New Administration Called to Invest In UW Subculture
Let’s face it. A good percentage of students attend the University of Wyoming for the sole reason of affordability.
The University of Wyoming’s promise of affordability and the fact that it’s the only four-year college that offers cheap in-state tuition essentially means that almost everyone wanting to go to college after graduating from a Wyoming high school will be going to UW.
It’s great, but sometimes it feels like the University neglects this reason and assumes everyone here had UW at the top of their college lists.
Engineers and agriculture majors will thrive here, and their money will be well spent as they are offered research opportunities and more.
But for people interested in many fields in the humanities, it can feel like the university doesn’t care about their major. That is, if the university even offers the one they originally wanted to take.
A person who wants to study linguistics, classical studies or major in any language other than Spanish will have to make compromises on their dreams or take on debt at an out-of-state college.
(The language offerings are especially strange given the amazing study abroad opportunities offered by UW.)
This isn’t to say the university has to offer every major known to man. It makes sense not to spread the programs thin, creating a bunch of mediocre or half-hearted degree opportunities, but acting like this is the top choice and that every incoming student is eager to be a poke shows an ignorance from the administration.
Yes, the weekly emails of the goings-on of the University are nice, and do display a variety of departments, but students are not the greatest at checking their email, especially freshmen.
Personal interactions with the administration (in groups that are not just the president’s personal interests) would go a long, long way.
Acknowledging underfunded departments and the often tight-knit student communities that form around them could do wonders for the engagement of different types of students and get them to care about the University. It could get them to see UW as something other than a place to get their degree and get out of here as fast as possible.
Pitching football and basketball games as a place to meet new people and have greater social interactions, and not just a place to show school pride, is, ironically, probably the biggest way to bring in school pride.
The University of Wyoming is not just a place of sports, outdoors, and bars. Students form groups to share interests; despite all this, subcultures grow, and communities are created.
The University should try to acknowledge and interact with these subcultures. Help promote them to freshmen who feel lost and are having trouble finding them.
One of the university’s biggest advantages is its student-to-staff ratio of about 13:1. Especially in smaller departments, this fosters a strong sense of community and mutual respect among students and staff. UW must foster this, rewarding staff in these overlooked departments and securing the humanities position at the University of Wyoming.
The University’s moving mechanisms can make things feel disjointed, with groups getting overlooked and students having difficulty finding resources.
As UW heads into a new administration with President Reeves set to step into his role in July, it gives the university a perfect time to look beyond STEM, agriculture, and football. They need to invest time in the students who feel left out.
