Shocker Studios Encourage Creative Enterprise
Wichita State students with ambitions of a career in the video game, film or recording industry completed their first semester in Shocker Studios.
A state-of-the-art production space, Shocker Studios is located in Wichita’s Harry Street Mall. The 35,000-square-foot facility features recording studios, a virtual reality studio, film studios, a motion capture studio, computer labs, design studios and general classrooms.
The Kansas Board of Regents approved WSU’s Bachelor of Applied Arts in media arts degree in June. The degree, established by the College of Fine Arts and the Elliott School of Communication, is one of a handful in the United States that focus on animation, audio production, game design and filmmaking. Students began using Shocker Studios in August, and WSU officially unveiled the space at an open house Nov. 3.
Shocker Studios and the BAA curriculum foster opportunities in emerging creative technologies that will improve students’ career competitiveness. “For a number of years, students have been requesting that we develop degrees that were more hands-on in the areas specific to the Bachelor of Applied Arts in media arts,” says Justin Rorabaugh, director of educational outreach for the College of Fine Arts. “Given the applied nature of the degree, we needed a space that would match those needs.”
Shocker Studios also has studio space and equipment available for rental to non-BAA students and the public.
Hippodrome’s 90th Year of Festivities: April 11-14, 2018
Hippodrome, Wichita State’s longest-running campus tradition, will celebrate its 90th year of festivities with a week full of activities featuring a new set of student-generated performance skits.
Hippodrome, which has its own mascot, Huxley the Hippo, was first held in 1928 as a stunt competition with a $10 prize. Student organizations began showcasing their talents by writing, designing and producing skits – the event’s longstanding main attraction. Through the years, activities have expanded to include “best legs” competitions and hippo calling contests. Conducted by the Student Activities Council, skit performances are held at the Campus Activities Center Theater.
Grace Wilkie Remembered at Building Rededication
Grace Wilkie’s spirit of service to students was celebrated in a rededication ceremony of the campus building that bears her name on Nov. 8, the 50th anniversary of her death.
Wichita State President John Bardo, Tony Vizzini, WSU provost and senior vice president, and others paid tribute to Wilkie, the former head of Fairmount College’s home economics department and then dean of women from 1921 until her retirement in 1953. That same year, Grace Wilkie Hall opened as the university’s first women’s residence hall. Wilkie was a proponent for female students, counseling approximately 9,000 during her tenure.
“Universities today understand that to be successful, you have to approach (students) where they’re at in their lives and in the classroom,” Vizzini remarked. “Grace Wilkie knew that.”
Attendees toured Wilkie Hall, which today is a campus hub for student services. The building houses, among other offices, the Counseling and Testing Center, Disability Services, Student Conduct and Community Standards, Student Support Services, Shocker Support Locker, and Military and Veteran Student Center. Jared Smith, president of WSU’s Student Veterans Organization, presented special guest and World War II veteran Ray Avila of Wichita with an honorary membership during a flag-raising outside the hall.
WSU Receives $3.64 Million Grant for New Institute
The W. Frank Barton School of Business at Wichita State University plans to establish an Institute for the Study of Economic Growth with the support of a $3.64 million grant from the Charles Koch Foundation.
The aims of the institute will be to explore how innovative and entrepreneurial activities can enhance societal prosperity, as well as to help cultivate the exchange of ideas. At the time of the announcement in September, Anand Desai, dean of the Barton School, said, “Our students will be the greatest beneficiaries of this grant. The institute will help us attract and retain outstanding faculty and increase the value of business and economics education at Wichita State.”
The institute will initially be housed in Clinton Hall, until the new home for the Barton School is constructed on the Innovation Campus.
