Wyoming Innovation Partnership (WIP) Phase 1

The Wyoming Innovation Partnership (WIP), on behalf of the nine institutions of higher education, endeavors to create the functional environment through a collaborative approach that will

give Wyomingites the skills, means, and tools to drive economic development across the state. This requires digital infrastructure to bring digital expertise and computing power to all corners of the state. It also requires widespread entrepreneurial spirit where the skills and ambition are cultivated and developed to empower citizens to create engines that drive economic advancement. It also requires a collaborative infrastructure that allows the nine institutions of higher education to share expertise and increase the educational capabilities needed to advance the statewide economic workforce needs.

$24,170,000

Wyoming Innovation Partnership (WIP) Phase 2

The (WIP), has developed a Phase 2 proposal for its collective efforts towards driving Wyoming’s economic prosperity. Phase 2 represents the major structure of the WIP Blueprint with four primary components: (1) infrastructure to create an environment for WIP institutions to collaborate with efficacy; (2) building an entrepreneurial ecosystem using WIP institutions as the backbone of the network; (3) a proactive research and development agenda that helps drive economic activity in Wyoming; and (4) workforce development efforts aligned with the state’s priority economic sectors.

$100,000,000

Talent Transition

This initiative highlights an outreach campaign to bring awareness around growing Wyoming industries for job-seekers. Interested individuals in need of work would be connected to businesses within in-demand sectors utilizing the current workforce development system. The project would link these individuals with resources and tools within the workforce development system and industry to provide training and job matching/placement.

$6,000,000

Wind River Job Corps – Trade Up Wyoming Campaign

Wind River Job Corps in Riverton Wyoming offers free technical and trade training to youth aged 16-24, along with high school education (if needed) and employability skills to poor and

marginalized populations from Wyoming and other states. In addition, enrollees live on campus and are provided meals and health care at no cost. This initiative – Trade Up Wyoming: Learn a Trade, Earn a Future - promotes WRJC to Wyoming families.

$285,000

Career Center Development/Relaunch

This project includes an outreach campaign to make Wyoming citizens aware of the broad array of resources available to them at Wyoming Department of Workforce Services Workforce Centers. Stigmatized as “unemployment centers,” these community hubs are full of resources for business owners and job-seekers alike. Unfortunately, they are underutilized due to this negative connotation. This initiative re-establishes these centers as “career centers,” and will highlight the vast amount of workforce funding, services and community resources available to Wyoming people at the centers.

$5,620,580

AMK Ranch

The UW-National Park Service Research Center at the historic AMK Ranch on Jackson Lake promotes understanding of Wyoming’s wonders and their connections to the world. AMK ranch is not positioned to achieve its potential success because the physical facilities need critical updates.

$12,000,000

Workforce Development Training Fund Apprenticeship Program Expansion

This initiative would expand pre-apprenticeships and apprenticeship programs significantly in Wyoming with a more aligned approach. It will support the pipeline of workers by connecting high school youth with opportunities that allow them to gain post-secondary credentials while still in high school. Students will have the opportunity to build the prerequisite skills needed for a Registered Apprenticeship Program after completion of the Pre-Apprenticeship.

$3,685,000

Targeted Healthcare Workforce Program Proposal

This program would support economic growth and diversification within the healthcare industry in order to fill the current healthcare needs in the state. This project will support the Department of Workforce Services in its efforts to work with community colleges and private training providers to strengthen and develop healthcare training programs in Wyoming utilizing critical input from healthcare providers and the industry. Funding will specifically be directed towards healthcare programs, and solely dedicated to healthcare related training costs that will result in a certification or degree within a 2-year timeframe for Wyoming citizens.

$6,762,400

Targeted Early Childhood Workforce Program

The provision of quality childcare is a key workforce development initiative which fosters the ability for parents to join the workforce. Quality childcare also instills foundational skills in children at critical development periods in their lifetime. This initiative will increase and broaden funding for training opportunities in early childhood career pathways for Wyoming citizens up to a 2 year (Associate’s degree) in the early childhood care and education field. Because child care centers experience chronic turnover, the program will provide for sign-on and retention bonuses for child care staff, along with opportunities for scholarships for students seeking careers in child care.

$5,550,000

Ranch of the Future - Rangeland Systems and Ranch Management

Ranching in Wyoming and the Mountain West is different from ranching across much of the nation. Wyoming operations utilize public lands on which there are competing interests for the use of the land from many sectors. This proposal seeks funding for facilities improvements at five sites, technology infrastructure support and instrumentation, graduate assistants, faculty support, a coordinator and a data scientist.

$10,000,000

Tier 1 Engineering, Computational Infrastructure and Data Science at UW

Computing’s impact is found in virtually every industry, and simulation and modeling are more important than ever, but are joined by new data science technologies like artificial intelligence, machine learning and blockchain.

$25,000,000

Transform and enhance undergraduate STEM education to build the workforce of the future

The Science Initiative provides the scaffolding and opportunity to fundamentally transform undergraduate education through research at UW. Involving students from broad disciplines in interdisciplinary research and learning is essential for the most important issues in Wyoming including invasive species, human health and rural health disparities, water management, animal migration, agriculture and economic development

$12,000,000

Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at UW

Current and future students enrolled in higher education institutions, current and future Wyoming businesses and current and future workforce. The CEI will serve as the coordinating entity to facilitate entrepreneurship and innovation activities across UW and community colleges in collaboration with proposed UW School of Computing and WORTH.

$20,000,000

Develop a Concentration of World-Class Talent at UW

Recruiting human capital talent and expertise to Wyoming that will develop a concentration of world-class faculty and staff. Exceptional faculty and staff talent directly support the application of knowledge – a contribution to the state and its communities that the university is uniquely positioned to make.

