May 2014 | Vol. 15 No. 3

UW reaches students across the state and around the world through the UW Outreach School.

By Micaela Myers

For student Nan Craft of St. Stephens, Wyo., the University of Wyoming Outreach School made all the difference. “I could not have done it without the UW Outreach School,” she says. “I couldn’t have actually gone to all these classes on a campus in combination with a 40-plus-hour-a-week job and my obligations as a mom and a grandma. This way, I could do my homework at 10 at night at my kitchen table. It gave me the flexibility to study and perform in the classroom at odd hours rather than your traditional daytime classes.”

Craft is not alone. In the spring of 2013, approximately 6,000 students enrolled in UW outreach courses.

Many associate UW with the Laramie campus, but through the Outreach School, UW serves students in cities across Wyoming, in 40 states and in at least five foreign countries—allowing them to live, work and study in their own hometowns. With an average age of 35, students are drawn to the outreach experience due to its convenience, exceptional value and high-quality instruction.

All instructors are chosen by their respective UW departments, ensuring that experienced professionals teach every outreach class. In order to reach students throughout Wyoming, the UW Outreach School operates nine regional centers around the state in addition to the UW-Casper branch campus and the administrative home facility in Laramie. At each regional center, academic coordinators advise and recruit students, as well as help organize courses. The courses themselves utilize a number of delivery methods, including online, video conferencing, audio conferencing, web conferencing, correspondence study, on-site instruction at regional centers and combinations thereof.

Who are the faces of outreach? Here you will meet six UW Outreach School students and discover why they chose to pursue UW degrees without ever leaving home.