WSU Today: Friday, Oct. 20, 2023

Featured Stories

WSU Innovation Campus wins Emerging Research Park Award

The Association of University Research Parks (AURP) has awarded Wichita State’s Innovation Campus with the 2023 Emerging Research Park Award at its annual international conference held this week.

Each year AURP recognizes a research park or innovation district that, within 10 years, has created an exceptional ecosystem which brings technology from inception to market, creates high-paying jobs, and contributes to the economic health of its region.

In 2012, WSU had a bold vision of what the Innovation Campus could be. And now — as the Innovation Campus nears its 10th anniversary — an underutilized area of campus has been transformed into 120 acres of state-of-the-art research facilities, collaborative partnerships and educational opportunities with more than 50 partner businesses to date.

Parking and Traffic

Prepare for road closures for Pumpkin Run Oct. 21

There will be temporary road closures along the north end of campus from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 21 for the Pumpkin Run. Most campus building and parking lots will be accessible from the entrances off 17th Street.

Vehicles parked in the Shocker Hall loading zone, Lot 8 and Lot 14 will not be allowed to leave the lots during the run for runner safety. Individuals and residents in these lots need to move their vehicles from these areas if they need to leave during that timeframe.

Lot 4 (The Flats) will be accessible through the south entrance of the Steve Clark YMCA parking lot. During the morning of the Pumpkin Run, please do not move any barricades or cones blocking a parking lot entrance.

Sidewalk to close north of Ablah Library Oct. 23

The sidewalk on the north side of Ablah Library will be closed the morning of Monday, Oct. 23 for an equipment delivery.

The sidewalk will be closed from Lot 13 on the east of Ablah Library to the northwest corner of Ablah Library. Cones and caution tape will be up for the duration of the delivery, and pedestrians are encouraged to walk around to the north side of Grace Wilkie Hall.

News

Faculty invited to propose Cohen Honors College seminars, department courses

Faculty and staff from across campus are invited to develop and teach Cohen Honors College seminars, including first-year seminars, for academic year 2024-25. Faculty are paid or the college is reimbursed for adjunct replacement.

Each semester, more than 60 faculty and staff are engaged in Honors. Honors-affiliated faculty and staff work individually and in collaboration with colleges to increase student opportunities across campus and lead students to do more meaningful work.

The Honors College encourages faculty and staff to consider developing problem-based, team-taught and/or social justice topics. An ideal Honors course is, at its core, an experiment. It boldly challenges assumptions about what students know and how they learn. It should provoke students to engage actively in the learning process, and it should empower students to participate in academic dialogue, solve real-world problems through research, and draw creative and compelling connections within and across disciplines.

Interested faculty should submit a course proposal through the Course Information Management system (CIM) system and include specific information about what makes a course an Honors-level experience. Course proposals are routed to the Honors College Faculty Council for review. Instructors whose courses are approved by the council will be asked to confirm chair approval and other details related to course scheduling.

Faculty also may use the Seminar Course Proposal form to make a preliminary inquiry and get feedback on a course idea.

Teaching existing HNRS seminars: Faculty may request to teach an existing Honors seminar course, such as HNRS 351 Survey of Leadership, HNRS 352 Survey of Law and Public Policy, or HNRS 486 Collaborative Research. For more information about Honors curriculum, visit the current student page of the Honors website or visit the undergraduate catalog.

Departmental honors courses: Departments may offer an honors (H- suffix) section of any existing department course by adding a cross-listed course through CIM. Once approved by the department and the honors faculty council, these courses are scheduled and supported by the department. Department chairs are welcome to contact the Dean of the Cohen Honors College with any questions.

For questions, visit the Resources for Faculty in Honors webpage or email honors@wichita.edu

Purple Day: Support awareness of dating, domestic violence Oct. 23

Join HOPE Services, in collaboration with the Wichita State University Police Department, in wearing purple Monday, Oct. 23 for Purple Day to help spread awareness about the issue of domestic violence, the help that is available and support survivors.

Visit HOPE Services and the prevention ambassador tables Oct. 23 from noon to 1 p.m. in the Rhatigan Student Center and from 2 to 3 p.m. in Shocker Hall to contribute to the “Hands are not for Hurting” mural and pick up resources.

For those who may be seeking resources, contact the WSUPD or find a list of resources from the WSUPD.

