A message from President Jay Golden
The following letter was provided to The Wichita Eagle and Kansas.com by Wichita State President Jay Golden.
By Jay Golden, President, Wichita State University
Our campuses throughout the community may look empty, but Wichita State University and WSU Tech are educating students and supporting the region and state economy during these uncertain times. Our combined institutions are served by thousands of dedicated Wichitans and Kansans whose families have also been directly impacted by the current pandemic.
Our faculty and staff have made the quick pivot to provide instruction to your students online, our leading researchers continue their work focused on national security, our clinicians are serving those who have physical and mental health needs and, our residence hall staff are now sheltering those students who could not safely travel back to their homes.
Fortunately, Sedgwick County’s stay-at-home order allows us as educational institutions to continue these essential operations. The order says: “School buildings may be used if needed to house individuals, distribute food, provide medical care, distance learning or any other services deemed to protect life and property and other critical resources.”
Wichita State scientists and those from our sister institution, Kansas State University, are researching antiviral drugs initially for norovirus and have isolated a compound that shows promise to inhibit feline infectious peritonitis virus -- a coronavirus.
The compound has just been licensed to a third-party and is in clinical development. While there are no guarantees of the efficacy for combating COVID19, it represents the type of research underway in university labs across America to tackle this devastating pandemic.
Leveraging the expertise that exists on our campus in engineering and innovation, our researchers have designed 3-D scaffolding and frame for respirators. The frame will be reusable in conjunction with replaceable fabric filters we are developing. We have released all the intellectual property and are sharing the designs to universities across the country to use for their local needs. We are also working on additive manufacturing to apply to the manufacturing of respirators and ventilators.
Our social scientists are working to quickly quantify the financial impacts to our region and the different industrial sectors while also evaluating potential mitigation and remediation strategies. The expertise we have in regard to big data and analytics is being applied to examine trends that emerge from the current pandemic, including implications for certain demographics as well as logistics and supply chain.
This is the kind of work a national innovation university does day in and day out, to create a better world.
To meet more immediate needs of the community, both WSU and WSU Tech have organized drives to collect medical Personal Protective Equipment, known as PPE, from our labs and community industry partners such as Textron and even individual community members via GoCreate located on our innovation campus.
Thus far we have distributed thousands of respirators including one for every Wichita firefighter and police officer as well as to regional hospitals. This is in addition to face masks, CPR training barriers, gowns, lab coats, safety glasses, exam table paper and thousands of protective gloves. We take great pride in providing protective equipment for those who are protecting our families.
Our first responders are still in need. I encourage community businesses and organizations with spare PPE to go to www.Wichita.edu/PPE and learn how you donate and drop-off the items at WSU, which is serving as a PPE community consolidation center in partnership with the Kansas Division of Emergency Management and Sedgwick County.
Even as we are fighting this pandemic, we need to be thinking about what comes next for Wichita and south-central Kansas.
We are blessed with a tremendously talented workforce, world-leading engineering and assembly expertise and expansive manufacturing space.
Wichita State and WSU Tech are actively pursuing pathways to leverage the successes we have developed at National Institute of Aviation Research and National Center for Aviation Training. As we continue to strengthen the aviation industry, we are working with industry partners both based in Wichita and globally, to diversify into new and emerging industrial sectors to grow jobs and our economy.
This includes focusing on health care, digital transformation, computer-integrated SMART manufacturing, novel materials and sustainable technologies.
Working to sustain and grow the aviation and aerospace sectors is one of my top priorities in my first year as president, while we also focus on diversifying our economy for the benefit of our region and state. It will take strong and meaningful partnerships with the community to be successful. Wichita State University is dedicated to being that type of partner.
Though I know today may seem uncertain and at times scary, I have no doubt Wichita and Kansas will come out stronger. While Wichita State University and WSU Tech are focusing on the immediate needs of our community and nation, we continue to operate and work towards an even stronger region.
Dr. Jay Golden is the 14th President of Wichita State University and a professor of engineering.
Things to do for the first week of remote instruction
Welcome to the first week of the rest of the semester. As you work through this time of transition, here is a Things to Do List to help to help out:
Communicate: Make sure all your students know to “come to class,” how to contact you, and what, if any, dates and expectations have changed.
Use your Blackboard tools: Post things like links to Zoom class meetings in your announcements and send them out as emails. Check step #7 here if you aren’t sure how.
