State Employee Health Plan updates in response to COVID-19
Governor Laura Kelly announced four provisions on March 13, that are effective immediately and for the next 60 days for employees and dependents enrolled in medical insurance through the State Employee Health Plan.
- SEHP will cover medically necessary diagnostic tests that are consistent with CDC guidance related to the COVID-19 at no cost share to member where it is not covered as part of the Public Health Service response.
- SEHP will allow early refills on 30 or 90-day prescription medications and/or allow members to use their mail-order benefit.
- Given the nature of the COVID-19 outbreak, seeking in-person medical care has the potential to further spread the virus. SEHP partners with Aetna and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas to provide Telehealth services with a virtual doctor’s office. There is 24/7/365 access to this service. The member cost-share will be waived for any Telehealth service.
Blue Cross Blue Shield members - Amwell
For all up-to-date information regarding COVID-19 and the WSU campus, go to www.wichita.edu/covid19.
For plan participants who reside in the Topeka area, the HealthQuest Health Center available to members enrolled in the health plan, is located at 901 S. Kansas Ave., Topeka
- Phone screening is recommended before going to the center: 785-783-4080
- If a patient walks into the clinic, they will have them put on a mask and clean their hands with hand sanitizer. The health center staff will evaluate the patient’s symptoms and recommend they isolate if the initial findings and/or symptoms present are a positive indicator for the virus.
- Testing is not available at the health center for COVID-19 and the clinic will refer all patients that meet the risk criteria to the local health department for testing and further evaluation.
Deadline extended to June 1 for proposals to President’s Convergence Sciences Initiative
The deadline has been extended to June 1 for the first round of proposals for the new President’s Convergence Sciences Initiative.
Successful proposals will be funded for three years, with a budget not to exceed $100,000 per year.
Proposals are especially encouraged from researchers working together across academic disciplines, at different points in research careers, and including students.
The focus is on research that addresses societal problems. Broadly defined themes are:
- Health disparities and health delivery
- Digital transformation
- Sustainability
- A theme you propose
Click here for more information about the President’s Convergence Sciences Initiative.
WSU Institutional Review Board (IRB) response to COVID-19 (Coronavirus) and Human Subjects Research
The continued health and wellbeing of students, faculty, staff and community are of the utmost importance. In an effort to minimize the risk of contracting or spreading Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in human participant research, the university is placing temporary restrictions on human subjects research effective immediately and until further notice.
- All research studies (both on and off campus) conducted by faculty / investigators that currently require direct person-to-person interactions must immediately pause enrollment and discontinue in-person interactions unless study procedures can be modified to use alternative methods of gathering study data (e.g., Zoom/Skype, telephone interviews, email, etc.). If this is the case, an Amendment form needs to be submitted to the IRB. Please note these changes may quickly inundate the IRB, so please be patient as the requests are reviewed. (Note: If researchers are relying on an outside IRB, please contact the WSU IRB and we will work with any exceptions to this on a case-by-case basis.)
- Studies involving no direct person-to-person interactions with participants may continue (e.g., secondary data analysis, remote or online contact, etc.).
- IRB review of new studies may be delayed.
Principal investigators will need to partner with their research staff, students and graduate student research assistants who are impacted by this pause in work to identify an appropriate plan moving forward, including any financial ramifications this may pose. You should actively work to communicate this change to your teams.
Please contact the WSU IRB at irb@wichita.edu, should you have any questions.
Continuity of Instruction Task 4: Adding Content to Blackboard
To support instructors during this time of transition from in-person classes to online / remote delivery, Instructional Design and Access has created 10 set of tasks to help those who are new to online learning to be successful. Each day we will post one "Task Set" for instructors to work through.
Task Set #4: Adding Content
Task 4 walks instructors through how to add content to their Blackboard class shells. Please send any questions to IDA@wichita.edu.
COVID-19 update at Wichita State; Weekly Briefings will sunset today (Thursday, March 19)
The Weekly Briefings held at 10 a.m. Thursdays will sunset after today (Thursday, March 19), in 233 RSC. The Weekly Briefings began in fall 2018 in an effort to keep the campus and public better informed about the progress occurring at Wichita State.
