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University of Wyoming

Coordinates: 41°18′47″N 105°34′53″W / 41.31306°N 105.58139°W / 41.31306; -105.58139
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University of Wyoming
University of Wyoming Official Seal
MottoNew Thinking
TypePublic
Established1886
EndowmentUS $259 million[1]
PresidentTom Buchanan
Academic staff
583
Students13,301
Location
Laramie
,
Wyoming
CampusSmall city
ColorsBrown and Gold   
NicknameCowboys and Cowgirls
MascotWyoming Cowboys Logo
Websitewww.uwyo.edu
University of Wyoming Official Logo

The University of Wyoming is a land-grant university located in Laramie, Wyoming, situated on Wyoming's high Laramie Plains, at an elevation of 7,200 feet (2194 m), between the Laramie and Snowy Range mountains. It is known as UW (often pronounced "U-Dub") to people close to the university. The university was founded in September 1886, and opened in September 1887.The university also offers outreach education in counties throughout Wyoming.

Overview

UW is a national research university prominent in the fields of environment and natural resource research, specializing in agriculture, energy, geology, and water resource related fields.

The University of Wyoming consists of seven colleges: agriculture, arts and sciences, business, education, engineering, health sciences, and Law. The university maintains a low student-faculty ratio - one of the lowest such ratios among four-year schools in the west. UW also offers a variety of cultural and social activities. The university offers 86 bachelor's, 66 master's, and 26 doctoral degrees. Professional pharmacy, juris doctor (law) and education degrees are also available.

The university is a hub of cultural events in Laramie. It offers a variety of performing arts events, ranging from rock concerts in the Arena Auditorium to classical concerts and performances by the University's theater and dance department at the Fine Arts Center. Wyoming also boasts a competitive athletic program, one which annually challenges for conference and national championships. Wyoming offers many extracurricular activities, including over 150 recognized student organizations that include a wide range of social, professional and academic groups. The newly renovated Wyoming Union is the hub of the campus, with the campus bookstore and numerous student facilities. The University is also home to the American Heritage Center. The Center contains numerous special collections, manuscripts and artifacts covering a broad range of disciplines. The collections relate to the American experience, not just that of Wyoming or its residents.

Colleges

School of Energy Resources

Due to the ongoing energy boom in Wyoming, several programs at UW have been created or reborn. In January 2007, EnCana Oil and Gas donated US $5 million to the University of Wyoming to create the School of Energy Resources. This donation was matched by the Wyoming State Government, making the donation worth $10 million. The school was created to assist industry to develop Wyoming's vast energy resources.[2]

Haub School and Ruckelshaus Institute of Environment and Natural Resources

Another school closely related to the energy boom, is the School of Environment and Natural Resources, or ENR. Unlike the School of Energy Resources, ENR helps to protect Wyoming's beauty and resources from over-development and to understand the impacts of energy development. ENR has also recently created the Wyoming Conservation Corps (WCC) which was created after an ENR student had worked in the Montana Conservation Corps and wanted a similar program in Wyoming.[3] The WCC's goal is to clean up Wyoming's public lands that have been misused over the years, and to allow students first hand experience in the problems and issues facing Wyoming's public lands.

College of Engineering and Applied Science

Engineering Hall, 1940

There are several fields of study offered by the College of Engineering:

Architectural engineering

The Architectural Engineering program is one of only fourteen ABET accredited programs in the US.[4]

Civil engineering

The Civil Engineering program is highly respected throughout the west, and graduates are in high demand in the Front Range region.

Petroleum engineering

The Petroleum Engineering field was reborn in 2005 after a generous gift from EnCana. Another US $2 million on top of the donation for the School of Energy resources, was given. The program was absent from UW for eight years.[5]

College of Business

There are several fields of study offered by the College of Business:

Economics and Finance

With the disciplines of economics and finance together in one department, the University of Wyoming professors work together in research and teaching to develop a strong educational environment. Many of our professors who are internationally known bring a plethora of views and ideas to the classroom. Degrees offered in the Department of Economics and Finance include a bachelor of science, master of science, and Ph.D.

Accounting

The University of Wyoming College of Business Accounting, focuses not only on the procedures and conventions followed in accounting, but more importantly, on developing the professional skills essential to future success.

Management and Marketing

The Department of Management and Marketing prepares future leaders to be effective in the breakneck environment of globalization, competition, and technology with its unexpected challenges and opportunities.

MBA Program

The University of Wyoming College of Business has been recognized as meeting the highest standards in business education, holding accreditation from AACSB International - The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, since 1954. The college has ranked consistently in the top 10 percent of business schools, based on student performance on the Major Field Achievement Test in Business offered by the Educational Testing Service.

Campus life

Residence halls

The University has five types of housing available for students. The residence halls include:

  • Orr
  • White
  • Downey
  • McIntyre
  • Crane
  • Hill

The four main residence halls (Orr, White, Downey, and McIntyre) are connected together via Washakie Center (named for Chief Washakie), which contains the main dining hall and other student services. The Crane and Hill residence halls house upperclassmen exclusively. Married students are provided the opportunity to live in town homes east of War Memorial Stadium and the university has off-campus apartments (Spanish Walk) available to upperclassmen. All incoming freshmen are expected to live in one of the main residence halls, but dispensation can be made for those with off-campus housing.

The main 'quad' of the campus is Prexy's Pasture. A large open grassy area located within a ring of classroom and administrative buildings, Prexy's (as it is commonly known) is home to many students between classes. A sculpture at the center of Prexy's - the University of Wyoming Family (visible from the PastureCam) - garnered national attention when it was installed.