Reach out for help: Need help with Blackboard, Zoom, Panopto, or something else? Email Instructional Design and Access IDA@wichita.edu.
Faculty and staff news, spring 2020
The latest spring faculty and staff news – awards, publications, projects and presentations, and in memoriam, is available here.
New statewide Stay at Home Order: What you need to know
Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly issued an executive order Saturday, March 28 that the entire state of Kansas will be under a Stay at Home Order starting today (Monday, March 30).
What does this mean for Wichita State University?
The State Stay at Home Order supersedes the Sedgwick County Stay at Home Order that was enacted Wednesday, March 25. However, because the directive is the same – that individuals in the county must stay at home and leave their residence only to perform essential activities – the university’s previous directives are still applicable.
See details about the new statewide Stay at Home Order.
As we remain under stay-at-home orders, we ask that the Shocker community continue to abide by these guidelines and look for ways to limit your presence on campus to help slow the spread of COVID-19.
Thank you for your continued understanding and flexibility during these difficult times. As always, our first priority is the health, safety and well-being of our entire Shocker community.
If you have any questions about what you should do as a student, faculty member or employee of Wichita State, go to www.wichita.edu/covid19news.
University Research / Creative Award (URCA) proposal deadline is extended to April 17
Proposals are due to the Office of Research for University Research / Creative Award (URCA) projects no later than 5 p.m. Friday, April 17. URCA provides funding of up to $4,500 for faculty to retool or reestablish productive research / creative projects or as seed money to develop pilot data where external funding is available.
Proposers must work with a Grant Specialist in the Office of Research prior to submission and all complete applications require an endorsement from the Chair and Dean. Incomplete or late applications will not be reviewed or considered.
Please contact proposals@wichita.edu to get started, or visit our website for additional information.
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.
How to troubleshoot in Blackboard
Troubleshooting in Blackboard
If you are experiencing difficulties in Blackboard, you may find these simple troubleshooting techniques helpful:
Make Sure You are On the Internet. Especially if you are using Wifi, you may find that you have lost your connection.
Go to Blackboard directly: Type blackboard.wichita.edu directly into your address bar. Do not access Blackboard through the MyWSU portal.
Switch Browsers. Good browsers to try for Blackboard include Chrome and Firefox. If you are a Mac user, Safari usually works well too. Internet Explorer and Edge are not good choices when using Blackboard.
Check Your Physical Connections. It may seem surprising, but many of the problems we see in help tickets are related to someone's computer (microphone, camera, monitor, etc.) getting unplugged. Make sure everything is plugged in tightly, including cables at the back of your machine.
Get Help. If none of the troubleshooting steps above worked, it's time to get help by putting in a Blackboard help ticket.
Troubleshooting and best practices
Work-from-home security tips
Don’t let working home be a risk to WSU information! Here are some simple work-from-home tips on how you can protect data when out of the office.
Start with the basics
Make sure Windows and Anti-Virus software is up to date if using a personal device.
Keep an eye on your device
Never leave your device unattended in a vehicle or in public.
Accidents happen – Lock your screen even at home. Family members, including kids, can lead to accidental data loss.
Do not store WSU data on personal devices
All data should be stored either in a WSU approved service for data storage. Do not store WSU data on personal devices as they lack the same level of security and regulatory compliance.
Be mindful in remote meetings
If you need to share your screen, make sure there is no confidential information on your screen that could be shared by accident.
Regulatory compliance
Even when working from home, all regulations still apply. Be careful not to email or transfer sensitive data to your colleagues across your home network.
Connecting to WIFI
When connecting to WIFI either at home or elsewhere to do work, make sure that it has a password and is secured.
Phishing
The number of Phishing attempts related to the COVID-19 outbreak is rising. Be cautious when going through your email and report any suspicious email to spamreport@wichita.edu
Have questions relating to information security? Email Askinfosec@wichita.edu
Follow us on Twitter @HubWSU for more Cyber security education & awareness information.
REAL ID deadline postponed to 2021
The enforcement deadline for REAL ID has been pushed back to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced on Thursday.
DHS said there will be a 12-month delay, extending the deadline for states to comply until Oct. 1, 2021, as states across the country are temporarily closing or restricting access to DMVs.
Extending the deadline will also allow the Department to work with Congress to implement needed changes to expedite the issuance of REAL IDs once the current health crisis concludes, Acting Secretary Chad Wolf said in a statement.
