UW Trustees Set Agenda for May 15

The University of Wyoming Board of Trustees is scheduled to take action on 2020-21 tuition levels and UW’s academic calendar for 2020-23 during the board’s regular meeting Wednesday through Friday, May 15-17.

The meeting will be held in the Marian H. Rochelle Gateway Center. Meetings are open to the public, except for executive sessions.

An executive session of the full board is scheduled at 7:30 a.m. Wednesday, during which candidates for the office of acting president will be interviewed.

Various committees of the board are scheduled to meet beginning at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, continuing through 6:30 p.m.

The regular open meeting of the full board begins at 9:45 a.m. Thursday. Public testimony will be accepted at 11 a.m. Thursday.

Gov. Mark Gordon is scheduled to address the board at 11:30 a.m. Thursday.

The administration’s tuition recommendation for 2020-21 -- scheduled for consideration at 3:05 p.m. Thursday -- calls for no increase in the rate for Wyoming resident undergraduates, with an 8 percent increase for nonresident undergraduates. General graduate student tuition would rise by 4 percent, with some variation for graduate programs with differential or market-based tuition rates.

The proposal also includes development of a transition plan to retain current UW nonresident students who would be affected by the 8 percent increase. And, higher academic credentials would be established for nonresident students to receive tuition discounts, with larger awards for those higher-achieving students.

Additionally, the board is being asked to allocate $1 million for need-based aid for Wyoming resident undergraduates.

The university’s academic calendar proposal for a three-year period, starting with the 2020-21 school year, is scheduled for consideration at 1 p.m. Thursday. Developed with extensive feedback from students, faculty and staff, the recommended calendars call for the fall semester to start on the fourth Monday of August each year, with a four-week winter break and the spring semester starting on the Tuesday after Martin Luther King Jr./Wyoming Equality Day each January. The recommended calendars retain a weeklong spring break in mid-March, with finals week ending no later than May 14.

Other issues scheduled to be addressed during the board meeting include updates on development of the campus master plan; UW’s student housing task force; Higher Learning Commission reaccreditation; and the university’s marketing campaign.

The trustees’ Budget Committee, which will conduct budget hearings with various UW units Monday-Tuesday, May 13-14, is scheduled to report to the full board Thursday afternoon.

Board members also will participate in UW commencement activities Friday and Saturday.

The complete agenda, along with a report that includes background information on agenda items, is available at www.uwyo.edu/trustees/2019-meeting-materials/may_15-17_2019_meeting.html.

Public sessions of the full board will be streamed online at https://zoom.us/j/381140209?pwd=&status=success.