A&S College Offers Diverse Experiences

By Oliver Walter, Dean

Established in 1918, the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S) offers courses in the humanities, fine arts, social sciences, biological sciences, mathematical sciences and physical sciences. With 43 departmental majors, 55 minors and 7 interdisciplinary programs, our faculty members teach the majority of UW's course hours. Even students who are not majoring in one of the college's departments or programs receive about one half of their instruction from A&S faculty.

As active researchers in their scholarly disciplines, our faculty members generate about $12 million in research grants, annually, and they publish numerous articles in academic journals and books. In addition to notable research, high quality teaching has long been an integral part of the A&S College culture. This past year, four of the seven faculty members to receive the University of Wyoming's John P. Ellbogen Award for meritorious classroom teaching were A&S instructors. These outstanding teachers are Matthew Gray, Department of Psychology; Khama Bassili Tolo, Department of Modern and Classical Languages; Cynthia Vadnais, Department of Mathematics; and Bonnie Zare, Women's Studies. This past spring, recently retired Professor Charles Ksir, Department of Psychology, received the John P. Ellbogen Lifetime Teaching Award.

The College of Arts and Sciences proudly houses the nationally recognized UW debate team; the UW Geological Museum, containing more than 50,000 cataloged fossil, rock and mineral specimens and serving as an important source of information for researchers throughout the world; and the Wyoming Survey and Analysis Center (WYSAC), which provides state policy makers with accurate and comprehensive studies on criminal justice, substance abuse, education and other issues.

We believe hands on participation is an important part of a college education, and we urge our students to work one on one with professors through independent studies and various summer research projects. We also give our students opportunities to conduct student originated research. Funded by Independent Summer Research stipends, these scholarly projects expose students to real life experiences. Because a semester or a year living in another country vastly enhances personal and educational growth, we encourage our students to enroll in one of UW's study abroad programs, and our advisers are ready to help students plan for such opportunities.

In the College of Arts and Sciences, we advocate student involvement. Members of the College of Arts and Sciences Student Council meet with me monthly to discuss college issues and activities. These students recognize outstanding faculty and staff through the Thumbs Up Awards and a staff award. A committee selects the Golden Apple Teaching Award, recognizing exemplary freshman level teaching in A&S.

During the annual Keith and Thyra Thomson Honors Convocation, we acknowledge A&S students who have made the President's, Dean's or Freshman honor rolls the previous year. We take special pleasure in giving A&S student scholars opportunities to share their research experiences, and choosing only two or three presenters from the many outstanding nominees is always a difficult task.

A liberal arts education prepares students for careers in fields such as law, medicine, teaching, business even jobs that don't yet exist. Vice President Dick Cheney served as a congressman, secretary of defense, and head of a multinational corporation before becoming vice president of the United States and he received his degrees in political science from the UW College of Arts and Sciences.

For more information, call or e mail the A&S Dean's Office (307) 766 4106, (asdean@uwyo.edu), or stop by the office, Room 114, in the A&S Building, for a visit. Also, you may check out our Web site at www.uwyo.edu/a&s.

Posted on Friday, July 08, 2005