Western's Geographic Presence

Western faculty, students, staff and administrators are involved in many activities throughout the Valley, and the college provides services to the area in numerous ways.

College employees can be found on almost all committees, councils, boards and work groups. Students get involved with area activities in leadership and support roles.

This list is not complete by any means, but it provides an insight into the myriad ways in which the college and her people work to be productive and valuable members of the communities and the area in which they live.

Economic Development

• The Small Business Institute provides students with opportunities for learning in a consultation role with local business owners. In turn, the projects provide business owners with ideas to enhance their businesses.

• Creation of an on-line reader provides a connection between Western and communities in western and southwestern Colorado related to current political and social issues of the region.

• Western's Extended Studies program offers a wide variety of courses to area residents throughout the year (for credit and non-credit courses) and has offered Banking Certificate programs.

• As a Rural New Economy (RNE) network member, Western has offered e-commerce workshops and maintains and hosts the RNE database in cooperation with fourteen community and four-year colleges.

• ENVS 400 capstone class developed an environmental assessment of potential sites for the Gunnison Valley Observatory and Science & Technology Center. The class also conducted a public opinion survey to gauge interest in such a facility. Spring 2003.

• The Environmental Studies capstone class worked with officials from Gunnison County and the Gunnison Observatory Board to help the community develop an ecologically sustainable observatory to enhance educational and economic opportunities for the Gunnison Basin. (Spring 2003)

• Staff members of the College serve on the Board of the Mainstreet Program, which provides a link between students and the community.

• In 2004 the BAE Department placed 40 internships, mostly in Gunnison County. In the first half of 2005 (spring semester) there are 14 interns. These students are providing a great service to the community in addition to significantly expanding their education and becoming much more attractive "work force ready" graduates. They help companies redesign their businesses, develop new business plans, survey opportunities for the future, develop programs for expanding a customer base, in addition to the many accounting, finance, management, marketing and retail positions they have filled.

Tourism and Natural Resource Management

• Biology students and faculty work with area resource managers in developing management strategies for wildlife and habitat.

• Geology students and faculty have been working with the National Park Service and other governmental agencies in developing geological maps of surrounding areas.

• Students in the Recreation program have the opportunity to apply knowledge gained in the classroom to internships in resort management, program development for parks and recreation, and public lands management. Ongoing.

• Youth in Natural Resources is a Colorado Department of Natural Resources Program in which minority youth are employed by various divisions of the Department of Natural Resources. A college stay is required to learn about college and career opportunities.

• Environmental Studies students developed plans and gathered baseline and trend data to monitor natural indicators for long term assessment of ecological health. (Fall 2003)

• Biology faculty and students have developed collaborations with federal and state agencies to examine genetic and ecological data associated with the spread of cheatgrass, an exotic species. (2001-current)

• Colorado Water Workshop provides a venue for discussion of water management issues for southwestern Colorado.

• Environmental Studies and Service Learning programs are involved in programs with the U.S.F.S., NPS, and other federal agencies. Ongoing

• The Recreation program and Todd Crane Center for Outdoor Leadership have partnered with Gunnison County to develop and operate the Gunnison Whitewater Park. Ongoing.

• The Recreation program is partnering with local non-profit Siskadee to conduct a public opinion survey on the Gunnison Sage Grouse. Fall 2003.

• The Environmental Studies program held their 7th Annual Spring Symposium on Forest Health. National and regional speakers drew representation from most of the public land management agencies, 4 different counties, and over 200 interested public and students. (Spring 2003)

Teacher Education

• Inter-institutional collaboration with the University of Colorado-Denver on Master's Degree Program in Teacher Education.

• Service Learning provides students with involvement in the America Reads and America Counts programs, where students volunteer to tutor elementary age children in reading or math.

• The PIRATE (Partners in Reform and Teacher Education) is a collaborative professional development program between Western and the RE1J Gunnison Watershed School District.

• Western's Dual Licensure Option in the Teacher Education Program is offered on-line.

• The "Building Connections" provided classroom teachers and high school students in Ouray an opportunity to learn about Western and to help Western students understand the realities of planning and teaching an interdisciplinary curriculum.

• UCD Masters Program Retreat was held in the Spring of 2000 to provide Western faculty and faculty from UCD an opportunity to plan the curriculum and activities for the graduate program that was offered on Western's campus in the Summer of 2000.

• PIRATE (Partners in Reform and Teacher Education). A collaborative professional development program between Western and RE1J School District.

• RMOTE (Rural Mountain Organization for Technological Enhancement) is a consortium headquartered at Western State College and includes school districts in Gunnison, Hinsdale (Lake City), Ridgway, Ouray, Mountain Valley (Saguache), and Moffat. The five-year project will focus on providing professional development and training to 48 teachers each year to utilize technology effectively in five curricular areas -- language arts, mathematics, science, social studies and foreign languages.

• REACHE (Rural Education--Access to and Change in Higher Education). Western State College instructors, parents, school staff, and college students collaborated and worked as a team in achieving the following outcomes which improved the quality of education for thousands of Colorado school age children with diverse learning needs. These outcomes included:

  • the recruitment of special education service providers by providing access to an integrated general and special education: moderate needs licensure program during the summer and via the Internet, with a focus on the Gunnison area and across the Western Slope;

  • development of quality "mentor" relationships between preservice and inservice special education teachers, increasing the recruitment and retention of special education service providers;

  • supporting RE1J school-wide support teams, referred to as "Hand-in-Hand TEAMs (Together Everyone Achieves More)", the TEAM is made up of parents, teachers, administrators, para-educators, counselors, intervention specialists, therapists, college instructors, and Western students and;

  • to successfully support students with diverse needs in general education classrooms. The grant award was $35,200.

