Bousfield Lands NIH Grant
Wichita State’s biology department has landed a $6.6 million, five-year research grant from the National Institutes of Health.
The research will involve increasing knowledge of reproductive endocrinology and is aimed at finding answers to improving fertility in women 35 and older. George Bousfield, an expert in the field and a professor in the department, will head research efforts. His research team includes local physicians, other faculty members, students, scientists and physicians from the universities of Kansas and Nebraska.
Business School Programs Gain Elite Status — Again
Business and accountancy programs at WSU’s Barton School of Business continue their elite status as ones accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business International.
Fewer than 5 percent of the world’s business schools carry the aacsb accreditation, which is considered the hallmark of excellence in the field. In addition, there are only 171 schools that maintain the aacsb accreditation for their accounting programs.
“We are very proud of this recognition,” says Doug Hensler, dean of the business school, “and we are committed to innovative and ever-improving programs.” Jim Clark, Barton School associate dean, notes that studies show accreditation is worth an extra $4,000 in the starting salaries of business graduates of accredited schools.
If earned, accreditation is issued every five years. While pleased, administrators are not resting on their laurels. “We’re starting the process on our next one,” Clark says. During the grueling accreditation process, the school is judged on such factors as the quality of its faculty. In all, there are 21 standards to achieve.
The school has maintained the business accreditation since 1968 and the accounting accreditation since 1999.
Stimulus for CIBOR?
Wichita and Wichita State scientists working to reinvent medical implants by merging aerospace and medical technologies have applied for a $15 million grant from federal stimulus money to build a research building, a move they believe will create hundreds of construction jobs locally.
The city of Wichita has donated 43 acres of land worth $1.2 million for the project, whose lead scientists hope to construct a 50,000-square-foot research structure next door to the National Center for Aviation Training, now under construction near Jabara Airport.
Scientists from the Center of Innovation for Biomaterials in Orthopaedic Research hope to hear from federal officials in February whether they will get the money, reports CIBOR's interim director, John Moore, who also explains that John Tomblin, executive director of the National Institute for Aviation Research, found out the government was providing money for research buildings.
Although lacking a central research facility, CIBOR is operational, boasting five labs in locations all over Wichita, including at Via Christi Regional Medical Center-St. Francis Campus, at NIAR and at Wichita State.
Bequest Funds Radebaugh’s New Professor in Aging Position
An $8.5 million bequest from the estate of Evelyn D. Cassat is funding the Carl and Rozina Cassat professor in aging position, named for the parents of Evelyn Cassat’s late husband, Paul. Teresa Radebaugh, director of WSU’s Regional Institute of Aging, has been named to the post.
“Dr. Radebaugh brings a wealth of professional experience in the area of aging-related research,” says J. David McDonald, associate provost for research and dean of the graduate school. As director of the university’s institute of aging, Radebaugh oversees research projects that promote independence and maximum function and mobility for seniors.
Elizabeth King, president and CEO of the WSU Foundation, reports that Radebaugh’s experiences with seniors make her a natural champion for their cause. “Both Mr. and Mrs. Cassat experienced some of the frailties of aging,” King says. “They understood what it meant when the quality of life was weakening.” As Cassat professor in aging, Radebaugh will take up the charge of positioning Wichita State as a center for research on aging.
Health Professions College Debuts Degree Program This Fall
This fall, students will start coursework for the new Bachelor of Science in Health Science degree at Wichita State, says Richard Muma, chair of the public health sciences department in the WSU College of Health Professions.
The health sciences field is full of career opportunities, with job growth of 27 percent predicted in the next decade for all health services professions, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The college, Muma says, is working hard to meet student needs and public demands for health science professions.
Typically, health science graduates go on to work as pharmaceutical and hospital sales representatives, specialists in insurance companies, science technicians, research assistants and so on.
Salaries vary widely among occupations, but generally reflect an unprecedented demand for qualified professionals. Health science majors are introduced to the full array of health career opportunities, Muma says, and can begin to focus their interests during the last two years of the four-year program.
Mikrokosmos 56 is Under Way
Mikrokosmos 56 is open to submissions, reports editor Jodie Liedke, who is in her third year at WSU working toward an MFA in fiction, teaching composition and editing her first novel. Mikrokosmos, which is a literary journal for students, faculty and staff of Wichita State, has been published annually since 1958.
Poetry, fiction, non-fiction and visual art are welcome from any individual who is or has been a WSU student, faculty or staff member of WSU.
Manuscript submissions must include a cover letter stating the writer’s name, the title of the work(s), genre(s) and a brief bio. Media submissions should include a cover letter stating the artist’s name, title of the work(s), media type, size, date and a brief bio.
Reshape and Rebuild
The division of Academic Affairs and Research at WSU has begun a yearlong effort to respond positively to state budget cuts by building stronger learning and research programs.
President Don Beggs and Provost Gary L. Miller announced the new initiative, Reshape and Rebuild, and are asking faculty, staff and other supporters for their ideas about realigning the university’s academic resources in a way to best serve students and the public, while strengthening the university’s urban serving research mission.
“We didn’t choose this situation,” Miller relates, “but we can use it as an opportunity to sharpen our mission, reorganize and realign our programs and prepare for growth as the economic turmoil eases.”
Medea is Second Main Stage Offering
Medea follows How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying as the WSU School of Performing Arts’ second Main Stage offering of the season. Medea is slated to run daily from Thu., Oct. 22 through Sun., Oct. 25 in Wilner Auditorium.
Written by Euripides and first produced in 431 B.C., the tragedy is based on the myth of Jason (of Golden Fleece fame) and Medea, and is one of the most powerful and often produced of the ancient Greek plays.
A work of psychologically and physically murderous vengeance, Medea tells the story of a woman betrayed by her husband.
Stossel Headlines Comm Week
Wichita State’s Elliott School of Communication is throwing a birthday bash in conjunction with its annual Communication Week, slated for Sat., Oct. 10, through Wed., Oct. 14. On hand to help celebrate the school’s 20th anniversary will be award-winning news correspondent John Stossel, co-anchor of ABC’s “20/20” and author of the book Myths, Lies, and Downright Stupidity: Get Out the Shovel – Why Everything You Know is Wrong.
Stossel will present a public lecture at 7 p.m. Mon., Oct. 12, in the Eugene M. Hughes Metropolitan Complex. His lecture, made possible by the Fred C. and Mary R. Koch Foundation, is free, although it will be a ticketed event.
Stossel became co-anchor of “20/20” in May 2003. He joined the highly acclaimed TV news magazine in 1981 and began doing one-hour primetime specials in 1994. In addition to longer in-depth reports for “20/20” on subjects ranging from addiction to parenting issues in his “Family Fix” segments, Stossel is featured in a recurring segment called “Give Me a Break.”
These short commentaries take a skeptical look at a wide array of issues, from pop culture controversies to censorship and government regulations.
The Elliott School was established in 1989, when the departments of journalism and speech communication were joined, a merger made possible by an endowed gift from Oliver Elliott ’42, a Wichita businessman.
The Elliott School is the only comprehensive, integrated school of communication in Kansas. It is one of the largest units in the Fairmount College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