Presentations and Talks

Mathematics lecture series presents Dr. Yen-Chang Huang, National University of Tainan, Taiwan and visiting researcher, University of Georgia

Join the Department of Mathematics and Statistics for a public lecture by Dr. Yen-Chang Huang from the National University of Tainan, Taiwan and visiting researcher from the University of Georgia.

The lecture, titled “Geometric integral formulas in the Heisenberg groups,” will start at 3 p.m. Friday, Oct. 20 in 372 Jabara Hall. Refreshments will be available at 2:30 p.m. in 353 Jabara Hall.

Find the abstract of the lecture

Biological sciences seminar series continues with Dr. Heather Rice

The Department of Biological Sciences’ fall 2023 seminar series continues from 4 to 5 p.m. Monday, Oct. 23 in 218 Hubbard Hall. Join Dr. Heather Rice from the Oklahoma Health Science Center for her talk, “The physiological function of the amyloid precursor protein.”

Seminars are open to the public and undergraduates are encouraged to attend.

Learn more about biological sciences at WSU

Yeni Silva-Renteria will speak about the International Rescue Committee

In conjunction with “Where We Belong: Refugee Stories from Wichita,” Yeni Silva-Renteria, executive director of the International Rescue Committee (IRC) Kansas, will speak at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 24 in the Beren Gallery at the Ulrich Museum of Art. A reception will be held starting at 5:30 p.m.

Silva-Renteria will discuss the IRC’s refugee resettlement efforts in Wichita and the larger context of such efforts in the U.S. today.

Watkins Visiting Professor to discuss mitochondria and disease

Vamsi Mootha, M.D., professor of systems biology and medicine at Harvard Medical School, is the second featured speaker in the Watkins Visiting Professor series. Join Fairmount College for his public seminar, “Mitochondria and oxygen: from evolutionary origins to human disease,” at 3:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 26 in 208 Hubbard Hall.

His separate scientific seminar, “Mitochondrial parts, pathways, and pathogenesis” will be presented at 3:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 27 in 224 McKinley Hall.

The Watkins Visiting Professorship was created in 1974 by the Watkins Foundation. The grant is now provided through the Watkins fund, a part of the Wichita State Foundation and Alumni Engagement’s endowment. For more information about the lecture series, contact Dr. David Eichhorn at 316-978-6659.

Shocker Athletics

Volleyball to host Dig Pink night, camper reunion, during games against Tulsa

Join Shocker volleyball when it takes on the University of Tulsa Oct. 20-21 in Charles Koch Arena and attend special events both days.

Shocker volleyball continues its annual Dig Pink match to raise awareness and funds for breast cancer research. This year, the Dig Pink match will be against Tulsa at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 20. A portion of ticket sales will be donated to the Side-Out Foundation, and the first 500 fans will receive a pink rally towel.

All kids who participated in the summer Shocker volleyball camps receive admission to the 6 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 21 match against Tulsa at no additional charge when they wear their camp T-shirt, and they will get to take part in the post-game serves. The first 250 students also receive a ‘Shockblock’ T-shirt at no additional charge.

All WSU students can attend Shocker Athletics events at no additional charge with their Shocker ID, thanks to the Student Government Association.

Events

Shockers Vote! invites Shockers to USD 259 School Board candidate forum

Join the Shockers Vote! Coalition for a USD 259 School Board forum from 6 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 25 in 211 Hubbard Hall. The forum is a partnership with the the Shockers Vote! Coalition, Wichita Beacon, Loud Light and the League of Women Voters.

All candidates for the USD 259 School Board races have been invited. The forum will provide an opportunity for each candidate to answer a series of questions, and the candidates will be allowed 90 seconds for their answers as well as introductory and closing remarks. Content for the question has come from Wichita State students as well as from Wichita Beacon readers, who were invited to submit questions in September.

The forum will be moderated by Sophie Martins, student body vice president.

The event is open to the public and tickets are not required. For additional questions, reach out to the Student Engagement, Advocacy & Leadership office by either calling 316-978-7016 or emailing civicengagement@wichita.edu.

Kudos

CSD faculty author chapters in communication disorders casebook

The Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders (CSD) congratulates Dr. Trisha Self, associate professor; Terese Conrad, clinical professor; Dr. Cynthia Richburg, professor; Dr. Karissa Marble-Flint, associate professor; and emerita faculty Dr. Kathy Strattman and Dr. Barbara Hodson, on their recent authorship of three chapters in the second edition of "The Communication Disorders Casebook" by Dr. Shelly Chabon, Dr. Ellen Cohn and Dr. Dorian Lee-Wilkerson.