Faculty to consider WSU-WATC affiliation at May 5 general faculty meeting Faculty to consider WSU-WATC affiliation at May 5 general faculty meeting

The president and president-elect of the Faculty Senate, Bayram Yildirim and Carolyn Shaw, and Provost Tony Vizzini encourage all faculty, which includes teaching faculty added to the Faculty Senate this spring, to attend the general faculty meeting at 2:30 p.m. Friday, May 5, in the RSC Beggs Ballroom.

Along with a reception and faculty awards, the WSU-WATC affiliation proposal will be considered.

The Kansas Board of Regents approved WSU moving forward with the affiliation in January. The Kansas Legislature passed a bill unanimously last month, and Governor Brownback signed it into law on April 12.

The proposed affiliation is an extension of the strong existing partnership between the two institutions, including the Shocker Pathway program that leads students from WATC to an Associate of Arts degree from WSU.

The planned affiliation will give students from both schools more direct access to the resources of the other. It creates a GED to Ph.D. continuum. The university believes this is a model that will be adopted nationally by universities like ours that place a high value on applied learning and research as a basis for student success and community economic growth.

To receive final approval, the Higher Learning Commission (WSU and WATC's accreditor) will administer a review and approval process. Materials about the affiliation will be forwarded to the commission in May for consideration.

The Faculty Senate endorsed the affiliation proposal and concept at its April 10 meeting.

To learn more about the details of the proposed affiliation, go to http://www.wichita.edu/j/?5541 for complete information.

See FAQs at http://webs.wichita.edu/?u=watc&p=/faq/