Campus Connection: April 9, 2019

As the largest global association for business education, AACSB is a leading voice and advocate for amplifying the positive impact that business schools have on society. Serving as a connector and convener, AACSB is dedicated to sharing diverse insights, best practices, and impactful research that advances business education and the value of AACSB Accreditation around the world. 

Key findings show that three of the four AQR factors tracked -- involuntary denied boardings, mishandled bags and customer complaints -- improved for the airline industry in 2018. On-time performance, the most heavily weighted element in the AQR, slipped in 2018.

This year’s report also reveals the lowest rate of bumped passengers, the lowest rate of mishandled baggage and the lowest rate of customer complaints for the industry since the AQR started in 1991.

Delta was the only airline to improve in all four categories. Six of the airlines rated performed better in 2018 versus their 2017 AQR scores. Those carriers were Delta, Hawaiian, JetBlue, Southwest, Spirit and United. Airlines whose scores declined in 2018 were Alaska, American and Frontier.

“These results are very needed by the traveling public, given all the recent reports of airlines losing the confidence of key consumers,” said Dr. Brent Bowen, AQR co-author and professor of aeronautical science at Embry-Riddle’s Prescott, Ariz. campus. “As the most respected and unbiased report on airline performance, travelers can be confident that our airlines are improving.”

“Overall, another good year of industry performance,” said Dr. Dean Headley, AQR co-author and emeritus professor of marketing at the W. Frank Barton School of Business at Wichita State University. “The best-ever industry AQR score for 2018 is largely due to improvements in the rate of involuntary denied boardings and the rate of customer complaints. Consumers have demanded better and the industry listened and improved.”

Inside this year’s rating

Below is the 2019 ranking of the nation’s largest nine airlines, according to the Airline Quality Rating, with the 2018 ranking in parentheses:

1. Delta (2)
2. JetBlue (3)
3. Southwest (5)
4. Alaska (1)
5. Hawaiian (4)
6. United (8)
7. Spirit (12)
8. American (9)
9. Frontier (11)

The merger of Alaska and Virgin America was completed in April of 2018.  The results for Alaska reflect the performance of the merged airlines for the entire year.

An electronic version of the full report, with details on each airline, is available at http://airlinequalityrating.com.

One of the most gifted and lyrical poets of his generation, Jericho Brown is the author of Please, The New Testament, and The Tradition (newly released at this reading). He was recently featured on the cover of The New York Times Style Magazine for a story on prominent black, male American writers.

The poems of Jericho Brown brim over with a transformative power rooted in both sensuality and the spirit. Exploring race, religion, sexuality, and social justice, his work illuminates the American experience and enlarges the possibilities of aliveness. Claudia Rankine says, “To read Jericho Brown’s poems is to encounter devastating genius.”

Brown is the recipient of a Whiting Writer’s Award and has received fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Radcliffe Institute at Harvard University. He directs the Creative Writing Program at Emory University, and he is WSU’s 2019 Distinguished Visiting Poet.

Summer/fall registration begins April 8

To start today’s briefing, we want to let everyone know that registration for summer and fall classes starts on Monday, April 8.

In addition to planning for your fall course load, we also encourage every Shocker to check out our diverse summer offerings. The university has recently expanded its summer classes to better meet students’ needs—giving them more opportunities to stay on track and graduate in four years.

Summer Shockers have hundreds of on-campus and online options and the flexibility of two, four and eight-week sessions. Financial aid can also be applied.

To find out more about summer classes, visit wichita.edu/summer.

 

New SGA president

Following the results of yesterday’s SGA elections, today we want to congratulate the new Student Government Association president and vice president, Kitrina Miller and Michael Bearth, on their win. In addition, we also want to thank all of the candidates who participated—and the voters for making their voices heard.

We look forward to working closely with SGA’s new leadership moving forward.

