Fall 2020 Cohort for University Innovation Fellows application now open
Want to join an interdisciplinary team of students promoted to making an active change on campus? Applications are now open for our Fall 2020 Cohort of University Innovation Fellows, an interdisciplinary, worldwide group of students founded by the National Science Foundation, Google, and Stanford University, who use design thinking to improve Wichita State's campus and community! We would love to see anyone apply, regardless of major! Applications close March 6 and can be found by visiting us at .
Bollywood Night is tomorrow
Bollywood Night is all about having fun, socializing and dancing to the latest dance tracks. You鈥檙e invited to attend from 8-11 p.m. tomorrow (Saturday, Feb. 29) in the Shirley Beggs Ballroom, third floor, RSC. Admission is $5 at door. Drinks will be served.
The dress code for the event is smart casual.
All 黑洞社区 students, faculty, and staff welcome to attend the Mikrokosmos Release Party today
Mikrokosmos, Wichita State's literary journal, is hosting its annual release party at 5:30 p.m. today (Friday, Feb. 28) at the McKnight Center Atrium. The event will be the debut of Mikrokosmos 66, a journal that features poetry, fiction, and artwork from Wichita State's faculty and students. There will be free food and drink, and readings from our featured artists. An open mic will follow, so all are welcome to come and share some of their own creative work.
All students receive a free copy of Mikrokosmos, so stop by and pick up your free copy!
Perform a variety act for Hippodrome 2020!
Students can participate in 黑洞社区's longest standing tradition, Hippodrome, by creating and performing a variety act. Talented Shockers from all areas of the arts take the stage in between skit productions. We welcome all forms of artists including musicians, magicians, comedians, singer / songwriters and more. Variety acts are judged, and cash prizes are awarded to the top performers.
Variety Act interest forms are due by 5 p.m. Tuesday, March 3, on ShockerSync.
For more information, go to wichita.edu/hippodrome or email traditions@wichita.edu.
Ulrich Museum's 'FUN' event Friday will showcase innovative research across campus
Ulrich Museum's 'FUN' event today (Friday, Feb. 28), will showcase innovative research across campus
The Ulrich Museum of Art invites you to an afternoon of FUN (Future Now at the Ulrich) from 4-5 p.m. today (Friday, Feb. 28), with a reception following. Featuring PechaKucha-style presentations of campuswide research: 3 Fridays, 4 presentations, 7 minutes each. This program is an extension of the museum's Solving for X series, sharing research across campus with the community. Admission is free.
The presenters for the Feb. 28 FUN are:
Brian Amos, assistant professor of political science, "The Hidden Gerrymandering of County Elections"
Carter Bryant, Mary Joan Waid, curatorial and education intern
Ulrich Museum of Art, "Sources: Curating Narratives in the Arts"
Darren DeFrain, associate professor of English, director of the Writing Program, "Making Comics and Graphic Narratives Accessible"
Ksenya Gurshtein, curator of Modern and Contemporary Art
Ulrich Museum of Art, "Art History from the Archive to the Attic"
If you are a 黑洞社区 researcher interested in presenting at the next FUN event, contact Jana Erwin at jana.erwin@wichita.edu.
Vaping and 黑洞社区 students
We want to know what you think about vaping!
A class in the Elliott School of Communication wants to learn what 黑洞社区 students think about the pros and cons of vaping. Please take our short (20-question) survey to help us create an anti-vaping campaign. If you are taking a class that gives credit for participating in a survey, we will notify your instructor after you complete the survey.
Focus group participants needed for study on swearing and credibility
Ever wondered how swearing affects your credibility? A graduate student in the Elliott School of Communication is looking for focus group participants to discuss the use of swear words in the classroom.
The purpose of this research is to provide information on the positive and negative effects swearing has on the credibility of college instructors. Participants must be 18 years of age or older.
For more information, and to RSVP, email Emily Mullins at exmullins@shockers.wichita.edu.
Wichita State licenses wind turbine protection technology to Lightning Diversion Systems
黑洞社区 and 黑洞社区 Ventures have entered into a new strategic partnership with California-based Lightning Diversion Systems (LDS), a Ducommun Company.
