Wichita State Poised For Massive Growth

[shocker_torero]

Here are some details on concepts for the biomedical center. Posted by WSU. 164 pages of project phasing, early concepts, usage, etc.

https://www.wichita.edu/academics/wichita_biomedical_campus/_images/Wichita-HSEC-Program-2022-08-22-final.pdf

[Kung Wu]

The more I read about this, the more I like it. I know some hate all things KU and I get that, but this really does sound like something that will move to improve medical care amongst the disciplines and lead to a fuller education for all. Which should translate to better services for the people of Kansas.

Nope. KU is all about liberalism and socialism, so that's exactly how we shall treat this: It's better for all Kansans to get no improvement in lifestyle at all so long as rich, greedy corporate KU fails to get richer and more successful.

[shoxlax]

Nope. KU is all about liberalism and socialism, so that's exactly how we shall treat this: It's better for all Kansans to get no improvement in lifestyle at all so long as rich, greedy corporate KU fails to get richer and more successful.

Which is why the Innovation Campus has taken off. It is against most college’s DNA to have half the campus full of corporations where they aren’t tied into academic research. So keep rooting for them to never change their ideals.

[SubGod22]

This is a good article that gives you some insight to what Muma envisions for the medical complex and where some of the funding is coming from.

Eagle - A look behind WSU president's vision for a health science center: 'This can be done'

WSU and KU also have a $60 million request to Strengthening People and Revitalizing Kansas, a statewide group that distributes ARPA funds. The schools also have requests to the Legislature for $10 million each to bond the expected $300 million for the center. The bond is similar to a mortgage.

“We still have to go through the hard work of creating more efficiencies and identifying space that can be shared and leveraged that way, which will help it become a little smaller, likely,” Muma said.

The plan is for WSU to move to the center its physician assistant and physical therapy programs, its school of nursing, its communication sciences and disorders program, its public health sciences program, its medical laboratory sciences program and possibly its dental hygiene program.

KU would move its schools of medicine and pharmacy to the center along with four clinics.

For WSU Tech, the move could include its programs for certified nurse aides, certified medication aides, home health aides, practical nurses, emergency medical technicians, registered nurses, patient care technicians, surgical technology and healthcare administration and management.

Comcare of Sedgwick County, the county’s outpatient mental health facility, could be part of the center at some point.

Although no site has been chosen, the center most likely would locate downtown — possibly around the area near William and Topeka, where Wichita Transit is leaving for its new home in Delano.

“If you go and study any of these kinds of facilities, they’re in the core of the city,” Muma said.

“It’s got good access to Kellogg . . . and of course Douglas. It’s centrally located. There’s an infrastructure that’s developing down there, there’s housing down there, there’s the entities that will be helpful to support students once they’re down there.”

It’s also adjacent to WSU Tech’s culinary school and the Kansas College of Osteopathic Medicine.

Muma said discussion of the science center started before the osteopathic school was conceived, but he said he’s been in regular talks with the school, and he said he could envision it one day having a role at the science center as well.

“It’s great that they’re there,” Muma said. “This is the beginnings of a true comprehensive health science center. And that’s how you solve problems — when you bring people together. You don’t do it on your own.”

Later in the article he talks about how more research grants would come along with a facility like this which would drive more lab and research space. He also mentioned the possibility of attracting others to be a part of things as it progresses. It sounds as though centers like this exist in some other states and have been an absolute success in regards to training and research and creating a downtown atmosphere that helps bring in other businesses and gives them the foot traffic to be successful.

There are a lot of wins wrapped around this project. Construction is expected to start in 2024 with it being ready for fall of 2026. The next year seems to be focused on additional funding as well as land acquisition and architectural direction.

[WstateU]

This is a good article that gives you some insight to what Muma envisions for the medical complex and where some of the funding is coming from.

Eagle - A look behind WSU president's vision for a health science center: 'This can be done'



Later in the article he talks about how more research grants would come along with a facility like this which would drive more lab and research space. He also mentioned the possibility of attracting others to be a part of things as it progresses. It sounds as though centers like this exist in some other states and have been an absolute success in regards to training and research and creating a downtown atmosphere that helps bring in other businesses and gives them the foot traffic to be successful.

There are a lot of wins wrapped around this project. Construction is expected to start in 2024 with it being ready for fall of 2026. The next year seems to be focused on additional funding as well as land acquisition and architectural direction.

Have to admit I wasn’t completely onboard with the Muma hiring, but I’m starting to believe. Looks like he’s up to bat with the bases loaded, 3 and 0 count with nobody out. I like his chances.

[SubGod22]

I wasn't entirely sure about Muma when hired, but I'd never heard anything bad about him in his time here. Most of what I knew is from articles about WSU in the WBJ or Eagle or whatever and he was involved in a number of them.