 

Dr. Andy Tompkins

Last Thursday, the Kansas Board of Regents announced the appointment of Dr. Andy Tompkins as interim president. Tompkins, who retired as KBOR president and CEO in 2015, most recently served as Fort Hays State’s interim president from December 2016 to November 2017.

Tompkins, a 2001 inductee into the Kansas Teachers Hall of Fame, was a high school English teacher who became a principal and eventually district superintendent. He was honored as Kansas Superintendent of the Year in 1992 and served as commissioner of education for the Kansas Department of Education from 1996-2005 before going on to teach at the University of Kansas.

Dr. Tompkins begins work on Monday. We welcome him to campus and look forward to the wealth of expertise and experience he brings.

Be sure to tune in to next week’s briefing, because Dr. Tompkins will be our featured speaker.

 

Student-Athlete Success Center

On Wednesday, we were pleased to announced that a $10.4 million contract to build a new Student-Athlete Success Center, and renovate parts of Charles Koch Arena, was awarded to Hutton, a Wichita-based construction firm.

The project is completely funded through donor contributions.

The project has two main components. The largest is construction of the Student-Athlete Success Center, a 36,000-square-foot facility devoted to the academic and athletic development of students in WSU’s sports programs. The two-level building, to be located just south of Charles Koch Arena, will expand study and tutoring spaces. WSU’s track and cross-country programs will also move to the new facility.

A smaller component of the project is renovation of administrative offices inside Charles Koch Arena to create more space for the men’s basketball, women’s basketball and volleyball programs.

Groundbreaking is expected to take place in June, with completion of the project in July 2020.

 

NIT

With the Shocker Men’s Basketball season now at an end, we want to congratulate the team and coaches for their hard work and dedication resulting in a strong season finish—and three NIT wins.   

We can’t wait to see them back on the court this fall. 

“It is exciting to be back on the WSU campus and to see the transformation that has taken place,” said Buckendahl. “I am so honored to lead the CMD’s quality programs that link to the talent and professionalism of WSU’s Barton School of Business to professionals in Wichita and surrounding communities.”

The Center for Management Development, in the W. Frank Barton School of Business, provides quality professional education to more than 4,000 individuals and corporate clients each year, in order to enhance careers and foster workforce development. CMD acts as a strategic partner with organizations to provide current business knowledge and the best practices to develop capable leaders. Many of the participants in the CMD classroom are staff at WSU, who receive a 40 percent discount when they partner with CMD for training.

Faculty/Staff Dr. Karen Countryman-Roswurm
Faculty/Staff Dr. Rocio Del Aguila-Carreno
Student Recipient Amena Elamin

Once again, congratulations!

For more information about the Phenomenal Women Awards, go to wichita.edu/phenomenal.

Neurodiversity assumes that some degree of neurological difference is inherent in the human genome. Acknowledging and appreciating the extensive range of human neurologies, including those with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), while also acknowledging and appreciating the challenges of brain differences is fundamental to neurodiversity. The neurodiversity movement is gaining recognition across industries. In doing so, campuses are recognizing the strengths individuals who are neurodiverse bring to learning and problem-solving situations that can lead to innovation.

See the schedule.

1. Car Accidents: A patient with serious injuries from a car wreck needs approximately 50 or more units of blood.
2. Organ Transplants: Organ recipients require varying amounts of blood. A liver transplant requires the most blood at up to 50 units, while others transplants require about 10.
3. Trauma Patients: Bleeding after an injury is responsible for over 2 million deaths each year worldwide. Trauma patients may need up to 50 units of red blood cells, and additional units of plasma and platelets.
4. Bone Marrow Transplants: They are performed to replace bone marrow that has been damaged or destroyed by disease, infection or chemotherapy. Bone marrow transplant patients need up to 20 units of red cells, and 25 units of platelets.
5. Burn Victims: Blood transfusions (approximately 20 units) help burn victims maintain oxygen levels, reduce anemia, support tissue healing and preserve organ function.