The final Weekly Briefing will feature Camille Childers, director of Student Health Services, and Provost Rick Muma talking about COVID-19.
The briefing will be livestreamed and available later that day at WSU Weekly Briefing.
Following the briefing, the university will continue to keep the campus and public informed through other forms of communication.
Search for new Chief Information Officer has been moved to a Zoom meeting today
The in-person meeting scheduled for noon today (Thursday, March 19) to discuss the search for a new Chief Information Officer has been moved to a Zoom meeting. If you are interested, join the meeting as follows:
Join from PC, Mac, Linux, iOS or Android here. The password is 823784
Or iPhone one-tap:
US: +13462487799,,887545956# or +16699006833,,887545956#
Or Telephone:
Dial (for higher quality, dial a number based on your current location):
US: +1 346 248 7799 or +1 669 900 6833 or +1 253 215 8782 or +1 301 715 8592 or +1 312 626 6799 or +1 646 876 9923
Meeting ID: 887 545 956
COVID-19 expert panel with Newswise Live
Video of Monday’s Newswise Live Expert Panel is now available.
Wichita State Airline Quality Rating expert Dean Headley was one of the panel participants. You can hear Headley’s initial comments about 31 minutes into the event.
Click here for the transcript of the event.
The Newswise Live Expert Panel:
Carmen Wiley, PhD, President, American Association for Clinical Chemistry (Lab Testing)
Dawn Bowdish PhD, McMaster University (Immunology)
Jennifer Horney, PhD, University of Delaware (Epidemiology)
Graham Carlos, MD, Indiana University (Pulmonology)
Daniel McKeever, PhD, Binghamton University (Finance)
Dr. Jennie Kuckertz, Ph.D, from McLean Hospital (Psychology)
Dean Headley, PhD Wichita State (Airline Industry and Travel)
University Libraries provides plentiful online resources
Find all of your academic needs in one place! Wichita State University Libraries will continue to provide plentiful resources online. See http://libraries.wichita.edu/covid19 for more details.
Applications Training seeks your input about online training options
ITS Applications Training is exploring options for online and remote training sessions. Your input would be greatly appreciated! Please complete our survey to share your thoughts.
Special message from Ulrich Museum Director Leslie Brothers on closings
Dear Friends of the Ulrich Museum of Art,
Due to increasing health concerns related to COVID-19, our galleries are now closed through May 15. I regret to report that all programs, including our Summer Exhibition Opening Party, are also either canceled or postponed through May 15. The museum offices remain open.
We are truly sorry for this, as it is through our programs that we sustain our connection to all of you. Please stay in touch through social media, where we will be introducing online features like "Meet Me in the Vault," where your favorite works of art will be presented virtually every week. All you have to do is go into our new collection portal (accessible through our website: ulrich.wichita.edu), choose a favorite piece, and email it to us at ulrich@wichita.edu. Please include the artist, title, and your name with a brief statement about why this piece is one of your favorites.
Please visit our website to find out more about our fantastic upcoming exhibitions and all essential updates.
From all of us at the Ulrich, stay safe and healthy, and keep in touch.
Thank you,
Leslie Brothers
The 2020 Shocker New Venture Competition has been canceled
We are crushed to announce the cancellation of the 2020 Shocker New Venture Competition. However, we are looking forward to coming back even bigger and better. We hope that everyone stays safe at this time, and we will see you next spring.
Shocker New Venture Competition
Requisitions to WSU Foundation
While the some of the Wichita State University Foundation staff is working remotely, please be advised requisitions will be processed as normal. All requisitions received by noon Tuesday will be processed by Friday.
We encourage you to send your requisitions to the Foundation Accounts Payable e-mail address at foundation.ap@wichita.edu. As always, requisitions can still be sent via mail.
Please reach out to foundation.ap@wichita.edu for any further questions.
