WSU Today: Thursday, Nov. 16, 2023

Human Resources

Reminder about 2023 designated holidays for state of Kansas employees

Holidays for state of Kansas employees are designated on an annual basis by the governor and the Kansas Board of Regents (KBOR) for eligible employees.

News

Faculty, staff can RSVP to commencement

Faculty and staff can attend the fall 2023 commencement ceremony to show support and encouragement to their graduating students.

The commencement ceremony will be held Dec. 17, and the deadline to RSVP is Nov. 30.

RSVP to the commencement ceremony

Student Affairs department highlight: Strengths, Assessment & Staff Engagement

The Strengths, Assessment & Staff Engagement (SASE) Department in Student Affairs focuses on opportunities to equip, empower and engage divisional staff, including student employees and graduate assistants, in a culture of support, growth, investment and belonging. Beyond the staff experience, SASE oversees the ShockerStrengths Initiative and divisional assessment initiatives. SASE also collaborates with departments on first-generation programs and initiatives.

SASE loves to engage with campus partners in various ways, but the most common collaboration exists within the ShockerStrengths Initiative. Designed to connect Shockers with their talents and strengths, SASE offers administration of the CliftonStrengths inventory, individual and team coaching, and workshops for classes, groups and organizations on campus. For more information on requesting a workshop, inventory or general information, visit the SASE webpage.

Chevron Phillips Chemical CFO joins Barton School Dean’s Advisory Board

The Barton School of Business welcomes Darren Ercolani to its Dean’s Advisory Board. Ercolani serves as the senior vice president and chief financial officer for Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LP.

College of Engineering to host nearly 400 high school students, parents for scholarship competition

On Friday, Nov. 16, the College of Engineering will host about 170 high school seniors and 220 parents for the Wallace Invitational for Scholarships in Engineering (WISE) competition. All mandatory events will occur from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the second and third floors of the Rhatigan Student Center with optional events occurring from 1 to 3 p.m. in the John Bardo Center.

Although a private event, staff and faculty are encouraged to have positive interactions with the students and their parents when in common areas. According to the College of Engineering, the WISE competition is one of its largest recruiting events annually.

Learn more about the WISE competition

Presentations and Talks

Artist Lesley Dill will discuss her exhibition, ‘Wilderness: Light Sizzles Around Me’

Join Lesley Dill as she discusses her exhibition, “Lesley Dill, Wilderness: Light Sizzles Around Me,” at 6 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 16 in the Beren Gallery of the Ulrich Museum of Art. A reception begins at 5:30 p.m.

The exhibition represents an ongoing investigation into the voices and personas of the American past. For Dill, the voices grew from early America’s obsessions with divinity and deviltry, and on fears of the wilderness “out there” and inside everyone. The extremes of both shaped history and gave pulse and heat to the words of activists such as John Brown, Sojourner Truth, Anne Hutchinson and Dred Scott. Dill writes: “These personas and their times stir something deep in my own family history and sense of self. I am compelled to explore this period in America’s history when limited access to diversity of written word ignited the bravery of these figures in response to their times.”