Over 400 respondents completed a survey last month that was designed to gauge the level of interest local residents have in completing bachelor’s and master’s degree programs from the University of Wyoming right here in Gillette.

“It looks like we have 423 surveys that were completed,” explains Superintendent of Schools Dr. Richard Strahorn. “They are very interested in most commonly in face-to-face instruction, they are predominately female, they are predominately employed, and they are predominately interested in classes once a week.”

Nearly 85 percent of the respondents would be classified as nontraditional students.  The largest response came from those between the ages of 26 and 45, who made up 56 percent of the respondents.  As well, just over 71 percent of respondents were female, and 89 percent were employed when they took the survey.

Strahorn says he is pleased with the number of people who expressed interest in pursuing UW degree programs in Gillette by completing the survey, which was available from December 1 through the end of 2011.

“When we started this, I thought ‘I wonder if 50 people would fill it out or would we get 100?’  It’s going to take about 20 people in a class, or a cohort, to make a class,” Strahorn says.  “So if you had 20 elementary education majors and they stayed with you for four years all the way through, that cohort would represent 20 people getting degrees.  So I thought, ‘Well maybe if we get two cohorts, one in business administration and one in education, that would be pretty good.’  Well we have far more than that.”

Next up, Strahorn says he will send the results of the survey to the University of Wyoming, [Gillette College vice president] Dr. Englert, and Campbell County’s state representatives, including House District 31 Representative Tom Lubnau.

After Strahorn distributes the information from the survey, he says the ball is in UW’s court.

“I anticipate they will work this information and analyze it further,” he says.  “Then I would assume they would make some motion to come to Campbell County, hold a community meeting, or a couple of community meetings.”

In December, UW President Tom Buchanan told Basin Radio Network the university already has plans to expand its educational programs in Gillette, including classroom instruction for those interested in pursuing a degree, along with their popular Saturday University program.

“I think it’s pretty clear to us that Gillette has grown, the population in Campbell County has gotten large enough that our presence is not in proportion to the population and the significance of the northeast corner of Wyoming,” Buchanan said last month.

As it stands now, UW’s Outreach Program at Gillette College allows residents in Campbell County and other parts of the state to earn a degree from UW without traveling to Laramie, via classes delivered on the Internet and video and telephone conference.  The expanded services would add UW accredited face-to-face classroom instruction in Gillette, similar to UW’s partnership with Casper College.

Saturday University, on the other hand, is a program that began roughly four years ago in Jackson.  A few times each year, Buchanan says they fly about six of their best faculty lecturers to Jackson, and they spend the entire Saturday doing a lecture series on various topics, such as art history, marketing, management, and energy resources.  Since then, Saturday University has been wildly successful, Buchanan says.