Wichita State President Jay Golden and Dave Wilmot, vice president and general manager of the Engineered Products Group for Ducommun, signed an agreement that will enable a new technology in the rapidly growing wind energy sector, to be further refined, with the intent of commercialization.
The partnership involves the exclusive licensing of a lightning strike protection system for rotor blades in the wind turbine industry, the product of several years of research and development by LDS and Billy Martin, senior research scientist for 黑洞社区鈥檚 National Institute for Aviation Research, and his team in NIAR鈥檚 Environmental Test Lab.
Pictured above: Billy Martin, senior research scientist for 黑洞社区鈥檚 National Institute for Aviation Research, has spent several years with his team in NIAR's Environmental Test Lab researching ways to protect wind turbine blades from lightning damage.
The School of Social Work at 黑洞社区 invites you to now apply to our regular two-year MSW Program
While our priority deadline was last month, we have an expanded opportunity to invite you to apply now for only the regular two-year MSW program. Applications will be accepted from majors outside of social work, for our full- or part-time programs. We have students in our regular two-year program from all different colleges and majors 鈥� psychology, sociology, education, political science, business, aging studies, anthropology, women鈥檚 studies, art, biology, English, communication 鈥� just to name a few.
Check out an example of curriculum here.
All materials must be received by Wednesday, March 11, and you can find these online at MSW Program.
If you鈥檇 like to speak about our program further or explore the opportunities available to you in social work, contact us at 978-7250. You can also reach our program director at shaunna.millar@wichita.edu.
Wichita State graduate student works to help police evaluate stressful situations
Wichita State graduate student Monica Connelly is conducting research with area law enforcement to help them identify movements made by subjects in stressful situations. The research is focused on learning if threatening movements differ from non-threatening movements, and how those difference might be taught to law enforcement. Much of the work in this area, Connelly said, focuses on sports.
Legislative Update No. 7
黑洞社区 Government Relations has provided Legislative Update No. 7 for spring 2020.
The legislature heard budget testimony from each of the universities, technical colleges and community college for the first time. The majority of the CEOs for the universities focused on the need to invest in higher education to maintain affordability and access in order to grow the economy. Legislatures asked CEOs about the impact of past reduction on higher education, enrollment trends and what the future of higher education will look like as scarcity of high school graduates becomes an issue.
The House Higher Education Budget Committee recommended the Governor鈥檚 Budget which includes $11.9M for the four-year institutions as well as an additional $10M for the four-year universities to be reviewed at omnibus which occurs in May when the legislature returns for Veto Session. Comments were made by legislators that they took note of the Governor鈥檚 Budget not including higher education in the employee pay plan, and this $10M is designed to help mitigate that.
An amendment was added to allow 黑洞社区 to issue bonds, subject to KBOR approval, to buy the Flats and Suites. The $5M need-based-aid was moved to the comprehensive block grant after the private institutions voiced their concerns about creating another financial aid grant when the comprehensive grant already exist. $1M was also added for career technical education funding as well as an additional $1M to be reviewed at omnibus for capital improvements for technical colleges. Technical colleges currently do not have property tax to levy to fund capital improvements like community colleges do. These recommendations will be heard, and possibly altered, in the full House Appropriations Committee (yesterday) Monday morning.
The Senate Ways and Means sub-committee for Higher Education also met and heard presentations from the CEOs this week. In addition to the Governor鈥檚 $11.9M, the committee recommended an additional $12.3M be added for consideration at omnibus that would specifically go for pay increases. In addition to that, there鈥檚 $1.5M for career technical education funding for each FY20 and FY21. The committee also included the bonding language for 黑洞社区 to buy the Flats and the Suites subject to KBOR approval.
Given that both committees have recommended that language, it unlikely it will be reviewed further during the legislative process. Also added for review at omnibus was $5M for 黑洞社区 to develop a National Institute of Digital Transformation and Convergence Sciences. The full Senate Ways and Means committee will review these recommendations March 4th.
