Author: m567z422@wichita.edu

To help employees plan for time off and work schedules throughout the year, the university has shared Winter Break has been approved this year to commence at the end of the day on Friday, Dec. 18, 2026, and the university will reopen on Monday, Jan. 4, 2027. The break is 10 business days, three of which are paid holidays. Thanks to President Rick Muma, employees may use four “Additional Personal Days” to remain in pay status during Winter Break. Classes will not be in session during this period.

Unclassified Professional and University Support Staff may use accumulated paid leave, Additional Personal Days or their 2027 discretionary day* to cover time off during Winter Break. Non-exempt employees may also use accumulated compensatory time off during Winter Break.

If an employee’s role requires them to work during Winter Break, it must be approved in advance by their immediate supervisor.

Dates of Winter Break:

• Monday, Dec. 21, 2026
• Tuesday, Dec. 22, 2026
• Wednesday, Dec. 23, 2026
• Thursday, Dec. 24, 2026 (paid holiday**)
• Friday, Dec. 25, 2026 (paid holiday)
• Monday, Dec. 28, 2026
• Tuesday, Dec. 29, 2026
• Wednesday, Dec. 30, 2026
• Thursday, Dec. 31, 2026
• Friday, Jan. 1, 2027 (paid holiday)

An employee must be in pay status the entire workday before and the entire workday after state holidays to receive holiday pay. This year the official state holidays (bolded) are Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year’s Day.

Employees required to work during Winter Break will be allowed to use their four Additional Personal Days anytime from Dec. 21, 2026, through Jan. 31, 2027.

*The discretionary day for 2026 must be used on or before Friday, Dec. 18, 2026, prior to the beginning of Winter Break. The discretionary day for 2027 will be available as of Sunday, Dec. 20, 2026, and may be used during the 2026 Winter Break.

**The governor may designate additional paid holidays for state employees, often around holiday seasons in some years. In 2026, with Christmas falling on Friday, the governor has designated an additional holiday for Thursday, Christmas Eve.

The 2027 fiscal and academic year annual appointment notices are available online and will not be printed and distributed to departments. Please log in and acknowledge your appointment notice by Aug. 31.

Note that University Support Staff (USS), non-benefit-eligible employees (students, lecturers and temporary employees) and WSU Intercollegiate Athletic Association (ICAA) employees are not subject to the annual appointment notice process.

Therefore, Unclassified Professionals (UP) and faculty of WSU can view, electronically acknowledge and print their 2027 appointment notice through myWSU:

• myWSU (Chrome is the preferred browser)
• Faculty/Staff tab
• Human Resources links
• Notice of Appointment (You may need to clear the browser cache to see the link)

The 2027 appointment notices will be available to view, electronically acknowledge, print and revisit via myWSU. Due to the sensitive nature of this data, always close the browser to protect privacy.

Contact the Help Desk at 316-978-4357 for assistance with logging into myWSU, if needed.

For questions with any of the information contained on your fiscal year 2027 appointment notice, discuss with your supervisor and they may contact HR.ServiceCenter@wichita.edu if needed.

Note: Appointment notices are generated based on your information at a specific point in time with the beginning of the fiscal year for staff and 12-month faculty (June 7) or the beginning of the academic year for 9/10-month faculty (Aug. 2). If your information changes after that point in time, it will not be reflected on your 2027 fiscal year appointment notice.

The 2027 fiscal and academic year annual appointment notices are now available online and will not be printed or distributed to departments. Log in and acknowledge your appointment notice by Aug. 31.

Note that University Support Staff (USS), non-benefit-eligible employees (students, lecturers and temporary employees) and WSU Intercollegiate Athletic Association (ICAA) employees are not subject to the annual appointment notice process.

