University of Wyoming President Laurie Nichols shared a presentation of the 2018 enrollment numbers and 2017 annual report to City Council during their regular meeting on Tuesday. The report compiles student census information, including campus enrollment statistics and how the school is progressing on their “Breaking Through” strategic plan. 2017 was the first year of data for this five-year plan, which features various long-term goals they’re hoping to reach by 2022.
Their first goal is “Driving Excellence,” which covers teaching resources and research efforts. Nichols admits this goal fell short, but shared some highlights, including the introduction of two new programs — Outdoor Recreation and Tourism Management and a Certificate in Cybersecurity — as well as the opening of the new High Altitude Performance Center and High Bay Research Facility. Nichols said the decrease in research funding and income-bearing patents and licenses for research was disappointing.
“We are going to have to double down and work very hard on this goal as we move forward,” she said.
Inspiring Students is the next goal, which covers enrollment and retention rates. Nichols said the data shows overall attendance growth at .5 percent, adding 53 students from 2017 to 2018 for a total of 12,450 students. Nichols said a good portion of this growth came from out-of-state students, especially from Colorado and Nebraska. However, this upswing was not seen across all demographics.
“While we really grew in our undergraduate students, we declined in our graduate students, and they somewhat offset each other,” Nichols said. “We’re down 154 graduate students, or almost 6 percent, so that’s disappointing. We need to take a very serious look at that and see what’s going on.”
The undergraduate growth – especially with first-year students -- will be good for the university long term. Retention rates increased to 78.1 percent for 2017, which means more students are finishing their degrees instead of dropping out or transferring schools. The data showed students are becoming more involved in support services like tutoring or studying abroad, and the university has started reconfiguring their advising department to better serve students’ needs. Nichols said she thinks these services and updates contributed to the increased retention rates as well as the four- and six-year graduation numbers, which also increased in 2017. However, Councilman Klaus Hanson had concerns about the six-year rates.
“Is it normal that you take six years to graduate with a bachelor’s degree?” Hanson asked.
“The federal definition of undergrad graduation rate is measured in six years,” Nichols answered. “… But we took it upon ourselves to add the four-year rate. … We want more students to graduate in four years, that is a huge goal of ours.”
Although the number of in-state transfer students also increased, Councilman Pat Gabriel wanted an update on how well the university was coordinating the transfer programs.
“…I know how valuable community colleges are around the state,” Gabriel said. “Just curious, I know in the past that community colleges have been working with the university on the transfer [programs]. … Are you comfortable about the way things are working? Can you give us an update?”
“Really, to some extent that work never ends,” Nichols answered. “Because even when you get an initial articulation agreement you have to keep it current, so there’s always work to be done. We have about 185 articulation agreements right now with the seven community colleges, so that’s a large number.”
The third goal focuses on Impacting Communities, both in Laramie and across the state. Attendance at sporting events on campus increased, which Nichols said the university was excited about. She added there is a task force working on meeting the standards necessary to earn the school the Carnegie Community Engagement Classification designation, which is like an accreditation.
“That’s a really nice classification for a campus to have, and lots of our peers have it,” Nichols said. “So, this would put us in a more competitive advantage as a university.”
The final goal is becoming a High Performing university, and Nichols admits this is also a work in progress. The university has taken steps to update their budget management system, and they plan on launching a campus climate survey this spring. Although the number of endowed faculty went up, the job satisfaction across workplace categories reported at 46 percent, which is something Nichols thinks they need to work on. Endowments as a whole did go up from $450 million to $500.3 million, working towards a goal of $650 million by 2022.
In conjunction with these four goals, Nichols said they are currently developing a 10-year housing plan, but she cannot present it to council until the state legislature’s task force is finished reviewing it, which she expects to be in spring of 2019. Parking is an issue as the campus and enrollment grow, but Nichols assured they have started studying parking and transit and how it will relate to the new housing initiatives.
City Council meets every Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. The meeting is open to the public.
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