UW and Internationalization of Education

The University of Wyoming has concluded a two-year study to assess what it can do to strengthen international education in Wyoming.

Anne Alexander is the director of International Programs at the University and served as co-chair of the study. She says input was gathered on campus and at focus groups and town hall meetings throughout the state. Alexander says support for faculty development was the study’s top recommendation.

“It became clear that Wyoming’s future business leaders, entrepreneurs and workforce must be able to work with and understand people across the world as the state’s industries and economy face expanded connectedness and global competitive pressures,” says Alexander.  “UW’s has done an amazing job in recent years to provide resources and opportunities for students to study abroad and gain international perspectives, but we need to do more to support faculty growth in international scholarship and curricular development, and to develop and implement field courses abroad.”

Input from campus meetings and from town hall meetings and focus groups throughout the state was incorporated into the study that began in 2011, when UW accepted the American Council on Education’s invitation to be part of its Internationalization Laboratory. As the state’s sole four-year public baccalaureate and research-intensive institution, UW was challenged to provide knowledge, skills and opportunities for students, faculty and staff to lead and excel in a world that is increasingly globally interconnected.