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The
Wyoming
Association of Community College Trustees
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Wyoming Community College Commission Selects
New Executive Director |
Dr. Sandy Caldwell Accepts ED Position
Chairman Meyer and the Commissioners of the Wyoming Community College Commission announced on Monday that Dr. Sandy Caldwell has accepted the position of Executive Director, with an anticipated start date in June.
Dr. Caldwell comes to the position with strengths centered on fiscal oversight and innovative thinking. She
began serving as the Reedley College president on July 1, 2013. In her first year as the president of three campuses she guided the college in the creation of an action plan to achieve the goals of the Strategic Plan. Under her direction, Reedley College fulfilled accreditation requirements and implemented standing accreditation, student success, and student learning outcomes committees focused on continuous quality improvement. By building a strong administrative team and improving campus operations with a new administrative structure she has helped to create a unity across all of the campuses. Not only has she led campus conversations on student engagement but she has invested in the students of State Center Community College District by establishing an endowed scholarship, the Native American Women's Scholarship.
Prior to Reedley College she served as the associate vice president for planning and improvement at Western Wyoming Community College (WWCC) since 2011. Dr. Caldwell was promoted from her position of associate vice president for student learning at Western Wyoming Community College where she served for six years.
Prior to serving in Wyoming, Dr. Caldwell served as the quality assurance/institutional effectiveness chairperson and mathematics coordinator for six years at Paris Junior College in Texas.
In addition to her work at WWCC, Dr. Caldwell also served as a college and university accreditation peer reviewer and site visitor for the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association. Further, Dr. Caldwell served in numerous volunteer capacities including past president of the Wyoming Women's Foundation, which has granted more than $650,000 to help promote economic self-sufficiency of Wyoming's women and girls.
Prior to WWCC, Dr. Caldwell worked for 10 years at Paris (Texas) Junior College (PJC) as quality assurance and institutional effectiveness chairperson, mathematics chair, and mathematics faculty. While serving as chair, she also served as curriculum coordinator for the Academy for Part-Time teachers in a consortium among Paris Junior College, Northeast Texas Community College, and Texarkana College. Prior to working at PJC, Dr. Caldwell served as a senior agriculturist for Wes Watkins Agricultural Research and Extension Center, Oklahoma State University. She has also worked in private, small business and has operated a cow-calf ranching operation.
Dr. Caldwell earned a doctoral degree in supervision, curriculum, and instruction in higher education with emphasis in community colleges, from Texas A&M University-Commerce, a master's degree in statistics from Oklahoma State University, and a bachelor's in mathematics education from Oklahoma State University. She grew up in a rural area and got her own start in higher education at a rural-based community college, which served as her inspiration for working in community colleges.
Please help WACCT welcome Dr. Caldwell back to Wyoming!
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| Interim Legislative Topics |
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Interim Topics
Of interest to the Community Colleges:
- Appropriations
- Revenue Streams and Simplification of the Budgeting Process
- Department of Enterprise Technology Services Rates and Technology Requirements
- Wyoming Retirement System
- Revenue
- State Fiscal Structure and Economic Development
- Education
- School safety and security for community colleges and K12
- computer science education
- Report on the electronic transcript transfer system and course equivalence and common course numbering system
- Report on the Community Colleges and the Wyoming Unified Network
- Corporations
- Public records and meetings
- Minerals
- Final ENDOW Report and Update on 2018 ENDOW Legislation
- Select Committee on Capital Finance and Investments - review the Excellence in Higher Education Endowment Fund
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| WACCT Board Meeting Update |
The WACCT Board of Directors met last week in Torrington for their regular board meeting. Below is a brief summary of their discussions (
click here for the full minutes):
WACCT Education Committee Report and Recommendations
- Fall Conference
- Theme - School Safety & Security
- Date and location - Week of October 15-19 in Riverton
- Gubernatorial panel for dinner
- February Trustee Education Day - held at LCCC
- Suggested Topic - WCCC review of roles, statutory duties and WCCC/WACCT luncheon round table, also CCW update
- Proposed date - first week of February 2019
- Statewide marketing - to involve logo refresh and marketing plan
- New Trustee Orientation - Committee working to put together an educational video for new trustees
The process is underway to evaluate the Executive Director (goal is to finish by the end of the fiscal year)
Work will begin soon to get a draft 2018/2019 budget presentable for the June meeting
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2018 WACCT Conference to Focuses on
School Safety & Security |
Save the date!
The WACCT 2018 annual conference will focus
on campus safety and security!
Where:
Central Wyoming College - Riverton
When:
October 17-18, 2018
Why:
We're not just talking about guns on campus - what do we need to facilitate a safe learning environment on all Wyoming campuses?
WACCT will bring in experts from around the country to talk about about security systems, building and facility needs and assessments, school resource officers, call centers, mental health resources, and the list goes on!
We'll discuss what's worked in other states and what we think we need right here in Wyoming.
Please save the dates and plan to come to Riverton in October!
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| Work on Higher Education Goal Continues |
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Lumina Foundation Grant Aids Goal Attainment
The Wyoming higher education attainment goal is to increase the percent of the working population (defined as 25-64 years old working adult) that possess a valuable post-secondary credential (degree or certificate) to 60% by 2025, and to 75% by 2040. Further, a significant focus of this goal must be reducing disparities and achievement gaps among under-served student populations including first-generation, low-income, minority and adult students.
