‘Thank you’ and best wishes from President Bardo
Dear colleagues,
As we come to the end of a very good year for Wichita State, I want to say thanks for all you have done in 2018 to make the university a better place for students, the community and each other.
We can mark success through increases in students enrolled and graduated; through increased research output; and, through our contributions to betterment of quality of life in Wichita and south-central Kansas.
The past few weeks, as I’ve been recovering from surgery, I’ve had a lot of time to reflect on Wichita State and its place in the world.
I’m very proud of what you all have accomplished, and I’m looking forward to what 2019 will bring.
I hope the coming weeks bring you and yours some well-earned relaxation.
Sincerely,
John
Faculty training opportunities
All instructional staff are invited to choose from several in-person training topics offered on Friday, Jan. 18, in the Marcus Welcome Center. Classes will be offered in formatting images (photographs, artwork, etc.) for your class, Panopto, Quality Matters, the Blackboard Grade Center, and running effective online discussions. There will also be an opportunity to take the required accessibility instruction for faculty so you don’t have to do it online.
Please sign up through myTraining, and send questions to Instructional Design and Access at IDA@wichita.edu, and session names and descriptions can be found online at Instructional Design and Access Workshops.
IDA will also offer a special session of the Blackboard and Accessibility come-and-go lab time from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. at the Marcus Welcome Center this day, and there is no need to sign up for the lab, so if you find you need some help getting your spring classes set up, please come join us there!
Stephenson inducted into Hall of Fame
Gene Stephenson, the sole inductee of Wichita State's 2019 Pizza Hut Shocker Sports
Hall of Fame class, was inducted during halftime of the Wichita State men's basketball
game against Southern Miss on Dec. 15. He was also honored at a dinner Dec. 14 at
the Drury Plaza Hotel Broadview.
The sold-out dinner, which included 500 guests, featured Stephenson along with keynote
speakers Eric Wedge and Joe Carter.
Former Shockers, including Phil Stephenson and Charlie O'Brien, also participated
in a roundtable to tell Shocker Baseball stories.
Phishing email safety tips
The holidays are a special time of year, but also particularly busy with both personal and work-related year-end activities. Therefore it is necessary to be especially vigilant with respect to suspicious e-mail messages. Specifically “phishing” (for digital credentials – ID and password) is extremely common now and becoming increasingly more sophisticated in terms of spoofing legitimate email addresses, including genuine company logos, purporting to be urgent, and appearing to be sent from a legitimate senior executive in our organization.
Why does this matter?
Your myWSU ID and password in the hands of vandals not only exposes access to your e-mail account in order to send spam, etc., but also provides access to many other WSU systems, including particularly your salary direct deposit information in Banner. Remain aware that it is a best practice to have completely uniquepasswords for your personal and work systems. If you manually make them all the same or very similar, as some users are tempted do for their convenience, that potentially exposes you to even greater damages in the event that any of your accounts become successfully compromised.
What Can You Do?
For detailed information regarding how to recognize e-mail messages as hazardous and what to do about them, please visit the Phishing Email Safety link by logging in to myWSU , under Faculty/Staff tab, Employee Toolbox, Technology Help Desk, (see screen image above).
If you are uncertain about a particular email message or feel that you may have responded to a phishing scheme and unintentionally provided someone your WSU credentials, you should immediately change your WSU password. To do that go to myWSU and click in the top right on “Manage your password.” Please forward questionable emails to spamreport@wichita.edu. You can also contact the ITS help desk at helpdesk@wichita.edu or 316-978-4357 if you need additional assistance with changing your password.
Best Regards,
WSU Information Technology Services
Foundation year-end gift receipt information for 2018 tax credit
Checks without a postmarked envelope will need to be delivered to the WSU Foundation by 4 p.m. Monday, Dec. 31, 2018, as we close at that time. Checks with an envelope postmarked by Dec. 31, need to be at the Foundation no later than noon Friday, Jan. 4, 2019.
Information for credit / debit cards to be processed in office will need to be to us by 3 p.m. Monday, Dec. 31.
Online bank drafts need to be initiated by 6 p.m. Dec. 31, but online credit cards will be able to be processed until midnight.
Cheerfully,
Foundation Finance Team
Holiday sale at the Shocker Store Braeburn Square location
On Saturday, Dec. 22, if you buy an item at the Shocker Store’s Braeburn Square location, you can take 50 percent off another item of equal or lesser value! The sale is valid all day, and they will be open from 10 a.m.-8 p.m.
HR has early deadline to post positions and make job offers
The HR Talent Team will have an early deadline to post positions and to make offers to ensure they are processed prior to the holiday shutdown. This will also allow the team to prepare for the Jan. 3 New Employee Orientation. To accomplish this, the following deadlines are in place:
- All position descriptions must be completely approved in the PeopleAdmin routing process by today (Tuesday, Dec. 18) to be posted to the WSU website prior to the shutdown.
