Faculty and Staff Fall Address with President Muma graphic.

The annual faculty and staff fall address is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 18 at the Beggs Ballroom located in the Rhatigan Student Center. The event will also be available via a YouTube livestream.

President Richard Muma, with the assistance of several university representatives, will outline key focus areas for the coming year:

  • Access and affordability
  • Applied learning and digital transformation
  • Interdisciplinary research

RSVPs are appreciated for those who would like to attend the event in person.

The class of 1934 sundial will rededication is scheduled for Monday, July 19. Remarks are at 11:30 a.m. on the east side of Hubbard Hall.

The late George Platt (1931-2017), associate professor emeritus from the Hugo Wall School, worked with Mary Nelson, Wichita State University Libraries Special Collections and University Archives, to learn the story of the sundial.

The sundial was a gift to the university from the class of 1934. Photos in the Parnassus yearbook from the 1950s show the sundial just west of Jardine Hall. The sundial had been missing for many years and resurfaced in summer 2014.

The university returned to pre-pandemic operations for faculty and staff on June 1. For some, that meant a return to pre-pandemic work schedules and locations including the return to in-person work for all remaining remote employees. For others, that meant a return to regular schedules or readjusting to more people on campus because their roles required them to be on campus.

While perhaps necessary, the return is not without concerns; and many of us — employees and students alike — are anxious and uncertain about the future. In recognition and support of this natural emotional reaction, the university invites all students, staff, faculty, and administration to join one of several Shocker Circles for a safe, non-judgmental place to discuss our campus return.

Beginning on July 6, the Shocker Circles Summer 2021 Reintegration series will be holding Circles on Tuesdays and Thursdays with both lunch hour and late afternoon options. Both virtual and in-person sessions have been scheduled, with discussion topics focused on employees transitioning to an in-person workplace, students and faculty returning to in-person classrooms, and special sessions for employees and students who joined Shocker Nation during 2020 and may now be coming to campus for the first time.

Participation is confidential, but pre-registration is required.