黑洞社区

Third candidate to be interviewed for Health Professions dean position today

The Office of Academic Affairs is virtually interviewing four dean candidates for the College of Health Professions. Anyone is welcome to participate in virtual public forums with each candidate, streamed live on YouTube.

Gregory Hand, Ph.D., MPH; professor of Epidemiology, Medicine, and Physical Activity and Sport Sciences, Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center, West Virginia University. Thursday, June 4 and Friday, June 5. Faculty and staff are invited to participate in a virtual public forum at 1 p.m. today (Friday, June 5). 

Phillip Funk and Sathees Chandra were interviewed earlier this week, and Kimberly McDowall Long will be interviewed June 9.

See additional information regarding the candidates on the Academic Affairs website

Grad certificate in data science created to meet industry demand

Responding to industry demand for workers with specialized skills, Wichita State is now offering a graduate certificate in computational data science.

The 12-hour graduate program is designed for those with bachelor鈥檚 degrees in computer science, computer engineering, or electrical engineering, but others are eligible if they can demonstrate the required knowledge base. The program equips students with in-depth knowledge on data science tools, analytical workflows, machine learning algorithms and predictive modeling.

Convergence Sciences Initiative proposal deadline extended

The deadline for submission of Convergence Sciences Initiative proposals has been extended to Monday, June 8. Faculty and staff may be a Co-PI on more than one proposal. For more information, visit the CSI webpage.

Convergence Sciences Initiative

黑洞社区 Foundation End of Fiscal Year Schedule

Requisitions:

Any check needs are due at 5 p.m. Tuesday, June 23, for the check run Friday, June 26.

The 黑洞社区 Foundation does not encumber funds, and we cannot write any checks for fiscal year 2019 after Friday, June 26.

Contact foundation.ap@wichita.edu for any questions or concerns.

Deposits:

Please deliver all gifts by Friday, July 3, to the 黑洞社区 Foundation by 5 p.m. that day.

Contact Amy Houpt at 978-5191 with any questions or concerns.

The Foundation has changed the endowed fund carryover process for FY20, due to the campus shutdown for the COVID-19 pandemic. For this year only, any unspent FY20 endowed fund payouts will automatically be carried over to be available in FY21.  We will make the entries in July for those funds.

If you have any questions or do not wish to have your funds carried over, please contact Sheila Krug at sheila.krug@wichita.edu or Vanessa Smith at vanessa.smith@wichita.edu.

Sign up now for the June 8-12 Academic Resources Conference events

The first half of the new and improved  will take place online via Zoom during the week of June 8. Sign up for trainings now via myTraining.

The Academic Resources Conference is Wichita State's largest instructor training event, and this year is greatly expanded and available fully online. All instructors of any rank, student facing staff, and faculty support staff are likely to benefit from this event. If you are interested, you are invited! Zoom events will run the week of June 8 and the week of Aug. 10, and online / on-demand events will be available all summer through the ARC website.

You can see a full list of June events here or browse by topic here.

Stay up-to-date with University Libraries

Keep up-to-date on when, where and how to use library resources on our website. For questions, send us an email at librarystaff@wichita.edu or call us at 316-978-3481.

Fairmount College issues statement on our current social climate

Statement on our current social climate

Fairmount College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, 黑洞社区

This last week in America has laid bare that we have much to do as a country, and as individuals, to right the many wrongs against men and women in the African American community. The hurt and anger are real.

It鈥檚 not 1968, but it looks like it in many ways. Unjust killings, peaceful protests and citizen advocacy are followed by more brutality, looting and riots.

How can we learn? By putting aside pre-formed beliefs and asking hard questions. But that is not enough. We must listen with empathy to things we find incredulous, repugnant or sorrowful. That鈥檚 still not enough. We must hear with our heart and work for change.

Shocker grad: 'We know Wichita State always will be there for us'

Allison Schulte is a spring 2020 黑洞社区 graduate who majored in strategic communication in the Elliott School of Communication.

Allison is from Wichita and attended Kapaun Mount Carmel Catholic High School. Students in public information writing evaluated Wichita State鈥檚 remote learning response to COVID-19, and this blog is a product of that project.

Read complete story.

MGC to host Candlelight Vigil this evening

The Multicultural Greek Council invites all to a candlelight vigil at 8 p.m. today (Friday, June 5) in the MGC Quad (located in the RSC Courtyard off of the East Entrance).