- All offers must be accepted by today (Tuesday, Dec. 18) to be able to start on Jan. 3, 2019.
Any pending position descriptions or requests for posting after today (Dec. 18) will continue processing on Jan. 2. Any offers that are accepted after Dec. 18 will be able to start on or after the Jan. 14 New Employee Orientation.
Please call Human Resources at 978-3605 with any questions.
LAS Advising Center will be closed from 11 a.m.-2 p.m.
The LAS Advising Center will be closed from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. today (Tuesday, Dec. 18) for staff development.
How much do you know about the WSU Faculty / Staff Holiday Card Scholarship?
Over 50 years ago, Dr. Nicholas Pronko, professor emeritus of psychology, came up with a unique fundraising idea for Wichita State. He called on faculty and staff to give the few dollars they normally would spend sending each other holiday cards to a scholarship benefiting WSU students with financial need – and this became the Holiday Card Endowed Scholarship Fund.
Now, with more than 3,400 donations and nearly $82,000 contributed (and that’s just during the time we’ve been able to track), it’s easy to see how successful Dr. Pronko’s vision has become. The endowed fund has grown to the point we are able to award up to four scholarships a year averaging more than $1,000 each. It is truly impacting the lives of WSU students.
Unfortunately, support for what was once an important holiday tradition for WSU faculty and staff has been declining over the past few years. With many loyal supporters having retired, and so many new employees, it’s easy to understand how this happened. This is a renewed appeal for you to help turn the tide. Whether this is the first you’ve heard of the scholarship – or you’ve supported it for years – please consider participating this year.
Visit the Holiday Card Endowed Scholarship Fund site by clicking here. You’ll be able to learn more about the scholarship and can even give a gift. If you’re unable to support financially, you can still make an impact by advocating for the scholarship and promoting it to your friends and colleagues. Your involvement at any level will make a difference.
If you have questions, or would like to learn more about ways you can support the WSU Faculty/Staff Holiday Card Scholarship Fund, please contact Aaron Winter at the WSU Foundation by emailing aaron.winter@wichita.edu or call 316-978-3803.
Happy holidays to all – and congratulations on another great year at WSU!
Concussions: Lack of 'Return to Learn' training a problem in Kansas
Talk of concussion is more commonplace as organizations from the NFL to your local high school zero in on how to help victims get better. But there's a missing piece to this puzzle when we’re talking about our kids.
"Some of your really severe concussions might even cause kids to drop out of school for a semester," said Rich Bomgardner, program director of Athletic Training at Wichita State University.
See the story that aired recently on KAKE-TV 10
'Houses, forts, boats': kids build creations with WSU student's new product, Dinkum
If you're still looking at possible Christmas gifts for the kids, a WSU grad student has a product you can all enjoy. The product called Dinkum is made up of dozens of building pieces that can create structures both big and small.
James Balman studies Innovation Design at Wichita State and says it took several years to see this idea come to life. To make today's demonstration happen, he let his kids and their friends do the work.
See the complete story from KSN-TV 3
Season's Greetings from the WSU Alumni Association
Happy holidays, Shockers! We wish you endless joy and great times with family and friends in the coming days.
To spread good cheer to the WSU people in your lives, consider these awesome gift ideas: membership in the WSUAA, a brick on the Shocker Alumni Walkway, fun times in our Mug Club, a Shocker license plate, Stoneworx custom stone, the WSU Collection by Lamzy Divey, WSUAA travel opportunities and Shocker Store apparel and gifts!
NASA Kansas Space Grant Consortium celebrates NASA's 60th and 50th anniversaries
With support from NASA the Kansas Space Grant Consortium (KSGC) anticipates awarding
grants to celebrate two amazing NASA anniversaries:
- The 60th Anniversary of NASA
- The 50th Anniversary of the Apollo program and the moon landing
The attached Request for Proposal (RFP) document provides additional information on the opportunity. Proposals are due by noon March 29, 2019. All investigators are encouraged to read and follow the RFP closely.
Contact the NASA in Kansas office at nasainkansas@wichita.edu or 316-978-3890 with any questions. Let's celebrate NASA and its many astonishing accomplishments!
Wu Bucks at the Shocker Store
Shop the Shocker Store for the holidays and earn Wu Bucks toward more Shocker gear! For every $50 spent through Monday, Dec. 24, in the RSC or Braeburn Square location, earn a $5 coupon to be used in January and February on any in-store purchase. Some exclusions apply, see store for details. Wu Bucks are not redeemable on Game Day Sales.