Muma announces two key appointments in Academic Affairs
Wichita State Provost Rick Muma has announced the appointment of two key positions in the division of Academic Affairs effective Monday, Aug. 6.
Carolyn Shaw, current professor and chair in the Department of Political Science, has been appointed Associate Vice President for Strategic Enrollment Management. Kaye Monk-Morgan, current assistant dean for students in the Fairmount College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, has been appointed Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs.
Both appointment were made possible through a position recently vacated by Muma, after being appointed Provost, and a planned retirement by the Assistant to the President for Strategic Planning, Cindy Claycomb.
For more information, go to Academic Affairs appointments.
Daily website update
On July 12, WSU launched a website redesign that holds tremendous promise for the
university in supporting our enrollment efforts. Unfortunately, the initial quality
of the migration of existing pages from the Department Tools system didn't meet our
expectations and that has caused difficulties for some of our partners across campus.
We want you to know that we hear your concerns and understand that your websites are
vital to you from a business sense, and we are pledged to continue to work directly
with you to elevate the quality and functionality of your sites.
Among the efforts undertaken include a new Web Support site (wichita.edu/websupport) that allows you to quickly start a ticket on any website-related problem you may be encountering. Also, we will be posting website updates daily in WSU Today to keep you informed of developments with the website. Among the things we'll be talking about are:
- Progress updates
- Weekly site health scores
- Links to Web Support ticketing and support information
- Tips and other website-related information
In the first two weeks, the site's overall health score has increased from 71 to 78, with the greatest improvement coming in the number of corrected links and SEO improvements. (NOTE: We have an artificially low score in spelling errors due to filenames in titles and the lorem ipsum text on placeholder snippets in the templates.)
On the support side, at least one training has been held every day, including open labs where collaboration members work one-on-one with you to help solve problems and improve your sites. More than 90 users have attended open training labs and scores more have attended basic and next level training courses.
We've also in the past week restored more than 300 short URLs, activated the site search feature with more than 200 Best Bet matches (roughly equaling the number of matches on the former site), activated search functionality for WSU Today, WSU News and Shocker Blast, and did a soft launch of the calendar feature. The number of site users is up to 286.
Tip of the day: While the image cropping and resizing tools built into the CMS work fine for images that are under 3,000 pixels, you will be better off using an image editor outside of the CMS. Photoshop is the gold standard, but there's a free, cloud-based solution called Pixlr that easy to use and gets great results. You can find Pixlr at https://pixlr.com/editor.
Panopto service down for upgrades
Panopto will be upgraded this week, beginning on Monday, July 30. This is to complete the previous upgrade which was halted due to technical difficulties on Panopto's part. Here is what you need to know:
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From 5 p.m. today (Monday, July 30) to 5 p.m. Wednesday, August 1, Panopto service will be interrupted. Please do not record sessions during this time.
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After the upgrade, you will be prompted to download a new Panopto recorder the first time you attempt to record a session.
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Updates on the process will be posted to WSU's Blackboard home page
When Panopto service returns on Wednesday, Aug. 1, we will be in a faster, more robust cloud environment, which will improve service to everyone using or creating videos
Wichita firm vows to turn industry ‘upside down' with WSU's help
According to a story in The Wichita Eagle and kansas.com, a new patent by a Wichita construction company has its roots in the front lines of the Korean War more than 60 years ago.
Working with Wichita State University's National Institute for Aviation Research, Hunter and Son Construction has developed a new way to repair sagging foundations.
“It's a game-changer,” Steve Hunter, president of Hunter and Son Construction said of the new method. “In less than three years, I'll have turned the industry upside down.
“The university has been instrumental in helping our business grow,” Hunter said.
See the complete story and video at NIAR helps company.
Register to participate in the Shocker Resource Fair on Wednesday, Aug. 22
The annual Shocker Resource Fair is a great way to tell new Shockers about the opportunities, programs and resources that your department or office have to offer! The fair will take place from 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 22, on the Shocker Hall Plaza. Register here to participate. Registration closes on Friday, August 17 at 5 p.m. Departments may begin setting up as early as 9:30 a.m. Contact Randi Beggs at randi.beggs@wichita.edu with questions.
Position opening at WSU Foundation
The Wichita State University Foundation is looking to hire two creative, highly motivated individuals to work on our communications team; one as a Graphic Designer and the other as a Content Marketing Coordinator. These positions will be responsible for design and social media content creation to enhance the connection between the university and its donors.
WSU Foundation position opening
Student Health to be closed tomorrow (Tuesday, July 31) morning
Student Health will be closed for professional development from 8 a.m.-1 p.m. tomorrow (Tuesday, July 31).
Ennovar update
Ennovar Technology Solutions, a high-tech applied learning center at Wichita State, emphasizes:
- Education
- emerging technology
- experiential learning
- evolutionary research
- exploration
- engagement
Recently Ennovar's two branches – Development and Technology Solutions – mergued under the leadership of executive director Matt Forney, who founded and has provided continued oversight and leadership for the Ennovar Labs, which include:
- Solution Reference Architecture
- Technical Support
- Information Security
- Software Development
- Technical Marketing
In its short history, Ennovar has employed or contracted with more than 400 students.
Fortune 500 partners include IBM, Dell, Teradata, Amazon, Spirit Aerosystems, Palo Alto, Cisco, Textron Aviation and NetApp.
Textron Aviation recently signed a new master service agreement with Ennovar to add an additional 25 students to their “Help Hangar,” a walk-up information technology support center manned by WSU students, and located on Textron east and west side campuses. The Help Hanger now provides 35-40 students with applied learning opportunities.
NetApp has also added an additional Ennovar student team to support their Solid Fire product line that is expanding in their Wichita office.
Extended -- Save 30 percent at the Christmas in July Sale
Save big at the Shocker Store's Christmas in July Sale, extended through tomorrow (Tuesday, July 31)! Take 30 percent off coats, sweatshirts, sweatpants and cold weather accessories (gloves, scarves, hats, etc). Valid on regular priced items. Sale is in-store only.