REAL ID-compliant driver’s licenses will be required to fly domestically, after legislation passed by Congress in 2005 aimed to unify security standards for the IDs across states.
“The already difficult task of bringing the country closer to REAL ID compliance is now clearly impossible due to the coronavirus crisis,” said US Travel President and CEO Roger Dow.
“Over the next 18 months people will be focused on building their lives back, not going to the DMV. The economic damage of coronavirus is already massive, and as we move toward a recovery phase it would be awful if the REAL ID deadline hits and creates yet another obstacle to people traveling.”
A new analysis compiled by US Travel and Longwoods International, a market research consultancy, shows that if REAL ID were implemented today, an estimated 67,400 travelers would be turned away at airport security checkpoints on the first day, and more than 471,800 within the first week.
Legislative Update No. 10
The last two weeks of session have been fast and hectic. The capital was limited to only essential personnel last week, leaving few people in the halls except for legislators, staff and lobbyists. The legislature concluded its regular session late Thursday evening coming to agreement on a few critical issues.
- Basic budget – As the impacts of the Coronavirus begin to be felt in Kansas, most additional spending that had been planned to be added in conference committee between the House and the Senate was put off until omnibus in late April/May. The one that impacts higher education the most is a 2.5% pay increase for State workers. On the positive side, while it is reviewed at omnibus it is for ALL state workers including higher education whereas the Governor’s original budget did not include higher education. The legislature essentially gave higher education the Governor’s Recommended Budget which was $11,893,156.There was added to KDHE’s budget $50M to be appropriated to all state agencies to combat the spread of the Coronavirus. It was addressed in conference committee that higher education would be able to access those funds if needed.
- Below are some of the key items that were included in the adopted budget this week:
- $11.9M increase to the base for the universities
- $11.1M increase to 2-year colleges
- $2.5M to the comp grant that would require a match from private funds
- bonding approval, with KBOR approval first, for WSU to purchase flats and suites
- Here are some of the key items that were put off to omnibus:
- 5% pay increase for all state employees including university employees
- $10M addition to the base for universities
- $5M grants for WSU, and KSU
- $363K for FHSU military Education pathway
- $1.5M increase in 2020 and 2021 for Excel in CTE
- $1.75M increase for CTE capital outlay
- Highway Plan – Since the end of the last session, the legislature has worked on a new ten-year highway plan. While it is a ten-year plan, it breaks the projects into two-year increments to provide some flexibility as projects are added and deleted. It does place priority on T-Works projects that were not completed from the last highway plan. The plan spends approximately $1B over the ten-year period and does factor in decreasing transfers from the highway fund to the SGF. Given the almost certain economic fallout from the spread of Corona, it’s possible those transfers will continue.
- Executive Emergency Powers – Last week, the Governor declared a state of emergency in order to free up agencies to address the spread of the virus. That culminated in her executive order to close K-12 schoolsfor the rest of the year. That prompted the Senate to pass an amendment to renew her emergency powers limiting them to a potential restriction if the Legislative Coordinating Council (LCC) votes to nullify her action(s) up to three days after she announces that action. LCC is made up of legislative leadership without representation from the Governor’s office.
- Response to Coronavirus –The legislature last minute added $50M depending on approval of LCC to deal with financial impact of Coronavirus on State agencies. The budget will take a couple of weeks to be reviewed by the Governor, and then LCC will likely develop a process to handle request to deal with those impacts.
Given the uncertain future of travel, it is very unclear if there will be a Veto Session in late April or May. Currently they are scheduled to return on April 27 and could come back as late as May 21 if the LCC determines that is necessary. If there is no Veto Session, the above amounts will be the only enhancements higher ed receives for FY21. We likely won’t know for at least a couple of weeks if that is the case.
CEDBR looks at the impact of stay-at-home order in Sedgwick County
Jeremy Hill and Wichita State’s Center for Economic Development and Business Research has identified the number of jobs, establishments, and wages classified as essential and nonessential, following the emergency order in Sedgwick County for individuals to stay-at-home and only leave their residence to perform essential activities.
Based on the order, about 40 percent of all establishments with Sedgwick County were classified as essential. Those almost 5,000 essential establishments support more than 103,000 jobs with a total annual payroll of 3.97 billion dollars, and comprise 46.8 percent of local employment. The top four broad sectors in terms of total jobs include health, food service, education, and banking. These industries account for 36 percent of all employment within Sedgwick County.