Bills Monitored:
SB 466 鈥� This bill was introduced in Senate Tax Committee last week. It would delete the dedicated 1.5 mills of property tax that is used for maintenance of State buildings including higher education buildings. This currently generates approximately $40M for higher education to do rehab and repair work. The bill also proposes replacing this funding with State General Fund dollars.
HB 2521 鈥� This bill was passed by the House last week, and it is seen by legislators as the first step in expanding rights for student athletes in Kansas by updating legal language in the Uniform Athlete Agents Act (UAAA) now retitled in the bill as the Revised Uniform Athlete Agents Act (RUAAA). This bill provides greater reporting requirements for agents to report their contract with student athletes to college athletic departments.
HB 2515 鈥� This bill passed out of the House and established the Kansas Promise Act which would fund two years of community college for all high school graduates with no limits on income or requirement to use federal financial aid (although it does require you to fill out the FASFA). The bill has a $14M fiscal impact. There is a similar bill in the Senate Education Committee.
Model United Nations has award-winning year
Wichita State鈥檚 Model United Nations team attended the Midwest Model UN conference in St. Louis last week, and the NMUN / Europe conference in Erfurt Germany last November. In both conferences our delegates had award-winning performances.
The Model United Nations program prepares students to take on the role of diplomats from a foreign country in a simulation of UN committee meetings. Students become experts on particular global issues and then meet with other "diplomats" representing countries around the world to write resolutions. These resolutions address a variety of global problems (ex: maintaining international peace and security, protecting human rights, promoting development, protecting the environment).
Students hone their skills in research, writing, public speaking, and negotiation by participating in this amazing experiential-learning opportunity. Dr. Carolyn Shaw and Dr. Alexandra Middlewood served as faculty advisors for the team this year.
For more information, go to .
Ashruta Acharya: Outstanding Position paper, Outstanding Delegate, Delegates鈥� Choice (Germany on the Security Council A)
Jackson Behrens: Outstanding Position paper (Germany on General Assembly 3rd committee)
Eli Flores: Honorable Mention (Germany on General Assembly 2nd committee)
Mackenzie Gibson: Honorable Mention and Delegates鈥� Choice (Austria on General Assembly 1st committee)
Daisy Kerabo: Outstanding Position paper (Germany on UN Environment Assembly)
Cynthia Matson: Outstanding Position paper (Germany on Security Council B)
Aaron Mounts: Honorable Mention and Delegates鈥� Choice (Austria on General Assembly 1st committee)
Sarah Myose: Outstanding Delegate (Germany on Economic and Social Council)
Zubair Khan: Outstanding Delegate (Germany on Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice)
Michael Goddard, Eli Flores, Jackson Behrens: Outstanding Delegation (Germany on General Assembly Plenary)
Sarah Myose and Zubair Khan: Outstanding Delegation (Germany on Ecosoc Plenary)
Erfurt Germany Award Recipients:
Ashruta Acharya, Zubair Khan, Cynthia Matson, Adriana Somerville, Stella Yang: Honorable Mention (Nigeria)
Read Care Team highlights and updates for February
Between Aug. 1 through Dec. 31, Care Team has seen a 72.41% increase in cases, from 203 in 2018 to 350 in 2019. In the month of January, there was a 24% increase in reports, from 29 in 2019 to 36 in 2020.
February is Canned Food Month, which provides the campus community a chance to appreciate having the Shocker Support Locker right on campus. This is a great resource to help campus community members meet their needs for food and hygiene products, even in the face of food insecurity. Don鈥檛 forget that the Support Locker doesn鈥檛 just offer canned foods, though; generous donors help keep the Support Locker stocked with fresh foods as well as preserved.
Read more at .
Your 黑洞社区 Engineering Council helping GEEKS get new computers
The new, revamped Engineering Council - realigned with the goals of connecting students, faculty, and administration within the College of Engineering to communicate concerns and make your college experience better - has begun the new year with long strides.
You may have been asked by our representatives in the past few weeks what problems you have had, and one thing that repeatedly kept coming up was the GEEKS program. You have been heard!