He took care of the Boatright issue when he needed to. A lot of us wanted DB gone earlier, but for a new President it made sense to me to get through that first season of being in charge before doing anything. Then he made what appears to be a grand slam hire with Saal. He seems to be on board with continuing the vision put forth by The Bardo with the Innovation Campus and I've still not heard anything actually bad about him. Maybe he cares to much about diversity and inclusion for some folks, but I don't think it's at a point where it has or will harm the school in any way. You can support those things without being one of those overbearing woke folk who think it's the only thing in existence. I don't think anyone here would complain about diversity or inclusion in a general concept. It's only when it becomes overly politicized and then weaponized that it's really a problem.

Maybe there are people closer to the inner workings that know things I don't and have reason to not like him or still be hesitant. But from what most of us are able to see, I can't see an issue with him yet and he seems to be positioning WSU for an even more influential future, and one that can benefit Wichita, the state and the region as a whole.

He's way better than Golden ever was.

[WstateU]

Not WSU news, but hopeful we’ll receive something similar at some point. I read something about this potential donor before and I don’t believe they’re Kansans or McPherson College graduates.

Unfortunately, I don’t have access to the article from home, but Yipes Stripes Beechnut Gum!


Wichita Business Journal Breaking News: McPherson College donor has pledged $260M and could go up to $500M

[SubGod22]

Announcement comes later today.

WBJ - Anonymous McPherson College donor has pledged $260M and could take it to $500M

The college has planned an announcement detailing the gift for Friday morning at Wichita's Kansas Leadership Center.

Under details released by the college, the donor will give as much as $500 million to the college's endowment fund either by paying over time or upon their death. McPherson has until the end of next June to raise money in the matching period, and said Thursday it has raised $130 million toward the double match.

With donor pledges, the amount to be received is at $390 million, with a potential total combined gift of $750 million.

“This commitment to McPherson College is a symbol that small matters and folks who are small also do great things,” McPherson president Michael Schneider said in an interview with Bloomberg. "I think this is really symbolic that folks should say, ‘Look at what they’re doing, that’s working.’ And hopefully it’ll send the signal to others to say these schools matter, too. These smaller schools that are focused on a more intimate experience, a more broad-based experience. We are focused on liberal arts, but in a career setting, career-oriented liberal arts, the idea that you can balance both.”

I didn't realize McPherson only had about 800 students.

But you're right, that something like this would be great for WSU if they had such a person willing. I know McPherson has made headlines before, but you'd think that maybe with what WSU has begun with the Innovation Campus and the new med partnership in planning that maybe someone, somewhere, will be inspired by the efforts and do something.

One can hope.

[SubGod22]

WBJ - Wichita State earns national designation for economic development efforts

Wichita State University has been designated as an Innovation & Economic Prosperity University, which recognizes public research universities and their work with public and private sector partners to support economic development.

Wichita State is one of 80 higher education institutions to earn the national designation from the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities.

WSU was selected following an independent panel review of economic engagement activities that involved outside stakeholder input, including in innovation and entrepreneurship, technology transfer, talent and workforce development, and community development.

“Since 2013, our mission is to be an essential educational, cultural and economic driver for Kansas and the greater public good, as well as many of our research initiatives and programs directly support the needs of the people and businesses in our state," said Rick Muma, president of WSU, in a news release. "This designation recognizes those efforts and affirms what we’ve known all along as Kansas’ premier urban public research university.”

This is good recognition that can't hurt the possible future partnerships and growth of different areas as the university moves forward.

[SubGod22]

WSU - Wichita State earns APLU designation as an Innovation & Economic Prosperity institution

As part of the self-study conducted with internal and external stakeholders that was central to the designation application process, the university identified areas of institutional strength in economic engagement and described its commitment in these areas.

In addition to the infusion of applied learning and innovation in every program and department at the university, Wichita State strengths include the College of Innovation and Design; National Center for Research and Digital Transformation; the Flight Test Research Center and Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility; and the Office of Tech Transfer and Commercialization; the Innovation Campus; and the Molecular Diagnostics Lab.

Wichita State also identified areas for growth and improvement for the university’s economic engagement enterprise. Some of the areas for improvement for WSU included advancing research partnerships; communicating the impact of partnerships with the campus and community; and bridging innovation, community and business partners with the campus community.

[Kung Wu]

I used to joke that if we were smart we would rename the university to Kansas Institute of Technology. Bardo has turned my joke into something actually realistic.

[SubGod22]

Off campus, but WSU and growth related.

WBJ - A national player jumps into multifamily growth near WSU

Planned are nine, three-story buildings across the property and one will be a "clubhouse" amenity space, according to the city/county document.

Wilson said there are studio, one-bedroom, two-bedroom and townhome floor plans for Aero.

"Our goal has always been to put residents needs at the forefront, with amenities such as access to a business center, ample work and study spaces, tailored resident programs and most utilities included with rent," she said. "Spectra’s focus is to provide an affordable option not only for students, but for professionals alike."

Spectra also has projects centered around universities in Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Michigan, Mississippi and Texas.