Unclassified Professionals (UP) and faculty of WSU can view, electronically acknowledge and print their 2027 appointment notice through myWSU:

• myWSU (Chrome is the preferred browser)
• Faculty/staff tab
• Human Resources links
• Notice of appointment (you may need to clear the browser cache to see the link)

The 2027 appointment notices will be available to view, electronically acknowledge, print and revisit via myWSU. Due to the sensitive nature of this data, always close the browser to protect privacy.

Contact the Help Desk at 316-978-4357 for assistance with logging into myWSU, if needed.

For questions with any of the information contained on your fiscal year 2027 appointment notice, discuss with your supervisor and they may contact HR.ServiceCenter@wichita.edu if needed.

Note: Appointment notices are generated based on your information at a specific point in time with the beginning of the fiscal year for staff and 12-month faculty (June 7, 2026) or the beginning of the academic year for 9/10-month faculty (Aug. 2, 2026). If your information changes after that point in time, it will not be reflected on your 2027 fiscal year appointment notice.

The 2027 fiscal and academic year annual appointment notices will be available online through myWSU during the week beginning Monday, July 6. You will then need to log in and acknowledge your appointment notice by Aug. 31.

Note that University Support Staff (USS), non-benefit-eligible employees (students, lecturers and temporary employees) and WSU Intercollegiate Athletic Association (ICAA) employees are not subject to the annual appointment notice process.

Appointment notices are generated based on your information at a specific point in time with the beginning of the fiscal year for staff and 12-month faculty (June 7) or the beginning of the academic year for 9/10-month faculty (Aug. 2). If your information changes after that point in time, it will not be reflected on your 2027 fiscal year appointment notice.

Now is the time for 9/10 month benefit-eligible faculty or exempt staff members to elect or cancel annualized salary spread for the 2026-27 academic year.

If you currently are paid over your 9/10 month appointment and would like to have that pay spread out over 12 months beginning with the pay period starting Aug. 2 for the 2026-27 academic year, complete the Annualized Salary Spread Agreement no later than July 10.

If you are currently paid your 9/10 month appointment salary over 12 months and would like to cancel that election for the 2026-27 academic year, complete the Salary Spread Cancellation Form no later than July 17.

If you have plans to take leave during the academic year, retire or otherwise leave employment at the end of the academic year this can impact how salary spread would function and whether or not you would be able to receive pay over the summer months, so consult the HR Service Center to get more information on those changes would you so you can make the best decision.

If you do not wish to make any changes to your current election, no action is necessary. For questions, email HR.ServiceCenter@wichita.edu.

The 2026 fiscal and academic year annual appointment notices are now available online and will not be printed or distributed to departments. Log in and acknowledge your appointment notice by Aug. 31.

Note that University Support Staff (USS) and non-benefit-eligible employees (students, lecturers and temporary employees) are not subject to the annual appointment notice process.

Therefore, Unclassified Professionals (UP) and faculty of WSU can view, electronically acknowledge and print their 2026 appointment notice through myWSU:

• myWSU (Chrome is the preferred browser)
• Faculty/Staff tab
• Human Resources links
• Notice of appointment (You may need to clear the browser cache to see the link)

The 2026 appointment notices will be available to view, electronically acknowledge, print and revisit through Aug. 31. Due to the sensitive nature of this data, always close the browser to protect privacy.

Contact the Help Desk at 316-978-4357 for assistance with logging into myWSU, if needed.

For questions with any of the information contained on your fiscal year 2026 appointment notice, discuss with your supervisor and they may contact HR.ServiceCenter@wichita.edu if needed.

Note: Appointment notices are generated at a specific point in time with the beginning of the fiscal year for staff (or academic year for faculty). If your information changes after that point in time, it will not be reflected on the 2026 appointment notice.

The 2026 fiscal and academic year annual appointment notices are now available online and will not be printed or distributed to departments. Log in and acknowledge your appointment notice by Aug. 31.

Note that University Support Staff (USS) and non-benefit-eligible employees (students, lecturers and temporary employees) are not subject to the annual appointment notice process.

