volunteer, please contact Alice Keithly at 580-231-5503, or Dr. Xiao-Ming Sun at Xiao-Ming.Sun@wichita.edu.

The Shocker Community is invited to take a student-led survey focused on improving parking on campus. Are you happy with the current system? Is it confusing to understand? Do you hate seeing empty lots that where you cannot park?

The data will be collected anonymously and will influence a student-built approach to optimize parking for all drivers on campus. The results of the survey will be shared with the campus community in the future.

Dr. Karissa Marble-Flint, assistant professor of Communication Sciences and Disorders, and her team of students in speech-language pathology are requesting participants who have completed the fourth and fifth grades for a study about typically developed children and children who struggle with writing. The study will help provide information to speech-language pathologists, teachers and parents about writing strategies presented via a video-conferencing platform to help students.

Participants will be required to participate in four writing sessions via Zoom. The total time required for all four sessions will be approximately three and a half hours. Breaks will be provided to participants. Participants will receive a book for their participation, and parents will receive scores from oral and written language assessments.

For more information contact Julia (Schneider) Sitz, undergraduate research assistant, at jmsitz@shockers.wichita.edu. To have your child participate in the study, contact Marble-Flint at 316-978-6356 or karissa.marble-flint@wichita.edu.

Wichita State students are conducting a survey titled The Need for Narcan as part of a class project. All results will be confidential and used for student research purposes only. The survey will be open until Nov. 19.

The Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders is requesting volunteers between the ages of 18 and 35 who can be classified as an English-only speaker or an English-Spanish bilingual speaker for a research study. The study is meant to help better understand the the listening abilities of bilingual individuals in quiet and noisy environments.

The results of this research should give the profession of Audiology more information on how a second language affects hearing and auditory processing in noise. Participants will be asked to complete a “pre-questionnaire” requesting their gender, age group, race and whether they identify as a person of Hispanic, Latino or Spanish origin.

Following completion of the questionnaire, participants’ hearing will be tested in various listening conditions (i.e., hearing tones, repeating words in quiet and in noise, and repeating sentences in noise). English-only participants will complete the tests in English, while the Spanish-English bilingual participants will complete the tests in both English and Spanish. Participants will then be asked to complete a post-questionnaire asking for feedback on their ability to listen in these conditions.

Participation is expected to last about one hour. The testing will take place in Hubbard Hall (Room 106) and the Evelyn Hendren Cassat Speech, Language, Hearing Clinic on Oliver and 29th street.

For more information or to participate in the study, contact  Maira Bañuelos Galicia at 316-249-4889 or mxbanuelosgalicia@shockers.wichita.edu, or Dr. Cynthia Richburg at 316-978-6682 or cynthia.richburg@wichita.edu.

A group of physical therapy doctoral students is recruiting participants for a study to test the effects of vestibular training in a balance program. This study is open to all individuals but is meant to target people who have had a concussion in the past three years.

Participants will be required to complete balance testing and an eight-week balance training exercise program. The 10- to 15-minute exercises can be completed at home.

If you are interested in participating or have questions, please contact us at wsuptresearch@gmail.com or visit the link below.

Dr. Nils Hakansson of Biomedical Engineering (BME) in collaboration with Human Performance Studies (HPS) and Medical Laboratories (ML) is requesting volunteers 55 years of age or older for a study to determine whether Blood Flow Restriction therapy during moderate exercise results in the improved functional activity and health outcomes. The results of the study may provide a new approach to promoting health through moderate exercise.

During the study, participants will pedal an exercise bike with or without Blood Flow Restriction therapy for approximately 30 minutes, two times per week over a four-week period. During the four weeks participants will perform the following procedures:

• Blood and saliva samples will be collected and tested for proteins related to the exercise at the beginning and end of three pedaling sessions.
• Lactic acid will be measured from a drop of blood obtained from participants’ finger tips every five minutes (six times total per visit).
• A 30-second sit-to-stand activity will be performed at the end of each visit to assess exercise functional outcomes.
• Heart rate will be measured as participants pedal an exercise bike.

Participants must meet the following criteria:

• Participants must be age 55 or older
• No known muscular disorders
• No known neurological disorders
• No known cardiopulmonary disorders
• No use of nicotine products
• Not have diabetes
• Not be in an active exercise program

All studies will be performed at the Human Performance Laboratory (Room 210) located in the Heskett Center. To participate in the study, follow the link below.

For more information, contact Dr. Nils Hakansson at 316-978-5909 nils.hakansson@wichita.edu, Chris Deck, PT, at cdeck@providence.org or Dr. Heidi Bell at heidi.bell@wichita.edu.

Do you have a story of hope and recovery? The members of Wichita State’s Counseling and Prevention Services (CAPS) are currently seeking submissions for their Stories for Hope series. The series aims to build morale among students who are struggling to hear stories of hope.

To submit your story, email marci.young@wichita.edu.