University policies: What's new and updated
Changes or additions to several university policies, listed below, were approved on
Aug. 8.
3.62 / Travel Pay for Non-Exempt Employees
3.61 / Workforce Transitions
13.20 / Out-of-State Travel
13.19 / Withholding of Paychecks and Set-off of Amounts Owed
13.17 / Moving Expenses
13.21 / Gifts to Employees
13.22 / Payment of Professional Dues or Licensing Fees
13.18 / Taxability of Complimentary Tickets
3.38 / Lactation Support for Nursing Mothers
7.05 / Employment in University Support Staff Positions (Rescinded) Replaced by Policy
3.61
6.16 / Internal Promotion (Rescinded) Replaced by Policy 3.61
7.06 / Promotion and Transfer of University Support Staff (Rescinded) Replaced by
Policy 3.61
Plan to attend fall faculty / staff kickoff and picnic
All faculty and staff are invited to attend the president’s yearly fall faculty / staff kickoff from 3-4 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 14, in the RSC Beggs Ballroom. The event will include university updates as well as discussions on senate leader priorities, community engagement and applied research. Following the event will be a university picnic with food, drinks and music from 4-5:30 p.m. on the RSC first floor – sponsored by Student Affairs. Please join us for the informative event!
Introducing: WSU Profiles
WSU Profiles is a new website feature that lets you build flexible, feature-rich profiles pages that can be used to generate staff listings in a variety of formats for the wichita.edu website.
For more information about WSU Profiles, including training and documentation links, go to the WSU Profiles page or download the WSU Profiles fact sheet in pdf format.
Driving and safety caution alert!
University Police has issued a safety and caution alert. This alert especially applies to those who are familiar with campus and haven’t noticed the new stop signs on the west side of campus coming off of Hillside at the football memorial, Memorial Drive and Perimeter.
There’s a saying that familiarity breeds contempt. Insurance companies will tell you that most accidents occur within a mile of our homes and workplaces, because we don’t pay the same attention to those areas as we do with unfamiliar roadways.
This has become a genuine safety concern, as school is in session in two weeks. Since announcing the change on July 10, University Police are averaging 10 stops a day warning drivers of where to stop.
Sally the Robot making fresh salads in the RSC
Soon you will have have more fresh salad options with the addition of Sally the Robot in the RSC Food Court. Sally is a machine that lets you pick from a large variety of salad toppings and have your salad bowl made fresh right in front of you. The goal is to have Sally up and running Monday, Aug. 19. Stay tuned to WSU Today for more detail.
Your campus Internet connection just got faster
Anyone on the Wichita State campus will soon benefit from a faster Internet connection, thanks to a recent upgrade by KanREN, the internet service provider for universities and other public entities in Kansas.
Anyone on the Wichita State campus will soon benefit from a faster Internet connection, thanks to a recent upgrade by KanREN, the internet service provider for universities and other public entities in Kansas.
KanREN completed a new 100 gigabit per second connection to Internet2, a network consortium that provides access to education and research institutions. The new connection provides service exclusively to Kansas universities, K-12 schools, municipalities and other KanREN members in the state. Previously, KanREN shared a 100 Gbps connection to Internet2 with five other Midwest states through the Great Plains Network.
The upgrade will benefit students, faculty and staff, particularly those who work
with massive data sets.
“This new Internet bandwidth significantly augments WSU’s existing robust, substantial
Internet connections through KanREN,” says WSU Chief Information Officer Toney S.
Flack. “The 100 gigabite per second speed to Internet2 is exceptionally high. This
will be used by researchers, professors and students at WSU who have the need to quickly
transfer large and ultra-large data sets to collaborative organizations – like Federal
Agencies or other research partners at other universities, or to other cloud-based
applications. In addition to researchers, all WSU students, faculty and staff will
experience improved Internet response times as a result of this new connection.”
KanREN is a member-based consortium providing Internet and network technologies to research, education and public service institutions in Kansas. Networking and computing staff at KU led the creation of KanREN in 1992, as well as the creation of the Great Plains Network, a multi-state research and academic networking consortium established in 1997.
WSU supports students with visual impairments through national camp
On June 23, Wichita State welcomed 40 high school students from across the country for Envision’s week-long Level Up conference. Envision, an organization that promotes advocacy and independence for individuals who are blind or visually impaired, has held its annual high school conference at Wichita State for the past several years.
Students can choose from a variety of skill-building classes during the week, including biomedical engineering, culinary arts, programming, performing arts and aeronautics. While at Level Up, they also learn about interviews and resumes, networking, college planning, advocacy and communication.
Read more on visual impairment story.
Hugo Wall School MiniMPA: Professional Development for Public Managers
The Hugo Wall School Mini MPA is a 16-week series that provides a practical foundation for professionals working in public management. Interactive sessions use presentations, case-studies, and problem-solving sessions to understand the multifaceted issues that face public managers. This learning series offers core public administration management training.
Sessions are 8-11 a.m. on Fridays from September through November, and January through February. All sessions are led by Hugo Wall School Faculty and area practitioners.
Applications are due by Aug. 16.