Information about fraudulent unemployment claims
Wichita State University continues to receive fraudulent unemployment insurance claim notices for active employees. As previously mentioned, this appears to be in conjunction with a national, large-scale unemployment benefits scam that was announced on June 3, 2020 by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Unknown criminals, possibly based overseas, are filing fraudulent claims for unemployment benefits. WSU continues to verify all claims received. Additional information can be found here.
In accordance with the FTC’s recommendations for responding to this scam, here are some steps that you can take to further limit any potential exposure of your information:
- Submit a claim on the KS Department of Labor website www.ReportFraud.ks.gov This site serves as a one-stop-shop for any person that suspects she or he may have been a victim of identity theft. Once a suspected identity theft claim is reported on the site, the system generates a police report number and tips for victims to use to help mitigate the damage from the theft. The agency’s fraud team is then able to prevent fraudulent claims from being paid.
- Make a report to the FTC at www.IdentityTheft.gov or by calling 1-877-438-4338. IdentityTheft.gov will provide you with information related to placing a free, one-year fraud alert on your credit, getting your free credit reports, closing fraudulent accounts opened in your name, adding a free extended fraud alert or credit freeze to your credit report, and more.
- Call the Kansas Consumer Protection Hotline: 1-800-432-2310 or 785-296-3751; Fax: 785-291-3699.
- Submit a complaint form at the Kansas Attorney General’s web page, www.ag.ks.gov > complaint-center > id-theft.
Please keep in mind that even if you have taken all recommended actions, it is possible that your information could be used multiple times to attempt to fraud and collect moneys by scammers.
WSU remains vigilant in our efforts to stop claims on your behalf. We recommend that you continue to monitor your banking accounts, credit cards and credit reports, and take steps to immediately report any suspicious activity to the appropriate resource.
Regents approve four new programs to support digital transformation initiative
With the intention of furthering Wichita State University’s commitment to digital transformation, the Kansas Board of Regents has approved four degree programs that will launch in spring 2021: Bachelor of Arts in Applied Linguistics, Master of Science in Data Science, Master of Science in Business Analytics, and Master of Science in Mathematical Foundations of Data Analysis.
These degrees are in addition to existing undergraduate and graduate degrees and certificates in applied computing, computer science, cybersecurity, homeland security, and supply chain.
WSU Foundation 2020 Requisition Holiday Schedule
New Year’s:
WSU Foundation will be closed Friday, Jan. 1, 2021. Please have all requisitions submitted by noon Tuesday, Dec. 29. Requisitions will be processed on Thursday, Dec. 31.
Faculty nominations sought for president's distinguished service award
Do you know a faculty member who is deeply engaged in service? Do you know A faculty member who exemplifies any of the following?
- Distinguished service to the university
- Distinguished service to the community
- Notable outreach efforts and/or forging of connections between WSU and the community.
- Long-term commitment to WSU through extensive committee service
Consider nominating them for the Presidential Service Award. Please send your nominations to leeann.birdwell@wichita.edu. Complete a nomination form and attach a CV that includes the nominee’s service activities. Previous recipients of this award are not eligible for nomination. The deadline is 5 p.m. Feb. 24.
Staff supports merging UP and USS Senates
Unclassified Professional Staff and University Support Staff who participated in the vote, overwhelmingly voted in support of merging the UP and USS Senates and adopting the constitution of the University Staff Senate. Beginning July 1, 2021, the two Senates will officially merge to become the University Staff Senate.
Thank you to all staff who participated in the discussions and voted. The UP and USS Senates look forward to continuing to work together over the next few months representing staff and transitioning to become the University Staff Senate.
For more information about the merger and to view the new constitution, visit wichita.edu/senatemerger. Questions? Contact Trish Gandu, UP Senate President, at trish.gandu@wichita.edu, or Randy Sessions, USS Senate President, at randy.sessions@wichita.edu.
Faculty members show commitment to diversity education at Wichita State
- Wichita State faculty is focusing on developing new courses focused on diversity content due to an increase in student interest.
- Several of the current courses offered are about racism, but there are courses being developed that cover other areas of diversity.
- Students are proud to be at Wichita State because of the faculty's dedication to providing diversity content.
WSU senates invite you to take part in Spirit Fridays
Fridays are all about Wu! Starting in January, show off your Shocker pride every Friday, and wear your favorite Wichita State attire. Even if you’re working from home, a Zoom meeting with a collage of yellow-and-black-clad coworkers is the perfect way to end the week.
The Kansas Prevention Collaborative invites you to participate in 12 Days of Prevention
For 12 days in a row starting Dec. 20, we will post videos on our social media to encourage Kansans to stay safe, take care of their mental health, and reach out if they need help. You are not alone during this COVID-19 season.