• Summer Institutes - The education, math, and science faculty have partnered with local junior and high school teachers to develop Summer Institutes for Teachers. Faculty have developed course offerings with consultation from k-12 teachers in the sciences, mathematics, and computer sciences. The collaboration was made possible from an Eisenhower grant from the State of Colorado. The first teacher institute was piloted in 2003 with a much larger offering anticipated for June 2004.

• CLASS - (Connections that Link Across School Systems). Local special education training, support materials, and ongoing consultation to help schools develop effective intervention and education teams which are skilled with infusing the learning needs of all students into the general education curriculum through the expansion of state content standards. The fifteen people who received financial support through this grant returned to their districts and provided initial training and on-going support to their local school district personnel in standards-based education for effective instruction and assessment in literacy skills.

• Western's Dual Licensure Option in the Teacher Education Program is offered on-line. This provides preservice teachers with training to become licensed in special education.

• Colorado Read-to-Achieve Grant - This is a three year grant which involves a collaborative effort between the Gunnison Community School and the WSC Teacher Education Program to provide literacy support for students in 2nd and 3rd grade who are on ILPs (Individual Literacy Plans). The grant specifically addresses the cultural and linguistic needs of students by providing an on-site teacher who is bilingual and who supports teachers and students in a collaborative classroom model. Instructors from WSC provide on-going literacy education and support to teachers in the school district during monthly focus group meetings and an intensive training course each summer.

• RMOTE (Rural Mountain Organization for Technological Enhancement) is a consortium led by Western State College and includes school districts in Gunnison, Hinsdale (Lake City), Ridgway, Ouray, Mountain Valley (Saguache), and Moffat. The five-year project will focus on providing professional development and training to 48 teachers each year to utilize technology effectively in five curricular areas -- language arts, mathematics, science, social studies and foreign languages.

• Summer Teacher Institute with Extended Studies (get details from Layne)

• Collaboration with Science and Math Departments for a Science and Math Teacher Institute., summer 2004. Already constructed and submitted to continuing education

• Teach Now Statewide Online Alternative Licensure Program - Supported by a $1.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education grant. Elementary, Secondary and Special Education Licensure options are available for individuals with a bachelor's degree or higher who want to pursue a career in teaching. Website - http://www.western.edu/teachnow

• I can co-write articles and present at national/international professional conferences with public school teachers. (example Adventure Buddies Program Article - which is the name given to the collaboration for the field experiences involving the elementary methods course in sciences, math and social studies.)

Cultural Resource

• Western's Music, Theatre, and Art programs provide cultural opportunities for the community.

• WCALC -- the Western Colorado Academic Library Consortium -- is a cooperative program for group purchasing of information resources, staff exchanges and development programs, resource sharing, and exploration of grant opportunities. The current members of WCALC are Adams State College, Colorado Mountain Colleges, Fort Lewis College, Mesa State College, Northwestern Community College, and Western State College. In the past year the consortium has negotiated contracts for online databases, held staff development programs, and planned a statewide program on academic libraries to be held at the annual Pathfinder retreat.

• Early recruitment and intervention of minority students in the middle schools and high schools in Montrose and Olathe.

• Members of Western's Amigos club volunteer as tutors in English as a Second Language (ESL) at the local elementary and middle school.

Other Areas of Service

• The Todd Crane Center for Outdoor Leadership offers avalanche awareness training, youth adventure camps, the Colorado Adventure Sports Festival and was instrumental in the development of the Gunnison Whitewater Park west of town.

• Many Western faculty work with area schools. Recently, for example, Western art faculty and many college students gave time and expertise to the high school visual arts program. A staff members provides state keyboard testing to the high school keyboarding class.

• Campus Green Club started a chapter of the Green Party in Gunnison, students work with the Sustainability Coalition to host the annual Earth Day celebration, and students coordinated with the Gunnison Peace Initiative to host the Peace Rally.

• The college's Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program prepared tax returns for over 150 local residents and college students in 2005.

• The college has been instrumental in supporting the Tenderfoot Child and Family Development Center, along with the City and County of Gunnison.

• Exercise and Sports Science students administered a variety of assessments (including body composition) during the recent 9 Health Fair in Gunnison.

• WSC elementary education and physical education students volunteer at the Gunnison Community School Health Fair every year.

• Western's Crestone group has made it their mission to bring the Relay for Life to the Gunnison area. Crestone is part of the ALPS program (Academic Leadership Program Scholarship). Part of the requirement of the scholarship is involvement in community volunteerism.

• The WSC Savage Library provides services to the area through borrowing privileges and reference services, including helping local businesses with business research; government documents depository; availability of the Western History College. Special Collections have been used by local groups and individuals. Library instruction is provided to public school classes, SBA classes and any group that would like to know more about how to use the library. Library personnel work with the schools and the Gunnison Public Library on the "One Book, One Valley" program, with "Poetry on a Platter" and with the "@your library" lecture series.