Student government

The governing body for Wyoming students is the Associated Students of the University of Wyoming, or ASUW.

Greek life

Climber at Nearby Vedauwoo

Nearly all fraternities and sororities are located on campus in university owned houses. Houses are located on Fraternity and Sorority Row. Fraternities line the northern (Fraternity) road and Sororities line the southern (Sorority) road. The two roads are separated by a large park and the playing field for UW's club rugby union team. This area is considered one the last remaining true Fraternity rows.

Sororities Fraternities

Dissolved Greek organizations

Founded as a colony in 1991, the Wyoming chapter of Delta Chi fraternity eventually saw its demise after failing to pay rent to the university in 2002. The former fraternity house located on Fraternity Row is now leased to various student bodies as a satellite dormitory, as the university itself is in ownership of the property. During the active years, their advisers included Senator Craig Thomas, and Dan Baccari (UW Vice President for Administration and Finance). The UW chapter of Delta Chi was most known to the Laramie community for their annual Easter egg hunt, which drew crowds in the hundreds each year.

Intramural and outdoor activities

UW also has an extensive intramural athletic program that brings students and student groups together on the athletic fields. In addition, with the abundance of outdoor recreational opportunities at students' doorsteps, such as skiing and hiking in the nearby mountains and its location to many national parks and forests, Laramie was recently voted one of America's top 40 college towns by Outside Magazine,[6] and one of the Best Places for Outdoor Activities.[7] Vedauwoo is located 20 miles (32 km) east of the campus, and is known to be a mecca of climbing, but is also used extensively by anglers, hikers, mountain bikers, and cross country skiers. Groups have also been known to have outdoor concerts and battle of the band competitions in the area. The Snowy Range is approximately 30 miles (48 km) to the west and provides numerous recreational activities. The University of Wyoming's Outdoor Adventure Program(OAP) allows students of all skill levels to get involved in outdoor activities. The program also has an extensive collection of outdoor gear that is available to rent by students and locals alike.

Sustainability

The university has established a Campus Sustainability Committee (CSC) to address and advise on environmental efforts on campus. The CSC runs various campus projects and offers student internships. All new campus buildings are required to meet LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Silver certification of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). UW President Tom Buchanan signed the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) in 2007.[8] For their advances on university sustainability, UW scored a "C" on the College Sustainability Report Card of the Sustainable Endowments Institute.[9]

Athletics

Main article: Wyoming Cowboys
See also: Wyoming Cowboys basketball

The sports teams are named the Cowboys and Cowgirls. Wyoming competes in NCAA Division I (I-A for football) as a member of the Mountain West Conference. They have 15 varsity teams that compete in 10 different sports.

University of Wyoming facts

  • Named by the New York Times as one of the best education buys in the nation.[citation needed]
  • One of the more successful extracurricular organizations at the University of Wyoming is its Speech and Debate Team (sometimes called the Forensics Team), which has existed since at least 1912. UW debaters captured national championships in parliamentary debate in 1995 and 2003, with national runners-up in 1996, 2000, and 2001, and the NPTE Top Speaker award in 2002, 2003 and 2008. The university's debate team is one of the few intercollegiate squads excelling in both policy debate and parliamentary debate.
  • The University of Wyoming is home to the Centennial Singers, a touring group of singer/dancers that tour regionally during school breaks. There are normally tours in March (spring break), January (winter break), and May (after graduation). Tours have span as far west as California, and as far east as Florida. Auditions are held at the end of each year and are open to all students, regardless of their major.
  • The UW Residence Hall area is the most densely populated area in Wyoming, with 2,500 students on 1 1/3 acres of land
  • Mcintyre Hall and White Hall, twin twelve-story dormitories on the UWYO campus, are the tallest buildings in Wyoming[10]
  • It is still legal to graze your horse on Prexy's Pasture
  • 'Prep' the original University preparatory school is still present on campus, located on the first, second, basement, and sub-basement levels of the college of education building
  • The student newspaper is the Branding Iron.
  • Traditionally, the university hosts the first NPDA debate tournament of the year in mid-September
  • Award-winning poet H.L. (Harvey) Hix is director of the Master of Fine Arts program at the university
  • The Department of Anthropology with the affiliated George C. Frison Institute is one of the top programs in the nation for paleoindian archaeology and for ethnohistory.

Notable alumni

See also

References

  1. ^ "2006 NACUBO Endowment Study". National Association of College and University Business Officers.
  2. ^ "UW Secures $12 Million in Gifts and Pledges for Energy School". uwyo.edu. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  3. ^ "Wyoming Conservation Corps begins project west of town". casperstartribune.net. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  4. ^ "ABET Accredited Architectural Engineering Programs". www.aeinstitute.org. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  5. ^ "EnCana Gift Boosts Petroleum Engineering at UW". uwyo.edu. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  6. ^ "Outside University: The Top 40". outside.away.com. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  7. ^ "Best Places for Outdoor Activities". msn.com. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  8. ^ "UW Campus Sustainability Committee". University of Wyoming. Retrieved 2009-06-08.
  9. ^ http://www.greenreportcard.org/report-card-2009/schools/university-of-wyoming
  10. ^ "Interstate 80 Westbound - Albany County". rockymountainroads.com. Retrieved 2008-07-28.

41°18′47″N 105°34′53″W / 41.31306°N 105.58139°W / 41.31306; -105.58139

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