The remaining 60% of business establishments within the county were identified as nonessential. The nonessential businesses account for more than 117,000 jobs and a total annual payroll of $6.6 billion dollars.
Click here to see the complete story.
Applications being accepted for Recruitment Faculty Fellows
The Provost's Office is seeking applications for Recruitment Faculty Fellows who desire to be more engaged in the recruitment process. Specifically, the Recruitment Faculty Fellows are intended to meet the stated objective of SEM Goal 1, “Develop activities that foster a culture of enrollment growth among faculty, staff and students.”
The fellows will work in partnership with the Office of Admissions to recruit undergraduate domestic students during the 2020-21 academic year, for students to enroll at Wichita State during fall 2020 and spring 2021.
Click here for application instructions.
Nominate an advisor for the Excellence in Academic Advising Award
Do you know of an advisor who goes above and beyond for students? The Advising Network (TAN) is proud to support student success by recognizing academic advisors at Wichita State University. Anyone who provides advising services in any role (faculty or staff) is eligible for nomination.
These awards recognize individuals who demonstrate qualities and practices that make significant contributions to the improvement of academic advising at WSU and beyond.
Nominate an advisor by completing an online form by April 3.
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.
Wichita State Shuttle System to cease operations
Beginning today (Monday, March 30), the Wichita State University Shuttle System will temporarily cease operations. We anticipate that shuttle service will return when the campus resumes normal operations. Parking regulations continue to be in effect. Thanks for your continued patience as we continue to traverse these unprecedented changes.
Student Health Services is still open!
The door sticks, so pull hard! Student Health Services hours are subject to change. Hours are currently from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday. Staff will be screening all individuals prior to entrance, and additional visitors are asked to stay home.
Please use the southwest entrance to access the Student Wellness Center. This entrance is off the parking lot closest to the lake. Thank you.
Phenomenal Women Award nominee highlights
The annual Phenomenal Women Awards recognizes women for their accomplishments and contributions to our community through their scholarship, activism and commitment to excellence.
Due to the ongoing concerns of COVID-19 and the impact it has made to Wichita State University, this year's Phenomenal Women Awards Reception has been canceled. However, we will highlight each nominee (in no particular order) for this year's Phenomenal Women Awards through our social media platforms.
The recipients of the 2020 Phenomenal Women Awards will be announced on after Monday, March 30. To read all of the nominees' bios, go to wichita.edu/phenomenal.
Like us on Facebook: fb.me/WSUDiversity
Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/WSUDiversity
Follow us on Instagram: instagr.am/WSUDiversity
Webinar to be conducted for Transgender Day of Visibility March 31
Transgender Day of Visibility (TDOV) is an annual event occurring tomorrow (Tuesday, March 31), dedicated to celebrating transgender people and raising awareness of discrimination faced by transgender people worldwide, and their contributions to society.
GLSEN Kansas, Spectrum: LGBTQ & Allies and the Office of Diversity and Inclusion are teaming up to present a Transgender Day of Visibility panel discussion. Hear from our panelists talk about their experiences around everything from why, how and when they came out (and continue to come out), to their experiences with the process of legal name and gender marker changes, and much more! There will be a Q&A portion at the end of the panel, if time allows.
This webinar will take place at 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 31 via Zoom Video Conferencing Services. Click here to access this webinar. Please make sure to bookmark this link.
For more information, contact the Office of Diversity and Inclusion at 316-978-3034.
Office of Diversity and Inclusion events
KMUW's COVID-19 Resource Center is a trusted source for up-to-date local and national news
KMUW, Wichita's NPR station, is thoroughly committed to monitoring COVID-19 activity and its impact on our lives. The latest news and updates can be found at KMUW's COVID-19 Resource Center at KMUW.org.
Stay connected with virtual events
Stay connected to friends and classmates through virtual events and programs. Student Involvement has created a full offering of experiences from discussions on leadership, DIY at home crafts and trivia nights. Many links to programs will be posted online and through our social media platforms. Follow Wichita State Student Involvement on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to stay connected.
View the full schedule of events and other virtual experiences at wichita.edu/virtualevents.
Wichita State Common Read call for nominations!
Have a book that you would like to suggest for consideration for the Wichita State Common Read program? Send in your nominations for the next common read book for the 2021-22 school year.
Wichita State Common Read is the university's common read program designed to spark conversation between students across majors on campus. This program strives to take educational concepts learned in the classroom and provide meaningful connections with out-of-the-classroom programs and activities. The Office of First-Year Programs is currently reviewing nominations.