Additional benefits included with life insurance
Basic Life insurance is provided by Wichita State University at no cost to all benefits-eligible employees, with the exclusion of KP&F retirement plan participants. The Basic Life insurance coverage is 150% of the employee’s annual base salary. (Example: An employee with a base annual salary of $30,000 has life insurance coverage of $45,000.) KP&F retirement plan participants can elect supplemental life insurance benefits.
You may be surprised to learn that Basic Life Insurance includes additional benefits at no cost. These benefits are also included with supplemental life insurance for KP&F retirement plan participants. A few highlights are highlighted below.
- Accidental death benefit of $50,000 for work-related accidents
- Repatriation benefit of $5,000 or 10% of life insurance benefit, whichever is less. If you die more than 200 miles from your primary residence, this benefit would pay for expenses to transport your body to a mortuary near your primary residence.
- Travel assistance program that provides a full range of 24-hour medical, legal, and travel assistance services to you and your dependents when you travel more than 100 miles from home or in a foreign country
You can find more information on both the Basic Life insurance and Supplemental Life insurance as well as beneficiary forms if you need to make any updates here.
These benefits are available for both personal and business travel. You can find more information on the Travel Assistance benefit here.
Questions? Contact TotalRewards@wichita.edu.
Wichita State University Libraries events suspended
All Wichita State University Libraries events are suspended until further notice. Wichita State University Libraries will continue to provide plentiful academic online resources. See http://libraries.wichita.edu/covid19 for more details.
SEM Update Breakfast is canceled
Thank you for supporting Wichita State University’s Strategic Enrollment Management. After thought and consideration, the decision has been made to cancel the SEM Update Breakfast scheduled for March 31.
We are taking the advice of the CDC to practice social distancing because of COVID-19. Wichita State University and Student Health Services are closely monitoring the COVID-19 outbreak. The health and safety of our students, faculty, staff and community members is our highest priority.
Dr. Shaw will send a copy of the updates via PowerPoint in the near future. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact Lydia Santiago via email.
Add ERS and Savvy workshops to list of cancellations
The Entrepreneurship Research Series and Savvy workshops hosted by Wichita State University Libraries have been canceled.
Online tax appointments
The Office for Student Money Management encourages all students, faculty, and staff to file their taxes as soon as possible before the April 15 deadline. We currently partner with the United Way to offer a free online tax program at MyFreeTaxes.com through H&R Block. While our services are free, this software MAY charge for any individual who has a health savings plan, 1099s, or other Schedule C-D-E tax forms. It does not charge for filing W2's and 1098T.
We also help international students using the Glacier Tax Filing software found on their MyWSU. International students will need to have a personal laptop / computer, their passport, I-20, and I-94 forms ready. Please be sure to have an access code for creating a new account through Glacier prior to scheduling with us. An email from the International Office has already been sent out on these instructions.
Our staff is fully trained to help guide you through the process of doing taxes on your own. Please take this opportunity and schedule an appointment with us. We are now providing our services ONLINE ONLY and are not meeting students in-person.
For all other questions or to schedule an appointment, call us at 978-3254 or email at osmm@wichita.edu.
Participants wanted for a study on self-advocacy
I hope to learn whether students who participate in college TRIO programs at WSU are more likely to self-advocate than their non-TRIO participating peers.
You can complete a questionnaire called the College Student Mentoring Survey (CSMS), which will ask questions related to your mentoring experiences at WSU and the General Self-Efficacy Scale, which will be used to examine your self-decision making. The questionnaires will take between 20-35 minutes.
If you are interested in a follow-up for advocacy scenarios, you will be able to continue the survey and respond to the scenarios; otherwise, at the end of the questionnaire when it asks if you would like to complete the scenarios, you may select “no.” The scenarios will take between 5-10 minutes and will consist of problem-based scenarios where you will be asked to create a solution to the problem.
To be eligible to participate:
- Must have a fluent understanding of English
- Must be an undergraduate at WSU
Contact: If you are interested in participating in this study or have any concerns, contact Mercedes Lubbers at mercedes.lubbers@wichita.edu or my Faculty Advisor, Mara Alagic at mara.alagic@wichita.edu. You may click this link to access the CSMS and the GSES questionnaire.