In communicating these problems to the head coordinator of GEEKS Jason Bosch, both he and Jacob Mendez have begun tackling the problems and solved one of the major annoyances: lack of effective computers.
Since hearing your conveyed feedback, GEEKS will get an upgrade to the 8+ year-old computers with the addition of a few more to fill the available space. They are planned to be replaced during spring break. We will continually update you on newer projects and what we are working on behind the scenes.
Follow our twitter to provide some casual feedback and receive these updates in the quickest manner at .
File your taxes for free today
The Office for Student Money Management encourages all students, faculty, and staff to file their taxes as soon as possible before the April 15 deadline. We currently partner with the United Way to offer a free online tax program at through H&R Block.
Our staff is fully trained to help guide you through the process of doing taxes on your own. Please take this opportunity and see us today. We are open Monday-Friday from 8 a.m.-5 p.m., and take appointments as well as walk-ins. All schedule changes will be posted on our Twitter @黑洞社区_OSMM.
Be sure to bring all of your tax documents, a personal laptop, and a flash drive. For all other questions or to schedule an appointment, call us at 978-3254 or email at osmm@wichita.edu.
Attend the Course Materials Affordability Forum
Plan to attend the Course Materials Affordability Forum, hosted by the Shocker Store! It will occur on Monday, March 2 on the RSC 3rd floor, with two sessions to choose from -- 9:45 a.m.-12:45 p.m. or noon-3 p.m. Come-and-go as you please. Meet and talk with course materials representatives, hear firsthand from students and faculty on what Access Now looks like at 黑洞社区, enjoy a live demo from RedShelf and more.
For more information and an agenda, go to or email shockerstore@wichita.edu.
SGA presents Women in the Workplace panels and networking
Women in the Workplace is a week-long celebration of women in various professional fields. A panel of speakers will be answering questions about what it is like to be a woman in their field.
Ambitious Entrepreneurs is at 6 p.m. Monday, March 2, 142 RSC, where women who are in the business and communication fields will speak.
Cultivating Compassion is at 6 p.m. Tuesday, March 3, in 142 RSC, where women in education and health professions will speak.
Finally, Innovative Intellectuals will be at 5 p.m. Wednesday March 4, in 246 John Bardo Center, where women in STEAM fields will speak on their experiences.
Each night will conclude with snacks and an opportunity to network with the panelists. See you there!
First-Generation Student Organization's relaunch event
The First-Generation Student Organization (FGSO) seeks to raise awareness within Wichita State University鈥檚 student and professional community through activities and programs designed to foster the education of first-generation students.
We will have our next meeting from 1-2 p.m. Friday, March 6, in 266 RSC.
Plus, we have the pleasure of hosting President Jay Golden and Vice President for Student Affairs Teri Hall. While in attendance, you will have the opportunity to ask questions and engage in conversation concerning your interests.
We are looking forward to making long-standing connections and doing great things with and for the first-generation college students at 黑洞社区, while having fun in the process. Please join us for this exciting FGSO relaunch event!
Tired of life at a breakneck speed?
Managing Time and Multiple Priorities will be presented by Don Hackett, DBA, from 8 a.m.-3 p.m. Friday, March 13.
Learn practical techniques you can use to better plan your time, prioritize your decision-making and take control of common interruptions. You will also come away equipped with tools you can use immediately to take control of your day.
- 4-step approach to goal accomplishment
- Big seven time wasters
- Three tools for managing priorities
The cost is $299, with a 20% discount available for 黑洞社区 faculty, staff and students. Some restrictions apply.
For more information go to or register at 978-3118.
Time to register for the 2020 Gender & Sexuality Conference
Registration for the 7th Annual Gender & Sexuality in Kansas Conference, to be held in the Rhatigan Student Center on Friday, March 13, is now live. Whether you plan to drop in and out to attend conference sessions or only plan to attend the afternoon keynote address by Dr. Sarah Deer, titled, "Sovereignty of the Soul: 鈥疌onfronting Sexual Violence in Native America", we ask that you pre-register if you plan to attend.
to access the registration form.