This is a lofty goal for Wyoming but recently the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE) chose Wyoming to participate along with Utah and Arizona as members of a task force to develop a plan to achieve this goal. According to a recent article in the Wyoming Tribune Eagle, the task force will have $30,000 in annual funding to help implement the plan - thanks to a grant from the Lumina Foundation. The Committee is co-chaired by UW President Laurie Nichols and Laramie County Community College President Joe Schaffer. The initial meeting will take place on May 15-16 in Westminster, CO. Other task force members include:
- Superintendent of Public Instruction Jillian Balow
- Cindy DeLancey, president of the Wyoming Business Alliance and Wyoming Heritage Foundation
- Mary Garland, president and chair of the John P. Ellbogen Foundation
- Mary Kay Hill, policy director, governor's office
- Shawn Reese, CEO of the Wyoming Business Council
- Jerimiah Rieman, director of economic diversification, governor's office
- Jim Rose, executive director of the Wyoming Community College Commission
- Bill Schilling, ENDOW vice chair
- State Sen. Jeff Wasserburger, R-Gillette
- Mary Aguayo, UW's director of transfer relations
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| Complete College Wyoming Update |
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CCW Report as Presented to the Wyoming
Community
College Commission 4/27
Dashboard Review
Degrees and Certificates
- The colleges experienced a slight decrease in degrees/certificates in 16-17 of -1.6%. As it is typical for highest number of degrees/certificates to correspond to highest years of enrollments, the decrease is not too disappointing considering the fall '17 enrollment report (headcount) documented a 5-Yr decrease of -12.2%.
- UW documented an increase in bachelors degrees of 2.1% from 15-16 to 16-17.
Retention
- Evidence in the data indicates that CCA retention strategies and communication across the CCW network is effective. The community colleges and UW are implementing a variety of CCA strategies. The dashboard indicates fall to spring and fall to fall increases in retention in most colleges. This will result in improved enrollment and graduate numbers. Retention of part-time students is still lower than full time students; this could be a future area of focus.
Course Completion
- Steady improvements in course completion can be seen in the data for the colleges.
- Course completion rates by race indicate we have work to do to close educational achievement gaps for those most often left behind: students of color, low-income students, first-generation students and older students.
Developmental Students
- Enrollments in developmental courses are on a significant decline, depicting the movement toward co-requisite models and away from traditionally offered developmental courses.
Financial
Aid Recipients
- There is a steady decline in Federal financial aid recipients, not as significant in student loans, institutional aid, and Hathaway. These statistics reflect the overall decline in enrollments system-wide.
Math/English in First 30 Credits
- There is a significant increase in students who pass English in the first 30 attempted credits and moderate increase in students who pass Math in the first 30 attempted credits - co-requisite support, pathways, academic maps, and proactive advising (CCA Game Changer strategies) are proving successful.
Upcoming Events
- WICHE Grant
- CCW members will provide support, recommendations, data analysis, and feedback to the task force, work to implement recommendations, and will serve as leaders in the statewide meetings which have yet to be scheduled:
- Leah Barrett, Vice President, NWCCD
- Cory Daly, Vice President CWC
- Matthew Ewers, Associate Vice President, NWCCD
- Gerald Giraud, Vice President, Northwest College
- Clark Harris, Vice President, LCCC
- Kyle Moore, AVP Enrollment, UW and co-chair, CCW
- Shawn Powell, Vice President, CC and co-chair, CCW
- Lori Ridgway, Director of Marketing and Public Relations, CWC
- Kathy Wells, Vice President, CWC
- Bill Schilling, ENDOW Vice-Chair and District Rotary Governor
- May 31: Face to face meeting at CWC with Complete College America Director of Alliance Relations, Emily Sellers
- CCA Overview
- Ways CCA can support Wyoming
- Data and Evidence
- Equity and Access
- June: Meeting with Governor Mead - Support of statewide attainment goal
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The Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education is a regional organization created by the Western Regional Education Compact and adopted in the 1950s by Western states. WICHE was created to facilitate resource sharing among the higher education systems of the West. It implements a number of activities to accomplish its objectives.
WICHE began operations in 1953 in Eugene, OR, moving to its present location in Boulder, CO, in 1955. WICHE is governed by three gubernatorially appointed commissioners from each member. Under terms of the compact, each member commits to support WICHE's basic operations through annual dues established by the full
commission.
WICHE's members include 15 Western states and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (the first of the U.S. Pacific territories and freely associated states to participate).
Who represents Wyoming on the WICHE Commission?
- Senate Fred Baldwin, Kemmerer
- Dr. Karla Leach, Western Wyoming Community College Rock Springs
- Dr. Laurie Nichols, University of Wyoming, Laramie
Who represents Wyoming on the WICHE Legislative Advisory Committee?
- Representative Sue Wilson, Cheyenne
- Senator Fred Baldwin, Kemmerer
- Representative Mark Kinner, Sheridan
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The mission of the
Wyoming Association of Community College Trustees, a collaborative organization of Wyoming community college trustees with college presidents, is to promote the continued quality, strength, vitality and effectiveness of its members.
Thank you to everyone who works to support the Community Colleges in Wyoming!
Erin Taylor
Executive Director
Wyoming Association of Community College Trustees
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