Western Wyoming Community College Progress Edition 2021
Western Wyoming Community College (Western) faced a challenging year with COVID-19 and a state-wide budget crisis. Despite these hardships, the College has much to be proud of.
The College is providing the community with many options in business-related learning, as it has been approved to offer a fully-online Bachelor of Applied Science (BAS) degree in Business Management. The BAS degree will provide those currently working in many different industries the expertise to move into management positions. The College also developed the FastTrack Associate of Applied Science in Business Management degree. This degree is unique in that it is also fully-online and self-paced, so students can complete the degree program in as little as 16 months.
Western students were awarded a grand total of $1,327,791 in CARES Grant funding, which was disbursed to 428 unduplicated students as 82 students received both the CARES Wyoming Adult Grant and College Grant.
In addition to the CARES Grant funding, Western was able to distribute $4,433,397 in CARES Act monies throughout the College for reopening. The majority of those funds were spent on ac-ademic resources including virtual equipment and technology. Additionally, funds were used for reopening communications; refunding students for items such as housing, meal plans, and childcare; personal protective equipment; cleaning supplies; and more.
Western continues to face a crippling financial situation with budget cuts due to the state-wide budget crisis and over a decade of declining enrollment. These unfortunate circumstances led the College to make campus-wide reductions in force, for the first time. In light of this, and after careful evaluation of the institution from all angles, Western is launching “Western Reimagined” in concert with the development of a new strategic plan for the institution.
Western’s five-year strategic master plan will focus on four major strategic priorities: Culture of Success, Academic Excellence, Valuable Partnerships, and Operational Efficiency. Ensuring student access and success, rigorous and relevant educational opportunities, partnerships with business and communities and institutional sustainability will collectively guide decisions and actions and distribution of Western’s resources. Key performance indicators are to be adopted to analyze institutional progress towards its goals.
Dr. Kim Dale, President of Western awarded the first two President’s Atlas Awards to Derek Robinson, Director of Information Technology, and Kasey Damori, Director of Outreach and the Center for Teaching, Learning and Innovation, and their teams for carrying the weight of the world for the college during the COVID-19 transition.
Dr. Dale was recognized for her leadership abilities in the Top 50 U.S. College and University Presidents by College Cliffs.
Mustang Athletics achieved great accolades in 2020, as the Men’s Basketball team won the Re-gion IX Tournament title and earned a berth to the NJCCA National Tournament. Unfortunately, due to COVID-19, the tournament was cancelled. The Mustang Wrestling team produced seven All American Athletes and one National Champion during the 2020 championship matches.
Western also partnered with the community stakeholders to begin building a multi-use trail on college property. This 3-mile trail will be available for students and community members for mountain biking, hiking, and cross-country skiing. The trail is scheduled to open in summer 2021.
To learn about Western events, visit the calendar at westernwyoming.edu/calendar, or down-load the Mustang Connections App at westernwyoming.edu/app.