By Rachelle Trujillo
Laramie Boomerang
Via- Wyoming News Exchange

LARAMIE — University of Wyoming President Ed Seidel spoke on issues pertaining to the university and its goals during a State of the University address Wednesday in the Wyoming Union Ballroom.

Seidel’s speech was preceded by various other university leaders, such as Associated Students of the University of Wyoming (ASUW) President Saber Smith, Faculty Senate Chair Robert Sprague and Provost Kevin Carman.

A variety of issues were discussed during the 1 hour, 30 minute meeting, which could be summed up by what Seidel called the theme of this year: people and programs.

“A lot of work that we’ve been doing lately and will definitely continue is on people and programs. And that’s just essential.” Seidel said in his opening remarks. “Without these people, this university wouldn’t exist, and of course the programs, as well.” 

Seidel noted the university’s current emphasis on student success and added that much of this work will revolve around retention and recruitment. Carman also spoke to these issues, saying that there are several challenges facing higher education across the nation.

“We know that there’s a national landscape that is a challenge for enrollment at universities,” Carmen said. “There’s a population decline, generally speaking; higher education is not viewed as positively among young people as it used to be. And they’re just choosing not to go to a university.

“So we feel like there’s a lot of upside if we can get out and communicate better with our students, potential students, and attract them to the university, and of course ultimately provide them with an excellent education.”

Seidel added student success is not just about recruiting students and helping them earn their degrees, but also giving them the tools to be successful upon graduation.

Both Seidel and Carman spoke to the various approaches being taken to achieve this goal, including what UW has already begun. Seidel pointed to Saddle Up as an example, stating that it is an initiative to ensure that “when students get here, they’re as successful as possible.”

Carman added UW is working to bring in more international students to increase enrollment rates, sharing that a newly- implemented program is already bringing in students from abroad.

“We have our first batch of students that are here; it’s a small number for the fall,” he said. “[But] we’re very optimistic about increasing those numbers significantly next year and going forward.”

He added ASUW has discussed bringing in more international students as well “to provide a more diverse environment and culture.”

“I’m glad to see that there’s broad support for that,” he said. 

In addition to bringing in international students, Carman addressed the need to expand online degree programs, and added the university is looking to support demographics apart from the traditional 18-to-22-year-old college student.

“There’s approximately 5,000 Wyoming residents who are enrolled in online degree programs outside of the state of Wyoming, implying that we’re not offering the type of degree programs that perhaps our citizens need and want – many of those are working adults,” he said.

The address brought to light faculty issues as well, with Carman mentioning the new team that is being created to address issues with artificial intelligence. He said it will be crucial for faculty to know how to use AI programs efficiently and have policies to monitor student usage.

We initially viewed it as a threat and were looking about ‘How do we catch students who are cheating in the class using AI?’ But AI is much more than that,” he said. “We want to put together a working group that will help faculty use AI effectively in their teaching as well as have academic policies that help assure the integrity of our programs.” 

Carman also addressed discussions of degree and program cuts, noting that “no decisions have been made about any elimination of any degree program.”

In terms of fostering excellence for faculty, Seidel noted the university is working to recognize great work all across campus.

“If you get more students, you should get more money to fund more faculty and more activities. Right now, we don’t have that natural incentive. We are working very hard to figure out how to get that kind of thing in place,” Seidel said. “I want to reward excellence and give faculty the tools to do great work.”