Kyler Lunde
Klunde1@uwyo.edu
UW President Richard McGinity gave a speech at the ASUW meeting Tuesday discussing upcoming challenges to the university and plans to prepare incoming UW President Laurie Nichols.
Nichols will officially become UW’s 26th president, as well as first female president, May 16.
McGinity spoke about his waning weeks in office and the transition he expects Nichols will undergo.
“We have been pursuing a very thorough transition process for Nichols,” McGinity said.
McGinity said he is proud to have been the university’s president. He said he is working as hard as he can to make sure Nichols is as prepared to take office as she possibly can be.
“As I finish my last sprint, I want my successor to also begin at a sprint,” McGinity said.
He also spoke about Nichols’ qualifications for the presidential position.
“She has done a number of things that this university needs right now,” McGinity said.
He provided several examples including having experience with significant budget reductions, academic program evaluations and strategic planning. The latter of these is something the university has yet to formally engage in.
McGinity said it is a necessity for the university to construct a strategic plan to cover a timeline of the next five to 10 years. He said Nichols will help the university to adapt to the difficult economic environment the state is facing.
McGinity said Nichols’ transition into office is expected to be successful and received well by the university community.
“We will really enjoy her,” McGinity said.
UW Vice President Emily Kath asked McGinity what challenges UW might face in the next five to 10 years, aside from budget issues. McGinity said the strategic plan he mentioned will be what answers questions such as these.
“Instruction in higher education 10 to 20 years from now will be very different from what it is today,” McGinity said.
Because students today are more technologically savvy than ever before, the university will have to figure out how to accommodate this new ability to learn, he said.
Though McGinity said he is not sure exactly how these changes will be enacted, he knows change is coming. He also noted the statewide budget cuts are likely only the beginning of the financial challenges UW will face.
“This requires everybody to work together in every corner of the university; we have to look for inefficiencies,” McGinity said.
As the university currently has no budgeting or accounting system, it is difficult to be sure where to begin, McGinity said.
“Our new president has experience operating this,” McGinity said.
He added that he believes the university will come out of these issues even stronger and more effective than it is now.
McGinity ended his speech by quoting Ben Franklin, “We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately.”
In other business:
– Tayln Costello, a junior studying petroleum engineering, addressed the senate during open forum about the Professor of Practice position being voted against by the UW faculty senate on March 28. A petition has been created in opposition to this vote, explicating the importance of this position being filled in every college at UW.
“A Professors of Practice position at UW would help vastly diversity students’ education,” according to the petition. “These professors prepare students to effectively apply their education to the workplace by helping provide a more smooth transition from academia to the private sector.”
– A bill to provide equality in restrooms on campus for transgendered students was passed unanimously.
Senate resolution #2505 is titled as Campus Restroom Equality for Transgender and Gender-Nonconforming Students.
Every building built or renovated after this resolution will now be required to include “at least one single-use, gender-neutral family restroom.”
UW will also be required to list current transgender and gender-nonconforming resources on campus within the A to Z index on the UW website.
