What a Ride! Reflections as a Dean

What a Ride!

Ray Reutzel leads the College of Education processional during the 2019 Winter Commencement Ceremony. PHOTO BY JASON HARPER

REFLECTIONS AS DEAN

Little did I know when I became dean of the College of Education in 2015 that the state’s moniker was sending me a not-so-subtle warning as I crossed the state line again for the third time that a wild, Steamboat-like, ride was in store. Let’er buck means more to me now than ever!

When I took the job, Wyoming was enjoying a strong recovery from the 2008 economic crash and promised both resources and opportunity in spades. The state seemed to be well positioned financially, and the college was ready for some stability stemming from years of administrative turmoil.

I was so pleased to be coming back to my alma mater for the final phase of my 40-year career in higher education. It was just the way I had dreamed of ending my career since

I began teaching at UW in 1980 as a graduate assistant and later as a lecturer. So, to say I was happy to be back at UW was an understatement.

The UW Board of Trustees had just passed a forward looking and ambitious resolution to embark on a program to bring the College of Education programs to a level of “preeminence” known as the Trustees Education Initiative (TEI). The Daniels Fund was eyeing a large potential grant to the university to seed this initiative. I, along with two trustees, worked throughout my first summer to write a $5M grant proposal to the Daniels Fund and prepare a presentation to the organization’s board. We were thrilled when their belief in our vision resulted in the college being awarded the seed grant.

As I dove into the college budget, I found adequate reserves in both the unrestricted operating and designated operating budgets. I was thrilled that we were so well positioned. Then, an emergency meeting of central administration was called. As I entered the Old Main boardroom, “UW WILL NEVER BE THE SAME,” was written on a white board. That day, we began the wild ride of a $42M budget reduction effort under two presidents.

The college suffered a severe loss in faculty and staff positions due to the budget reductions and faced further struggles when the board decided to sweep much of the college reserve funds across campus into a central trustees reserve account. Taken together, this served as a devastating blow to the morale and operational funding of the college.

We soldiered through this Herculean task together. We re-organized the college’s four departments into two schools to save administrative overhead costs. My associate deans, Suzie Young and Leslie Rush, continued in those roles and stepped up to take on an additional role as school directors.

Ray Reutzel brings the popcorn cart around the building as a fun surprise for students and faculty. He is joined here by counseling students and faculty. PHOTO BY JASON HARPER

I will always love and appreciate these two for their dedication and sacrifice for the greater good during this period of unrelenting change. During this time, I was also asked to serve as executive director of the Trustees Education Initiative, taking on a dual role of my own. Despite the challenges that laid ahead, TEI and the college have achieved remarkable progress in designing and implementing the UWE4 model of educator preparation. Several TEI innovations are already being implemented in the college. These transformational initiatives will help recruit highly qualified teachers into the profession, will provide pre-service teachers with quality experiences throughout their teacher preparation experience to ensure they are ready to enter the profession and allow for continued support for teachers as they progress in their careers.

The new curricula in elementary education and new programs ensure the college is responding to and meeting the needs of our state and its students. We are able to deliver many of our programs to every corner of the state and beyond due to efforts to convert our courses to online delivery. This decision also positioned the college to be able to quickly adapt and support others across campus and in the state as classes were moved to online course delivery to slow the spread of COVID-19 in spring 2020.

As I leave this final chapter in my career, I would never had dreamed it would be under such strange circumstances, largely due to COVID-19. Despite all of these challenges, I salute my College of Education colleagues and friends as the hardest working, most resilient and wonderful group of people I have ever had the pleasure of working with and serving. My hopes and prayers will always attend the University of Wyoming, the College of Education, and the great people I’ve come to know and love at this great institution.

D. Ray Reutzel, Dean College of Education Dean, 2015-2020