Aero marks another in a line of multifamily project activity around WSU's main campus in recent years. That's included Seventeenth apartments and its multiple phases, a quadplex development near the Hughes Metropolitan Complex and mixed-use development plans (which include rental properties) on the south side of 17th Street between Harvard Avenue and Gentry Drive.

Project is located at 2324 N. Pinecrest, between 21st and Looman streets.

[SubGod22]

Most of this goes over my head, but it sounds like a big deal.

WSU - Wichita State students present work on NASA neutrinos project at Paris conference

Neutrinos are on the short list of the biggest mysteries in fundamental physics, and Wichita State University researchers are taking a lead role in investigating them.

“The unsolved question right now is ‘Why do they have mass? How do they have mass?’” said Jonathan Folkerts, Wichita State graduate student. “When neutrinos were first thought of, we figured they had to be massless, but they do some things that mean they have to have mass.”

In late September, Folkerts, Jarred Novak and Trent English presented papers on the design of their neutrino detector prototype at the International Astronautical Congress in Paris, representing the NASA-funded Solar Neutrino Orbiting Laboratory Detector Development Project.

The grant project, “Cube-sat Space Flight Test of a Neutrino Detector,” will allow Dr. Nick Solomey’s team to design a solar probe to look for neutrinos. Solomey, a physics professor at Wichita State, and his research collaborators earned a $2 million grant from NASA in 2021 to improve a future solar mission's technological readiness level (TRL).

“We are trying to fly a detector outside of where the earth is shielding us,” Folkerts said. “The earth’s magnetic field does a great job of protecting us from these particles. When you get in a small region outside the north and south magnetic poles, you are not shielded. We are going to be flying above those poles in those regions looking for background signals that we can study, so that when we design a future mission that can go close to the sun, we’ll have a very good idea what sort of background noise there is going to be.”

Folkerts is pursuing his doctoral degree in applied mathematics. Novak is pursuing a master’s degree in physics. English is a Wichita State graduate with a master’s degree in physics.

[SubGod22]

Here's a heck of a glowing review of WSU and the Barton School of Business.

Study International - Wichita State University: An Enriching Economics Education for Bright-Minded Students

In the heart of the US sits Wichita, Kansas’s largest city. Having produced more aircraft than anywhere else in the country, the aptly-named “Air Capital of the World” is quite literally where dreams take flight. The jewel of the region is Wichita State University (WSU) –a place where anything is possible.

This translates to valuable learning experiences and a wealth of job opportunities for WSU students. Its Master’s in Economics and Quantitative Analysis program is a clear example. Here, economics is studied through a diverse set of approaches that emphasize interaction among quantitative economics and their analytical application. The program is also classified as international students the option to apply for an extension for their Optional Practical Training post-graduation.

Current students value the experience found within WSU’s STEM Economics & Quantitative Analysis program. One current student, Mehak, always dreamed of becoming an economist. “Since my childhood, I have always been fascinated about how we implement economic ideas in our everyday lives,” she says. “As I grew older, I started taking a great interest in the concepts of economics and realized it was something I wanted to pursue further.”

Mehak found the perfect launchpad at WSU and a new home away from home in a safe Midwest city that welcomes everyone and celebrates all. WSU is a public research university with a long tradition of innovation and entrepreneurship. It is the most affordable research university in the region as well as one of the fastest-growing research universities in the US. Credit for this sustained spark goes to the university’s forward-thinking research initiatives — earning it a place among the top three research institutions in Kansas.

International students find WSU especially attractive because it is ranked as one of the safest universities of its size in the US, according to FBI crime statistics. In addition, the cost of living in Wichita is lower than in most American cities.

In addition to safety and affordability, Wichita offers a variety of cosmopolitan amenities with more than 1,000 restaurants, 8 shopping districts, and numerous attractions, museums, theaters and festivals. Finally, graduate students who meet the qualifications can receive financial assistance such as research assistantships, academic awards, scholarships, loans and more.

These advantages make it clear why WSU stands out for having the most racially and ethnically diverse university campus in all of Kansas, with students from over 110 countries worldwide.

[SubGod22]

Eagle - Take a sneak peek at NICHE, downtown's new culinary school, food hall and event space

The 63,000-square-foot building, of which WSU Tech is taking 23,000 square feet, is going to have a lot more than the school.

Just off the main Broadway entrance, there will be a food hall on the first floor that will be open to the public for dining and have educational elements for students as well.

The first restaurant to open will be a Jinya Ramen Bar franchise to the right of the entrance. It will open around the same time as the school.

The second will be Envision Bistro to the left of the entrance and the Envision Innovation Kitchen, which will be a culinary lab for students and a kitchen for the bistro. The bistro will open in July.

In partnership with Envision, the nonprofit that serves the blind and visually impaired, the school will have a culinary pilot program for the blind and visually impaired, “which is a pretty groundbreaking program,” Michael said.

This sounds like a pretty cool endeavor and who knows what it could eventually lead to. The School opens for classes in January.