Nov. 5 Town Hall Meeting
Question 1: What is going really well at Wichita State University and what could be going better?
Responses to what is going really well:
- Center for Community Support and Research has a way of helping non-profits.
- NIAR and computer retraining.
- Cooperative Education - work based learning opportunities.
- Athletic performance and student academics.
- Reputation of a high quality institution.
- Distinguished Scholarship Invitational a good way to bring talent in from many different areas.
- Barton School does a good job of outreach to area businesses, making contacts for students.
- Education outreach is also positive.
- Engineering is also very active in the community.
- Transferrable credit and dual credit opportunities for high school students. Waiving tuition for high school students.
- Coop programs are very active.
- Basketball!
- Athletics, baseball and basketball.
- Aviation research - NIAR.
- Resources.
- Interdepartmental relations.
- Good web site.
- Work based learning experiences
- Value per dollar.
- Emphasis on entrepreneurship, faculty are business people.
- Class enrollment is stable.
- Athletics are drawing positive acknowledgement for the school.
- Dr. Pendse is getting good press on technology accomplishments.
- John Tomblin and NIAR doing well.
- Athletics.
- National Merit Scholars.
- Engineering/NIAR handled cuts well.
- WSU has a strong presence in the community, through marketing billboards, television, etc.
- Also a good representation of alumni in the community.
- Everything in general is going well, but we don't believe there are a large amount of things going "really" well.
- The College of Engineering is doing a great job in recruiting prospective students into their programs. Going to high schools that are strong in engineering areas and focusing on those students.
Responses to what could be going better:
- Increase in school spirit.
- Football team.
- Cooperative education needs more diversity into sectors that are not only for profit.
- International students are not set up (lack of public transportation, etc.).
- TRIO - lost generation.
- Smaller classes.
- Post-secondary help for the intellectually challenged.
- Distance/online education offerings, including telecasts.
- Sell ourselves.
- Could publicize what we do better.
- Process of working with high school students - more streamlining.
- More scholarships for NOT the top 10% of students, but the other 90%.
- Publicize campus life more.
- Lack of knowledge about WSU in the community.
- Need more information about what we “wanna” be, where we “wanna” go.
- Community doesn't know us.
- Potential students don't think of WSU first.
- Football.
- Incubator programs.
- Market what you are doing to the community.
- Communication could be better for us to know what is going on.
- Parking could be better.
- Campus environment could be better, seems to be a commuter school.
- Perception that Wichita State is a distant third to the other big state schools.
- Customer service.
- Football.
- The Barton School of Business needs to stop relying on the reputation they believe they have (which is based upon very out-dated information or beliefs). They would benefit from recruiting prospective students and stepping out more.
- More focus on research and in the community. Being more involved in research in other fields than engineering - branch out.