Western Wyoming Community College
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Western Wyoming Community College (Western) is a
public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...
community college A community college is a type of educational institution. The term can have different meanings in different countries: many community colleges have an "open enrollment" for students who have graduated from high school (also known as senior sec ...
in
Rock Springs, Wyoming Rock Springs is a city in Sweetwater County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 23,036 at the 2010 census, making it the fifth most populated city in the state of Wyoming, and the most populous city in Sweetwater County. Rock Springs is ...
. Western offers certificates,
associate degree An associate degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of qualification above a high school diploma, GED, or matriculation, and below a bachelor's degree. The fi ...
s, and a
bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...
. The college students are known as the Mustangs. Since the local area is home to many dinosaur fossil finds, there are reproductions of various dinosaur skeletons in public areas of the college.


History

Western Wyoming Community College, the fifth of seven community colleges in Wyoming, was established in the fall of 1959. Through the efforts of a citizens’ committee, a campaign was begun, an election was held, and Western and the original district were created. In September, 1959, forty students enrolled for college credit courses with five full-time faculty teaching during the evening. Western celebrated its 60th anniversary in 2019. From 1960–61, Western moved to Reliance, from Rock Springs, to occupy the former Reliance High School and daytime classes began. In September, 1964, the original district was expanded to include all communities within Sweetwater County, a new Board of Trustees was elected, and the official name of the college became Western Wyoming Community College. Consistent growth of the college led to the inauguration of a $1,822,000 building program on October 4, 1966. On November 11, 1967, ground-breaking ceremonies marked the beginning of construction on a new campus, and completion in June, 1969. Growth continued. In March, 1973, voters approved a $1,780,000 bond issue to provide additional instructional facilities. The new vocational-technical education building was ready for occupancy in fall, 1974, and the college center building was completed. In 1976, three residence halls were constructed to provide on-campus housing, made possible by a loan from the State Farm Loan Board. Western was granted
accreditation Accreditation is the independent, third-party evaluation of a conformity assessment body (such as certification body, inspection body or laboratory) against recognised standards, conveying formal demonstration of its impartiality and competence to ...
by the
Higher Learning Commission The Higher Learning Commission (HLC) is an institutional accreditor in the United States. It has historically accredited post-secondary education institutions in the central United States: Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa ...
of the
North Central Association of Colleges and Schools The North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (NCA), also known as the North Central Association, was a membership organization, consisting of colleges, universities, and schools in 19 U.S. states engaged in educational accreditation. It w ...
in April 1976. Again, in 1981, the citizens of Sweetwater County demonstrated their support for Western by authorizing a building project that cost in excess of $63,000,000. This major expansion created one of the most modern and beautiful community college campuses in the West. The '' Rock Springs Daily Rocket-Miner'' advocated the expanded campus through the work of its late publisher, Charles E. Richardson. Students who enrolled in 1985 were the first to use new student housing, the Green River Center and the Technology and Industry shops. Between the fall of 1987 and fall of 1988, a new student commons area, classrooms and labs, offices, Children’s Center, studios, and theatre were occupied. A new chemistry laboratory was completed for the fall of 1993. Construction of a fifth residence hall was approved in December, 1994, and completed in August, 1997. In 2022 Western received funds from the State of Wyoming and other entities to move forward with building a Health Sciences Building. Student numbers have increased from 40 in 1959 to serving over 7,000 people per year as of 2019. These figures include all students – varying ages and interests, enrolled in the credit, non-credit and extension programs. Western has progressed from one graduate in 1962 to over 400 in 2018-2019. The commencement ceremony is held each year in May and includes Summer, Fall and Spring graduates. Over the years Western has awarded more than 9,200 associate degrees and certificates since tracking.