Please visit Common Read to submit your book.
If you have any questions, email tahrima.musa@wichita.edu.
Online event – Technical Recruiter Spotlight: What Google recruiters look for
Wondering how to build a strong online presence that will help you stand out? Interested in learning what recruiters are looking for on a technical resume?
Join the Career Development Center for a conversation with Google recruiters as they discuss what they’re looking for when reviewing candidates and how to avoid some common mistakes. This event takes place from 6-7 p.m. tomorrow (Tuesday, March 31)
You must RSVP here.
Online event information
Online event – How to crack the Product Manager interview by former Facebook PM
Hop online from 5- 6 p.m. tomorrow (Tuesday, March 31), and listen to speaker: Valentine Aseyo, who will discuss how interviewing for a Product Manager position is never a piece of cake. She will explain how it takes experience, spectacular communication skills, and extensive prep. In this session found by the Career Development Center, you’ll hear about the golden rules of interviewing that will help you score your dream job.
Main takeaways:
-
How to prep for an interview
-
The essentials of successful interviews
-
Evaluation criteria: critical thinking, prioritization, experience, product management, teamwork, and more.
-
Spectacular communication: brevity, tone, passion
-
Asking the right questions
Product Manager Interview Event
Attend this online event – Informational Interviewing Virtual Workshop
Learn how to conduct your own informational interview from 2-3:30 p.m. tomorrow (Tuesday, March 31). In this virtual workshop created by the Career Development Center, learn the steps to find out about professional real-life experience of someone working in a field or company that interests you!
It's not a job interview, so it's important to keep focused on getting information and effectively communicating with industry professionals, and find out how they got their start!
Informational Interviewing Virtual workshop
Political science internship prepares students for graduation
Politics isn’t as simple as School House Rock makes it out to be. It’s more than a bill getting passed or a politician being voted into office. While every vote matters, what’s behind the vote is what students from Wichita State University got to experience through political science internships.
The internship partnership between Topeka, Washington D.C. and Wichita State allow students the hands-on, applied learning experience that builds knowledge before graduation. Getting outside the classroom creates valuable understanding and expansion of what is taught in textbooks and assignments.
Child Care for First Responders
As larger local childcare centers announce closures in response to the COVID19 pandemic, there is growing public concern about availability of childcare for first responders and other workers who are keeping the community healthy and supplied with necessities. The demand for childcare to date does not show a critical shortage yet.
Calls from parents seeking childcare in 2020 are down 50% from the same month in 2019. “The majority of our calls have been from childcare providers trying to fill vacancies created as parents have withdrawn their young children from childcare, either because older siblings are out of school and a parent needs to be home with them, or because parents are without jobs and are home with their children, complying with the stay-at-home order,” says Tanya Bulluck, director of Early Childhood Connections for Child Start.
Many of the vacancies are in family childcare homes, which are licensed by KDHE and serve no more than 10 children, a positive consideration at a time when group sizes should be limited. Bulluck says that Early Childhood Connections has also received many calls from caregivers who usually limit enrollment to five or six children, but are volunteering to open their enrollment to serve eight or 10 in order to support first responders and medical personnel.
Child Start’s Early Childhood Connections program helps maintain a statewide database of childcare providers and has just completed contacts with all licensed providers in Sedgwick, Butler, Cowley, Harvey and Sumner Counties, so the local information on that database is accurate as of this week. Parents searching for child care are encouraged to go to www.childstart.org to begin an online search for vacancies or to call 1-877-678-2548.
“We are staying on top of the changes in the availability of childcare,” says Bulluck. “Although our own staff are working remotely, we are in constant touch with providers and updating vacancy information on the database daily.”
About Child Start
Child Start is a local non-profit organization focused on early learning for lifelong success. We work with child care providers to ensure quality care for our community’s children and administer Head Start.
One dollar invested in high quality early childhood education produces a 7 to 10 percent return on investment. This helps our children do better in school while making them more likely to attend college and less likely to be involved in the criminal justice system. They also earn more in wages and pay more in taxes. Support Child Start today with your time, talent and treasure. Our kids can’t wait one more day for your help.
Save 25% on Shocker apparel online
From today (Monday, March 30) to April 5, you can save 25% on Shocker apparel online at shockerstore.com. Plus, enjoy free shipping on orders over $25. Not valid with other discounts or promotions, some exclusions apply.