TORRINGTON – The University of Wyoming is making significant strides toward realizing its five-year plan, according to the Year 1 Annual Report presented by President Laurie Nichols at the Torrington Rotary Club meeting Monday.

“About a year ago we launched a new five-year strategic plan for the university, which we call ‘Breaking Through’,” Nichols said. “We are looking more inward and trying to improve on the things we do more internally – our processes, our efficiency as a university, our effectiveness.”

The plan includes four broad goals, including Driving Excellence, described as “join(ing) together as an intellectual community already renowned for its regional, national and global relevance and impact by fostering and rewarding excellence in teaching, scholarship, innovation and creative endeavor.”

Nichols used the launch of a new outdoor recreation and tourism management degree program this fall as an example of moving forward on goal one, and said a new construction management degree program is planned for the future, calling it “very workforce ready.”

The plan’s second goal is Inspiring Students and aims to encourage UW enrollees “to pursue a productive, engaged and fulfilling life and prepare them to succeed in a sustainable global economy.”

“This state needs more college graduates,” Nichols said.

Performance indicators for goal two include enrollment, retention and campus construction.

“We’re up modestly overall on enrollment – 50 to 55 students,” she said, adding the incoming freshman class broke the all-school record, with just below 1,900 students, representing a 10-percent increase.

Goal three, Impacting Communities, aims to “improve and enhance the health and well-being of our communities and environments through outreach programs and in collaboration with our constituents and partners. The fourth and final goal, A High-Performing University – calls on university staff and administration to “assure the long-term strength and stability of the university by preserving, caring for and developing human, intellectual, financial, structural and marketing resources.”

The strategic plan went into effect July 1, 2017, and will continue through July 2022.

“We have four more years ahead of us, (the report allows us to) rebalance and recalibrate as we think about how we head into year two … ensure we’re making progress,” Nichols said, later adding, “You have a university that’s really for the people of this state … it’s a gem.

“Thank you for your support of the university. Thank you for continuing to make access to higher education a priority in this state.”

For full details on the plan and first report, visit http://www.uwyo.edu/strategic-plan/.