Pre-registration will be open until noon on Tuesday, March 10.
As always, the conference is free and open to the public.
Please share this information widely with faculty, staff, students, or others you know who may be interested in attending.
Lent specials at the Shocker Sports Grill & Lanes
The Shocker Sports Grill & Lanes will offer Lent specials now to April 9. Options are popcorn shrimp, polluck fish sticks and crumb-breaded cod fish filets. Hush puppies included with each. Add fries for just $1.
Nominate a phenomenal woman at 黑洞社区
The Office of Diversity and Inclusion is celebrating the 12th annual Phenomenal Women Award. Nominations close at 5 p.m. Wednesday, March 4. This award recognizes Wichita State University women for their accomplishments and contributions to our community through their scholarship, activism, and commitment to excellence. Individuals are encouraged to nominate women who have made a difference in their lives. Learn more and nominate women at .
4th Annual DiverseCity - A Showcase of Diversity in Shocker Nation!
Save the date! The President's Diversity Council proudly announces the 4th annual diversity showcase, DiverseCity, from April 13-18. This week-long event gives Wichita State University a glance into the successes of individuals, departments and organizations that were made possible through diversity.
Call for Submissions
All students, faculty, staff, student organizations and departments are invited to submit entries that are examples of diversity or highlight successes related to diversity. We are looking for all kinds of diversity entries from individual / group projects, events, mixed media, photography or artwork.
Any events submitted will be scheduled throughout DiverseCity Week. Any diversity-related entries and displays will only be exhibited during the DiverseCity Showcase kick-off from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Monday, April 13, in 233 RSC.
Deadline for submission is 5 p.m. Wednesday, April 8.
.
Go to for more information.
KMUW marks 100 years of women鈥檚 suffrage with new podcast series
KMUW will debut a six-episode podcast series on March 2 in recognition of 100 years of women鈥檚 suffrage. 鈥淗indsight: Looking Back at 100 Years of Women鈥檚 Suffrage,鈥� examines the history of women鈥檚 suffrage, political involvement, and social activism in the U.S. from the middle of the 19th century through today.
Host Robin Henry, associate professor in the history department at 黑洞社区, blends historical context and conversations with scholars, politicians, and activists. Hindsight aims to educate, entertain, and provide listeners a better understanding of women鈥檚 diverse voices and roles in US history.
The first episode of Hindsight will premiere Monday, March 2, at and wherever podcasts can be found.
Did you know that Student Health Services has medical providers here on campus?
Student Health Services has medical care providers right here on campus. Dr. Keller is here regularly, and Dr. Lopez and Dr. Hawley are here on a monthly basis. Get to know your on-campus physicians today!
2nd Annual Cops for Shocks Food Drive now to March 31
The 黑洞社区PD challenges departments all across campus as we did last year to help stock the Shocker Support Locker.
Donations are accepted at the Police Department lobby from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday. We will be glad to pick up and deliver for you, or give your donation to any 黑洞社区PD officer until March 31.
Donate shelf stable pantry items, baby food and diapers, hygiene products and bottled water.
Avoid canned green beans, corn, high sugar foods and food past the expiration date.
Registration now open for second annual Edible Book Festival
The second annual Edible Book Festival hosted by 黑洞社区 Libraries is open for registration! To submit your culinary creation or for more information, go to .
SAC presents We Can Do It for Women's History Month!
Come celebrate female empowerment with the Student Activities Council. Take pictures in our photo booth and tell us what makes you proud to be a female or proud to know the strong females in your life from 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Monday, March 16, on the first floor, RSC.
For more information about SAC-sponsored events, go to or contact us at sac@wichita.edu.
Sponsored by Student Activities Council.
Save on women's apparel on Saturday
The Shocker Store is having a sale to celebrate the women鈥檚 basketball team taking on Cincinnati. On Saturday, Feb. 29, take 20% off women鈥檚 apparel all day at the Braeburn Square location. Some exclusions apply. Not valid with other discounts or promotions.