Location

Western Wyoming Community College is located in Rock Springs and has an extended campus center in
Green River Green River may refer to: Rivers Canada * Green River (British Columbia), a tributary of the Lillooet River *Green River, a tributary of the Saint John River, also known by its French name of Rivière Verte *Green River (Ontario), a tributary of ...
, Wyoming, along with other outreach centers across southwest Wyoming. The boundaries of the college district, with those of the county, enclose in the southwestern part of the state. Western serves Carbon, Lincoln, Sublette, Sweetwater, and Uinta counties, covering just over 29,000 square miles. The average elevation of the main campus is over 6,500 feet above sea level. Green River, which is located approximately west of the main campus site, together with Rock Springs, comprises the fourth largest population center in the State of Wyoming. The recreation areas of
Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area is a United States national recreation area in Wyoming and Utah. Its centerpiece is the long Flaming Gorge Reservoir. History The area was given the name "Flaming Gorge" by John Wesley Powell during his ...
, The
Grand Teton National Park Grand Teton National Park is an American national park in northwestern Wyoming. At approximately , the park includes the major peaks of the Teton Range as well as most of the northern sections of the valley known as Jackson Hole. Grand Teton Na ...
/
Jackson Hole Jackson Hole (originally called Jackson's Hole by mountain men) is a valley between the Gros Ventre and Teton mountain ranges in the U.S. state of Wyoming, near the border with Idaho, in Teton County, one of the richest counties in the Unite ...
country, and
Yellowstone National Park Yellowstone National Park is an American national park located in the western United States, largely in the northwest corner of Wyoming and extending into Montana and Idaho. It was established by the 42nd U.S. Congress with the Yellowston ...
are all easily accessible from Western. The campus, consisting of , with modern facilities and equipment, can be easily reached by
Greyhound Bus Lines Greyhound Lines, Inc. (commonly known as simply Greyhound) operates the largest intercity bus service in North America, including Greyhound Mexico. It also operates charter bus services, Amtrak Thruway services, commuter bus services, and pa ...
and various
airlines An airline is a company that provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for codeshare agreements, in whic ...
as well as by car on
Interstate 80 Interstate 80 (I-80) is an east–west transcontinental freeway that crosses the United States from downtown San Francisco, California, to Teaneck, New Jersey, in the New York metropolitan area. The highway was designated in 1956 as one o ...
and U.S. 191. There is a Western Wyoming Community College Foundation. Former State Senator
Robert H. Johnson The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...
was one of its members.


Academics

Western offers transfer degrees for students who plan to pursue a
baccalaureate Baccalaureate may refer to: * ''Baccalauréat'', a French national academic qualification * Bachelor's degree, or baccalaureate, an undergraduate academic degree * English Baccalaureate, a performance measure to assess secondary schools in England ...
, occupational degrees, and occupational certificates for students who plan to directly enter the workforce or who want to learn new skills or brush up on others.  Many of the certificates are embedded within the corresponding occupational degrees.


Museum and displays

The college features a free museum, an art gallery, and many displays that are open to visitors. The Weidner Wildlife Museum features mounted wildlife of 125 species collected worldwide.There are other natural history displays around the campus, including fossils and rock slabs from the
Green River Formation The Green River Formation is an Eocene geologic formation that records the sedimentation in a group of intermountain lakes in three basins along the present-day Green River in Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah. The sediments are deposited in very fine ...
, and five life sized dinosaur displays. The Western Art Gallery, located inside the front entrance, hosts changing displays of regional, national and student art, and there are sculptures around the campus, including replica
Moai Moai or moʻai ( ; es, moái; rap, moʻai, , statue) are monolithic human figures carved by the Rapa Nui people on Easter Island, Rapa Nui in eastern Polynesia between the years 1250 and 1500. Nearly half are still at Rano Raraku, the main mo ...
statues from
Easter Island Easter Island ( rap, Rapa Nui; es, Isla de Pascua) is an island and special territory of Chile in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeasternmost point of the Polynesian Triangle in Oceania. The island is most famous for its nearl ...
.


References


External links

* {{authority control Education in Sweetwater County, Wyoming Buildings and structures in Rock Springs, Wyoming Community colleges in Wyoming Educational institutions established in 1959 1959 establishments in Wyoming Tourist attractions in Sweetwater County, Wyoming NJCAA athletics