ROCK SPRINGS — Western Wyoming Community College’s Board of Trustees approved a proposal to change the college’s operating name during its meeting Thursday evening.
The college will slowly phase out the word “community” from marketing materials, signage, and degree certificates in what President Kirk Young describes as an organic process. The change does not impact the college’s legal name, which will remain the Western Wyoming Community College District. A legal name change would require approval from the Wyoming Legislature to accomplish, something Board Secretary Ken Lorimer asked Sen. John Kolb, R-Rock Springs, to consider when Kolb spoke with the board during the meeting. Young said the administration wasn’t interested in changing the college’s legal name, saying Gillette College and Sheridan College both operate under the legal name Northern Wyoming Community College District.
Young said the change came in part because recipients of the college’s Bachelor of Applied Science degrees have asked if the college has considered changing its name, with Young believing that the request comes from the idea that community colleges don’t typically offer four-year degrees.
Another driving factor is the desire to reduce confusion with Walla Walla Community College in Washington, which Young said owns the WWCC moniker. The college has dissuaded use of the WWCC abbreviation and previously has asked local media to use Western in place of the abbreviation in coverage about the college. Young said web searches for WWCC point people to Walla Walla Community College, not Western. Web searches conducted by SweetwaterNOW revealed that searches using WWCC on multiple search engines would return results for Walla Walla Community College, unless location data was shared with the browser, in which case results for Western would be shown.
Additionally, Young believes the change will also better highlight the college as a whole, as Western isn’t just representing Rock Springs and Green River. The college’s service area encompasses more than 29,000 square miles and includes Cokeville, Baggs, Afton, and Pinedale, along with the larger cities of Evanston and Rawlins. The name change is also believed to help illustrate the college’s offerings, which include workforce and vocational training along with traditional college offerings.
While a majority of the board supported the change prior to and during the vote, Trustee Stephen Allen voiced opposition to the move, as well as provided the only no vote to the proposal. For Allen, the name change is hard to consider after the college killed its volleyball program and initiated layoffs. Allen argued that the name reflects “who you are,” and said the college has moved further into workforce development from traditional academics, arguing the Bachelor of Applied Science degrees the college offers are not the same as a Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science degree. He also said not all of Wyoming’s community colleges have dropped community from their name.
Young said Laramie County Community College is undergoing a study about changing its name, which he suspects comes from the fact that LCCC also offers Bachelor of Applied Science degrees. Board President James Jessen said the college was Western Wyoming College when he attended, saying he has a pin with WWC printed on it. He agrees with Young’s idea that the college doesn’t just serve Sweetwater County, as well as the belief the name change would help illustrate that larger coverage area.