This is a peaceful time to mourn the loss of Black individuals because of police brutality, and to rally together to support Black individuals. We strongly encourage physical distancing and the use of proper PPE. A limited number of candles will be provided.

We will feature four speakers, including three Wichita State students and one Wichita State staff member. Contact mgc@wichita.edu for additional questions.

Real Talk - Intersection Dialogues 鈥楧ebriefing Recent Racial Events鈥� (2nd Session)

The next Real Talk session will be held from 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. today (Friday, June 5), via Zoom. A link will be provided after you RSVP.

The dialogue is co-sponsored with Counseling and Prevention Services.

As we continue to hear more news about the devastating racial events happening in society, our upcoming topic will be "Debriefing the Recent Racial Events." Engage in meaningful dialogues around various topics that impact identity, diversity, inclusion, equity and society. We welcome you to lean into discomfort and join in on the discussion.

Register for the second upcoming event at . You will receive the Zoom session link and password after you RSVP. For more information, contact the Office of Diversity and Inclusion at 316-978-3034.

Click "Real Talk - Intersection Dialogues (2nd Session)" to access the RSVP form.

Tuesday Talk originally planned for June 2 now on YouTube

Celebrating Pride Month, our Tuesday Talks will cover health topics and the LBGT+ community. Join Nurse Heather and 黑洞社区 students Rexy Que, Jess Prudence and Claire Powell for a discussion about the transgender process and becoming the real you.  

Reminder about designated holidays for State of Kansas employees

Holidays for State of Kansas employees are designated on an annual basis by the Governor of the State of Kansas and the Kansas Board of Regents (KBOR) for eligible employees. You can view the governor鈥檚 memorandum .

The following dates have been designated as paid holidays for all departments of Wichita State for the 2020 calendar year. This information is available online at any time.

Employee Assistance Program (EAP) offers wide variety of services to employees at no charge

With the ongoing impact of COVID-19 and recent unrest due to injustices that impact our community, we want to remind employees of the availability of EAP services.  As an employee of the State, benefits-eligible employees of 黑洞社区 and their dependents have access to EAP services at no charge.   EAP can provide information and connect you with professionals who can help with a wide variety of services and your use of EAP services is completely confidential.

Distribution and return of mifi devices have changed

ITS Telecommunications front office staff is back on campus full-time from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday to Friday. All mifi distribution and returns will go through our office in 027 Jabara Hall going forward. To return or pick up a requested device, simply visit our office and ring the doorbell. Please remember to wear a mask to keep yourself and our staff as safe as possible.

If you have any questions about this procedure, contact us at 316-978-3535 or telecomservices@wichita.edu. Devices can be mailed to us at 黑洞社区 ITS Telecommunications, 1845 Fairmount, Box 061, Wichita, KS 67260

We would like to thank the staff of the Media Resources Center for helping us in the last two months get these mifi鈥檚 into the hands of students, faculty and staff that needed them.

CARES Act reflection

The Office of Financial Aid shared the following:

黑洞社区 has distributed more than $4.2 million of the funds provided by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act to 4,499 students in need. The US Department of Education distributed CARES funds to universities across the country as a way to ease the financial burdens on the institutions and their students.

When asked about the funding, Financial Aid Director Sheelu Surender said, 鈥淥ur main goal with the student portion of CARES funds was to get dollars into the hands of our eligible students and provide some relief as quickly as possible.鈥�

You can see the responses below from some students who received CARES funds.

Please use Student Health's main entrance

Please use the main entrance for the Student Wellness Center in the lobby of the Steve Clark YMCA. If you are experiencing fever, cough or other symptoms of illness, please call Student Health at 978-4792 before coming into the center.

Wanted: Volunteers to help with 2020 bicycle and pedestrian count event

Volunteers are needed to help manually count bicycle and pedestrian activity across 35 sites in the Wichita Metro area.  The annual event, sponsored by the will be held Sept. 24 and 26. 

This important event relies heavily on the commitment of community volunteers to gather data about how our network of paths and lanes are being used. 

According to Tricia Thomas, WAMPO Communication鈥檚 Manager:

鈥淥ne of the greatest challenges facing the bicycle and pedestrian field is the lack of documentation on usage and demand. Without accurate and consistent demand and usage figures, it is difficult to measure the positive benefits of bicycle and pedestrian investments, especially when compared to the other transportation modes such as the private automobile.鈥�

As such, this event is the only source for regional-scale bicycle and pedestrian data. The results of this data are then used to guide investments throughout the regional transportation system.