At the Kansas Prevention Collaborative, we are feeling what everyone is feeling and want to express our hope for the new year by encouraging our fellow Kansans to celebrate the lessons learned as we adapted in 2020 and to look forward to 2021. Help us expand our reach by engaging with posts and sharing them on your pages for more to see!
The Kansas Prevention Collaborative is a collective of partnering organizations and community coalitions whose goals are to expand prevention efforts and increase the availability of prevention resources across Kansas. Funding is provided by the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services.
Kansas Prevention Collaborative
Power of the Positive Coalition works to change workplace conditions to prevent childhood adversity
- Wichita State University's Community Engagement Institute takes part in the Power of the Positive coalition with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.
- The Power of the Positive coalition works to prevent adverse childhood experiences by encouraging employers to create workplace policies that foster healthy family relationships.
- The KDHE leads efforts on the Child Maltreatment Prevention Plan through the Essentials for Childhood grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Wichita State is a sub-recipient of the grant tasked with community engagement activities.
‘Solving for X’ seeks participants who will share their unique stories
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS:
Share your unique stories of home and be a part of this research visualization, a collaboration between the Ulrich Museum and the Departments of Dance and Sociology. “Sharing Matrilineal Memories at WSU,” the fourth exhibition in the "Solving for X = Identity" series, is participatory, focused on collecting memories of home for WSU students, faculty and staff.
Please follow the link to the Google Form to submit photos, as well as your responses to the following questions: 1) What do you remember about your mother’s home? 2) What do you remember about your grandmother’s home?
All submitted stories and images will be included in this Solving for X exhibition and on display in the Ulrich’s Grafly Gallery from Jan. 21-May 8, 2021.
If you have any questions, please contact Cheyla Clawson at cheyla.clawson@wichita.edu or call 316-979-3378 or Twyla Hill at twyla.hill@wichita.edu or 316-978-7151.
Graveside services today for Nikki McDermed
Nancy McDermed
Nikki McDermed passed away Monday, December 14th 2020. Nikki worked at WSU in the payroll office for 25-plus years. Graveside services will be Friday, Dec. 18 at Pleasant Valley Cemetery in Bentley, Kansas.
KMUW’s 'Save the Waves' Project is Preserving Historic Public Media from Across Kansas
Have you been hanging on to a piece of history? A two-year collaborative effort is underway at KMUW to preserve and archive public media from across the state of Kansas. Dubbed “Save the Waves,” the project will rescue historic recordings from obsolete formats before deterioration makes preservation impossible.
Do you have history worthy of storing at the Library of Congress? The materials digitized through KMUW’s Save the Waves will be the first from Kansas added to the American Archive of Public Broadcasting (AAPB) at the Library of Congress. These historic television and radio programs will be accessible to all at americanarchive.org.
KMUW listener Craig Ablah recently delivered materials to the station, stating: “I thought of the old VHS tape I had featuring the Boris Yeltsin speech at Wichita State in 1992…I was at the event itself and I remember setting my VCR to record it so I could keep it and watch it later. I felt at the time, and still do, that it was important to have a permanent archive of such a prominent world leader visiting WSU at the height of his fame and international recognition.”
If you produced something that aired on a public media station in Kansas, email archives@kmuw.org with a photo and brief description of your piece of history. KMUW will continue to accept materials through January 4, 2021, making the upcoming holidays the perfect time to dig up the old tapes. You've been hanging on to it for a reason, and it deserves its place at the Library of Congress.
Save the Waves is a collaboration between KMUW and the AAPB, funded by a $407,000 grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources. Learn more at kmuw.org/save-waves.
“We’re thrilled to have this opportunity to rescue a unique record of Kansas history and make it available for all to explore,” said Debra Fraser, KMUW General Manager. “Save the Waves will culminate in an unprecedented audio-visual record of Kansas news, culture and art.”
KMUW, NPR for Wichita, is committed to providing quality journalism to the communities of south-central Kansas. Broadcasting from the historic Old Town neighborhood, KMUW produces 14 local newscasts each weekday and regular in-depth news features. KMUW is a service of Wichita State University and has served the community for more than 70 years. For more information, visit kmuw.org.
Toner replenishment program update
The toner replenishment program is now fully in place. All printers with a DEX MPS tag on the printer will receive an auto-replenishment of toner when your printer gets down to 30% toner life. If your printer was below 30% when the program went into effect, it will not auto-replenish. If this is the case for your printer, please call the phone number on the tag and tell the operator that you need toner; this will be a one-time process, all future orders will be automatic. The operator will need the Equipment ID # on the label.
The program also covers service and parts such as drum kits, fuser kits and toner collection units. When your printer notifies you that you need one of these parts, call the number on the label and order the part. At the end of each monthly cycle, you will receive an invoice from Central Services detailing your toner use for the month. You are only billed for toner use, nothing else. The detailed usage and rate per printer will give you the data you need to determine which printers should be replaced or taken out of service.