$20,000,000

Teacher Preparation, Professional Development Training, and Support Programs to Address Substantial Student Learning Loss

Teacher shortages and matriculations into teacher preparation programs were on the decline prior to the pandemic, these concerns have been highlighted, if not exacerbated, by COVID-19.

$4,500,000

Wyoming Data Hub

Data is an important asset and if properly stewarded is critical to advance disciplinary and interdisciplinary high impact research, enrich student learning, facilitate private-public partnerships, and improve institutional operations. A new Wyoming Data Hub will support students, faculty, administration (at UW and at Wyoming’s Community Colleges), and state agencies utilization of data analytic tools and Wyoming-centric datasets to expand the frontiers of knowledge, analyze and propose solutions to problems of interest, and inform policy decisions including those related to tourism.

$8,600,000

Agricultural Research and Extension Renovations

Agriculture is one of Wyoming's core industries and is a critical factor in other important areas, including energy, tourism, environmental science, water management, wildlife conservation and biodiversity. A critical barrier to capitalizing on new plans is the infrastructure at UW's Experimental Stations to support agricultural research which has significantly deteriorated over the last 30 years.

$20,000,000

Wyoming Outdoor Recreation, Tourism, and Hospitality Center

The Wyoming Outdoor Recreation, Tourism, and Hospitality (WORTH) Center, an interdisciplinary center providing education, outreach, applied research for outdoor recreation, tourism, and hospitality serving the state’s industry partners.

$1,200,000

Wyoming's Tomorrow Scholarship Program

Provide a need-based state aid grant for adult learners to achieve a credential and use the grants beyond the first-level credential, or for higher education. (EAC & Community Colleges) Limited to equivalent to 4 academic semesters.

$27,000,000

Federal Student Aid Workshops

Wyoming has a lower application rate than most other states, particularly for adult learners and low-income families. Host a series of statewide FAFSA workshops in spring/summer/fall 2022 and early spring 2023 targeted at the adult and equity gap populations including rolling out marketing/advertising focused on increasing FAFSA completion rates and subsequent financial aid distributions.

$750,000

Near-Peer Coaching and Support at UW and Community Colleges

Success coaching and mentor programs deployed on scale have the greatest opportunity to meet student needs. There is significant research in education and higher education of the impact of this type of service and support.

$1,750,000

Student Success Dashboard to Track and Influence Student Success and Graduation at UW and Community Colleges

Investment in Student Success Management systems (e.g. Navigate or Civitas, etc.), focusing especially on first-year and adult students, to allow for real-time and helpful responses to ensure student success and degree completion.

$6,215,000

Higher Education Awareness Campaign and EMSI Economic Impact Study

Launch a higher education awareness campaign focused on the ROI of post-secondary credential completion and conduct an economic impact study for all community college districts and the University of Wyoming.

$929,000

Remediation and Academic Support Services Such as Tutoring, Expanded Service Hours, and Co-Requisite Support

Direct funding to the community colleges to accommodate increased remediation coursework, support for students in terms of tutoring and study skills, and overall support for co-requisite courses as well as using interventions such as “Bridge or Boot Camps,” additional tutoring services, and/or expansion of existing services to accommodate the challenging schedules of many students.

$3,000,000

Faculty Professional Development and Support for Initial Design and Development of Course Materials to Better Meet the Needs of a Diverse Student Body at the Community Colleges

These one-time funds will be used for initial design and development of course materials to train faculty in effective online teaching and course design, as well as short-term contracting of instructional design professionals to jointly develop online coursework. This project will utilize a “train the trainer” approach that best leverages short-term funding to provide long-term impacts on community college faculty, empowering them to both apply their skills to developing online versions of their own courses, and share their experience with peers to support their efforts.

$2,000,000

Cybersecurity at the Colleges to Protect Student Data

The world has seen a dramatic increase in cybersecurity attacks due to the pandemic and the resulting increase in digital communication, resulting in increased security exposure for the colleges. Top security organizations have noted the increased activity and identified the education sector as a particular focus for hackers.

$5,500,000

Adult Education Platforms & Connectivity

The Adult Education population is one of the most vulnerable groups in the state. Online platforms are crucial for serving a larger proportion of these citizens, and this project will fund platform licenses and provide necessary hardware and equipment upgrades.

$280,000

Community Colleges Programmatic Startups

Provide the initial funding necessary to start-up academic programs that are locally and regionally in-demand and that will provide both the crucial re-training for transitioning workers, and the skills for first-time workers to find a career that pays a livable wage.

$31,243,165

Safety and Security at Community Colleges

Direct funding to the community colleges to implement their safety and security lists and plans in order to increase safety and reduce crimes such as assault, theft and vandalism.

$25,880,000

Digital Transformation for Community Colleges and Wyoming Community College Commission

The pandemic has increased the need for information technology systems to be accessible, secure and flexible. Students have struggled with digital connections during this pandemic and this project will improve students’ digital access by providing a system that is redundant, accessible, secure and flexible to grow with future needs.

$43,000,000

Provide Upskilling, Training, Soft Skills, Etc. to Grow the Workforce

This initiative would upskill two critical, yet often overlooked, populations: those just above the poverty line and ex-offenders. The project would cover gaps and assist individuals from underserved populations who may be just above the poverty line, with available funding to complete post-secondary degrees or to obtain additional skilled training, and/or credentials, which will help the individuals to gain a self-sustainable wage employment. It would also develop a re-entry program that provides services to those exiting the correctional system (adults and youth) and reentering their communities.

$3,465,000