On Jan. 18, the University of Wyoming’s Board of Trustees (BOT) met at the Marian H. Rochelle Gateway Center to discuss items on its agenda, covering topics anywhere from landscaping to tuition costs.
The BOT approved the landscaping plan submitted by LimeGreen Design, Inc. The plan is expected to start in the spring of 2018 and is centered around the athletics facilities as part of the recent construction that has been taking place in those areas. The estimated cost for this project is $386,472.
Also approved were renderings for greenhouses to be built on the exterior of the Science Initiative. These plans were brought to the Board of Trustees attention in the past; however, they required a more detailed plan in order to approve.
Though many topics required action, there were those that were only in need of discussion. The BOT received updates on the Science Initiative construction costs and budget. As of now, the construction budget is $71 million. While the numbers are not specified at this point in the process, it is estimated to be less than the budgeted amount.
Also brought to the attention of the BOT was a recent study in the university’s capacity and the opportunities for growth within it. Rose Martinelli, of Huron Consulting Group, presented the capacity statistics that showed that little constraints existed on the University’s ability to grow in population.
What constraints do exist, Martinelli said, could be met with slight tweaks to scheduling and teaching loads.
Martinelli also found that enrollment at UW has mostly flatlined in regards to Wyoming residents and suggested that the most effective and financially beneficial option to increase enrollment, would be to appeal to out-of-state students.
However, 83 percent of prospective students living outside of Wyoming believe that out-of-state tuition will be more expensive for them, which turns many of them away.
“We will have to spend money to make money,” Martinelli said.
Martinelli said that the university lower tuition costs for out-of-state by nearly $1,100 to attract a larger out-of-state population.
Cheri Bellamy, assistant lecturer, spoke at the BOT meeting in a public testimony. Bellamy spoke in regards to the proposed ten-year housing plan that was approved later in the day. Part of the proposal provides two approaches to new housing facilities.
The first approach proposes housing be built on the site of the Crane-Hill apartments. The second has the housing built on both the Crane-Hill apartments as well as the East portion of the Greek Mall green area.
Bellamy disapproved of the second approach and urged the BOT to consider the historic significance of the green area, as well as the use it receives now.