Please contact Ellen Abbey if you have any questions regarding this program or if you need assistance in ordering supplies, ellen.abbey@wichita.edu.
Shock Talk Career Chats: Performing Artists to premiere today
Wichita State College of Fine Arts Hall of Fame member Ray Wills serves as host for “Shock Talk Career Chats: Performing Artists,” a video produced by the Wichita State University Alumni Association that will premiere at 5:30 p.m. Friday on the WSUAA’s YouTube channel. Wills, a 1982 graduate and veteran stage, TV and film actor, and other prominent performing artists share stories of their wide-ranging careers and days at Wichita State. The video also features actress Rhonda Aldrich ’78, songwriter and artist Angela Parrish ’10/10, actor/writer/producer David Stone ’70 and actor Julius Thomas III ’05, aka Hamilton.
Radio broadcast of Christmas Organ Concert
You are invited to listen to the radio broadcast of the Wednesdays in Wiedemann with Lynne Davis Annual Christmas Organ Concert performed on Nov. 24, on Radio Kansas at 9 a.m. Sunday, Dec. 20, during “Sunday Best” on Radio Kansas at 90.1, 89.5, 90.9 FM or streamed from the radiokansas.com website.
Enjoy lunch at the Food Truck Plaza today
Stop by the plaza today (Friday, Dec. 18) for lunch with Bread Sled Cafe! Get your meal to go or spread out on our socially distanced picnic tables or beautiful green space. The truck will be on site from 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m.
60-day termination timeline
Wichita State University made a change in how it processes terminations for non-benefit eligible employees (i.e. students, graduate assistants, lecturers, and temporary employees) beginning April 1, 2020. For employees with no active job (because of a “Position Only Termination ePAF” or an end date on their hire ePAF) for a continuous time frame of 60 days, their employment status automatically terminates in Banner. This change was implemented to reduce the risk of unauthorized access to university systems, data, and buildings by individuals who may not return to an active employment status.
If it is known that an individual will be re-engaged for active employment, but it will be greater than 60 days, the department should submit a future dated electronic Personnel Action Form (ePAF). This ePAF must be submitted and fully approved before the 60 days of inactivity expires. If an employee has been terminated after 60 days with no active position, they will not have access to WSU systems (including WSU email, MyWSU, and Blackboard). If the individual needs to be rehired, the regular hiring and on-boarding process will take place.
By completing the future dated ePAF process before the 60 days of inactivity expires, the employee will not need to go through the hiring and on-boarding process. ePAF Originators can review employees with an upcoming termination date using the Reporting Services report: HR – EPAF Reports>ORIG00240 – Employee Termination in Next 30 Days.
Supervisors will receive an email once a non-benefit eligible employee (Lecturer, Temp, Student or Grad Employee) has no active job; if it is known that the employee needs to retain access to WSU systems because they will return to work at a known future date, an ePAF must to be submitted at that time to avoid the need for the hiring and on-boarding process, and to maintain access to the system. Supervisors will receive a final reminder 15 days before the full termination process is completed if no ePAF has been submitted.
The Registrar's Office wishes Cecilia Hudson the best on her retirement
It is the Registrar's Office immense pleasure to congratulate Cecilia Hudson on the successful completion of 18 years of dedicated service at WSU. We're sincerely grateful for Cecilia's time with us and would like to wish her all the very best on her retirement!
NIAR congratulates eight retirees with 150 years of service to WSU!
The National Institute for Aviation Research would like to congratulate the following employees on their retirement. Thank you for your hard work, dedication and unwavering commitment to Wichita State over the years. Please join us in wishing them a joyous retirement!
Juanita Parsons – accountant, 39 years
Linda Hager, senior payroll administrator, 22 years
Robin Stevens, accounts receivable supervisor, 18 years
Larry Braden, manager/sr. research engineer 15 years
Harry Clayton, sr. research engineer, 15 years
Robert Custer, sr. research associate, 15 years
Linda Londagin, sr. research associate, 14 years
Patty Howard, administrative assistant, 12 years
Buy a $25 Fuzzy’s Gift Card and get a $5 bonus card on us
Some say it’s better to give than receive, but we’d rather give AND receive. Buy $25 in Fuzzy’s Gift Cards and get a $5 bonus card on us.
*Terms, conditions, & exclusions may apply.
Happy Holidays!
Happy Holidays from the Shocker Career Accelerator! We hope you all have a safe and wonderful break!
Happy Holidays from WSU South & WSU Haysville!
Wishing you happy and safe holidays!
From WSU South and WSU Haysville
Zooming into 2021
We know you're "zoomed" out, so here's to an amazing 2021. Happy holidays from Student Involvement.