Therefore, Unclassified Professionals (UP) and faculty of WSU can view, electronically acknowledge and print their 2026 appointment notice through myWSU:

• myWSU (Chrome is the preferred browser)
• Faculty/Staff tab
• Human Resources links
• Notice of appointment (You may need to clear the browser cache to see the link)

The 2026 appointment notices will be available to view, electronically acknowledge, print and revisit through Aug. 31. Due to the sensitive nature of this data, always close the browser to protect privacy.

Contact the Help Desk at 316-978-4357 for assistance with logging into myWSU, if needed.

For questions with any of the information contained on your fiscal year 2026 appointment notice, discuss with your supervisor and they may contact HR.ServiceCenter@wichita.edu if needed.

Note: Appointment notices are generated at a specific point in time with the beginning of the fiscal year for staff (or academic year for faculty). If your information changes after that point in time, it will not be reflected on the 2026 appointment notice.

The 2026 fiscal and academic year annual appointment notices will be available online through myWSU during the week beginning Monday, July 7. You will then need to log in and acknowledge your appointment notice by Aug. 31.

Note that University Support Staff (USS) and non-benefit-eligible employees (students, lecturers and temporary employees) are not subject to the annual appointment notice process.

Appointment notices are generated at a specific point in time with the beginning of the fiscal year for staff (or academic year for faculty). If your information changes after that point in time, it will not be reflected on the 2026 appointment notice.

To help employees plan their work schedules and time-off usage throughout the year, Wichita State is happy to share the winter break schedule has been approved this year, which will commence at the end of the day Friday, Dec. 19, with the university reopening Monday, Jan. 5, 2026. The break is 10 business days, two of which are paid holidays. Thanks to President Muma, employees may use four “Additional Personal Days” to remain in pay status during winter break. Classes will not be in session during this period.

Unclassified Professional and University Support Staff may use accumulated paid leave, Additional Personal Days, or their 2026 discretionary day* to cover time off during the winter break. Non-exempt employees may also use accumulated compensatory time off during the winter break.

If an employee’s role requires them to work during the winter break, it must be approved in advance by their immediate supervisor.

Dates of winter break:

• Monday, Dec. 22, 2025
• Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2025
• Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2025
• Thursday, Dec. 25, 2025 (paid holiday)
• Friday, Dec. 26, 2025
• Monday, Dec. 29, 2025
• Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2025
• Wednesday, Dec 31, 2025
• Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026 (paid holiday)
• Friday, Jan. 2, 2026

An employee must be in pay status the entire workday before and the entire workday after state holidays to receive holiday pay. The official state holidays (bolded) are Christmas Day and New Year’s Day.

Employees required to work during the winter break will be allowed to use their four Additional Personal Days anytime from Monday, Dec. 22, 2025, through Jan. 31, 2026. Wichita State appreciates your dedication and service to the university.

*The discretionary day for 2025 must be used on or before Friday, Dec. 19, 2025, prior to the beginning of the winter break. The discretionary day for 2026 will be available as of Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025, and may be used during the 2025 winter break.

Now is the time for 9/10 month benefit-eligible faculty or exempt staff members to elect or cancel annualized salary spread for the 2025-26 academic year.

If you currently are paid over your 9/10 month appointment and would like to have that pay spread out over 12 months beginning with the pay period starting Aug. 3 for the 2025-26 academic year, complete the Annualized Salary Spread Agreement no later than July 11.

If you are currently paid your 9/10 month appointment salary over 12 months and would like to cancel that election for the 2025-26 academic year, complete the Salary Spread Cancellation Form no later than July 18.

If you have plans to take leave during the academic year, retire or otherwise leave employment at the end of the academic year this can impact how salary spread would function and whether or not you would be able to receive pay over the summer months, so consult the HR Service Center to get more information on those changes would you so you can make the best decision.

If you do not wish to make any changes to your current election, no action is necessary. For questions, email HR.ServiceCenter@wichita.edu.