By Rachel Finch
Laramie Boomerang
Via- Wyoming News Exchange

LARAMIE – The University of Wyoming Board of Trustees approved new budget measures Wednesday while incoming President Brig. Gen. Shane Reeves unveiled a sweeping leadership reorganization aimed at improving communications and collaboration across campus.

The proposal establishes a tiered cabinet system with regularly scheduled meetings among university leaders. 

Reeves said he intends to meet weekly with the provost, executive vice president, athletic director, general counsel and university foundation leadership, while the provost and executive vice president would each hold weekly meetings with their own leadership teams. Additional monthly meetings would bring together deans, vice presidents and other campus leaders.

“I really want to create, in this case, some redundancy in decision-making,” Reeves said. “I’ve always found that organizations that have single points of failure are not good organizations for lots of reasons. I’m not saying that’s the case currently at UW, but it’s something that really informs how I think, which communication and flattened communication that allows for proactivity, it allows for initiative and it allows for less reaction.

“What I mean by redundancy is that there’s a lot of people that know what’s going on so there isn’t any confusion, or a narrative that’s not matching reality, or silos when it comes to decision-making.”

Vice President for Student Affairs Nycole Courtney would shift from reporting to the provost to reporting directly to Executive Vice President Kraig Sheetz, a move Reeves said is intended to elevate the importance of student life and campus culture. Alumni Affairs would also move under the executive vice president’s oversight.

Trustee Tom Walters questioned why Vice President for Budget and Finance Alex Kean would not become part of Reeves’ innermost leadership circle, given the central role finances play in university operations.

Reeves said the change is not intended to diminish Kean’s influence or access to university leadership. Instead, he said the new structure is designed to improve communication and allow Kean to focus more directly on budget responsibilities.

Sheetz added: “I think one of the benefits of this is it allows us to make sure that the important information at the right time is in front of the president. Alex Kean has a lot of important information that needs to get in front of the president at the right time, and we will ensure that that’s the case. It’s immensely important with his connections to the state, not just the budget in a local way, but also to the Legislature and the state. That will not be challenged at all in this structure.”

Trustee Mike Greear also asked how Reeves plans to bridge the longstanding divide that can exist between academic and operational sides of a university.

Reeves said fostering institutional thinking and preventing those divisions from developing will be one of his primary responsibilities as president.

This will be finalized and voted on during the July meeting of the trustees.

Addressing budget shortfall

Trustees also approved two measures intended to help close an $8.5 million budget deficit after earlier reductions failed to fully eliminate a larger $15 million shortfall.

“The budget committee has been meeting for many hours. We have held budget hearings in May. We met on June 3rd also for several hours to go over the budget,” Vice Chair Laura Schmid-Pizzato said. “There is, within this budget, about a $15 million shortfall that was presented to us from the original budget. Within that, we have asked for the units to reduce their budgets by 2%. That left us with an $8.5 million deficit.”

The first motion allocates budget reductions among academic colleges based on balances held in designated operating accounts, which carry over from year to year. Kean said those balances were used only to calculate each college’s share of the reductions and that no money would be transferred between accounts.

The second creates a system to capture salary savings generated when positions are vacant and temporarily return those funds to the university’s general operating budget. The policy would apply both when a position remains unfilled at the beginning of a fiscal year and when an employee leaves during the year, allowing the university to recapture unspent salary dollars until the position is filled.

Both motions passed unanimously.

Advertising campaign funding approval

Trustees also revisited a previously delayed discussion about expanding the university’s digital advertising efforts.

Kean said university staff determined waiting until July would not leave enough time to secure contracts and develop materials ahead of the fall student recruitment season.

Trustees ultimately approved a motion authorizing UW Institutional Marketing and Communications to continue the enhanced digital advertising campaign for fiscal year 2027.

The measure allows up to $500,000 from the trustees’ special projects reserve account, pending current President Ed Seidel’s approval. Administrators were also authorized to identify up to $200,000 in additional funding sources, bringing the total investment to no more than $700,000.

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