ROCK SPRINGS – “I came to Western to help,” outgoing Western Wyoming Community College President Kim Dale says about her enthusiasm upon being hired to lead the college.

Dale arrived at Western in 2019, seeking the experience of leading a rural community college after working as the executive vice president of Western Nebraska Community College in Scottsbluff, Nebraska. She said she’s always had an affinity to rural colleges, enjoying being in a role that allows her to be working with employees outside of her cabinet while leading the college. When she left Colorado, where she will return after leaving Western, she wanted a change from the college system Colorado utilizes.

“it’s been a great opportunity,” she said.

Dale would lead the college through arguably the most tumultuous period in Western’s history as it navigated the COVID-19 pandemic and the first employee layoffs the college ever initiated. Working through those challenges, the college has a number of accomplishments she has pride in. In her final year at Western, student enrollment is exceeding pre-pandemic levels, its power line technician program continues to grow and a new health sciences wing will soon begin construction.

She has also received recognition for her work at Western, recently being listed in CollegeCliff’s 55 Top College and University Presidents and the 2023 Advocate Award from the Wyoming Economic Development Association.

A Difficult Start
Dale said upholding the college’s mission to provide access to quality educational opportunities and to H3 (high wage, high demand, high skill) jobs, as well as ensuring the facility itself remains fiscally sound. COVID-19 presented a unique challenge to Dale, her cabinet and Western’s Board of Trustees. The college had to respond to an unprecedented situation preventing the spread of a fatal, infectious disease and how the college could still provide classroom instruction to students while the campus was closed during the spring 2020 semester. Additionally, the college faced severe cuts in state funding due to pandemic-related budgetary issues at the state level, which forced Gov. Mark Gordon to issue a series of across-the-board budget cuts to address the shortfall. Tied to sudden declines in enrollment and and pandemic-related state budget cuts, Western addressed its resulting $2.4 million budget shortfall through the elimination of 15 positions, 13 of which impacting existing employees. Nine additional vacant full time positions were eliminated as well.

“It had to be done,” Dale said.

She said there are things she would like to differently if given the chance as the benefit of hindsight and personal reflection has given her a better perspective. However, she said she has always taken the responsibility of doing what’s best for the institution seriously and the decisions she has had to make have all been informed from that core responsibility.

She also realizes there are people who she won’t ever be able to please, something Dale says causes her to work harder as she describes herself as a pleaser, and specifically mentioned hiring additional administrators as something she has received criticism for. For Dale, those administrative hires, as well as more recent hires in the human resources department, represent strides in bringing Western on par with how other community colleges operate. She said the additional manpower will help create new operational systems to help the college function.

Building Success
One of the largest successes Dale has had is the implementation of Western’s powerline technology program. The program is the only powerline tech offering available in Wyoming and was something that was offered at Western Nebraska Community College while Dale worked there. Coming to the Cowboy State, Dale recognized the need and started informal discussions with the head of the Wyoming Rural Electric Association about the need for trained powerline workers. She also asked the president of Laramie County Community College if the college had plans to introduce a powerline technology program there, but was told the college planned to focus on training and education related to wind turbines. When she began enlisting local support for the program, the college received several letters of support from area industry and ultimately received support from Gordon and the Wyoming Innovation Partnership. Dale said the program now is adding another cohort and is seeking another instructor to expand.

This success is also fueling early work in Western’s proposed nuclear technician program the college intends to launch as TerraPower and Rocky Mountain Power complete the Natrium nuclear reactor in Kemmerer. Dale said her discussions with TerraPower representatives revealed that many of the employees the company intends to hire for the reactor and plant will be technicians, not bachelor’s, master’s or Ph.D-educated candidates. She said the higher-level employees will likely be brought to the area from outside Wyoming, with the company planning to hire from organizations such as the U.S. Navy. She views this as putting Western in a unique position to train those technicians for work within the college’s service area.

With the new health sciences wing, one Dale’s first tasks was presenting an initial plan for the expansion to the State Building Commission. However, while reviewing those initial plans, Dale said she had a hard time being able to recommend the project for state funding. The initial plans would have housed health-focused departments and classrooms within an aluminum building — something she didn’t see as fitting Western.

“I was struggling to look anyone in the eye and say I support the project,” she said.

With support from the college trustees, Dale removed the initial project from the commission’s agenda and the college trustees funded a Level 2 study to re-examine the proposed building. What came of that was a revised project that would add a wing to the college itself. When presenting that version of the project to the State Building Commission, Dale said the groups loved what Western had done with the idea. A groundbreaking for the project took place in May.

One of the other accomplishments Dale also has pride in is something her husband Randy spearheaded: the Mustang Loop Trail System. The system consists of approximately five miles of trails near the college and was designed to allow anyone access to the recreational opportunities it provides. She said Randy and a friend accomplished much of the work in bringing the trails to fruition, which included obtaining donations of 300 tons of road base to make the trail usable year around.

“Randy organized the whole dang thing and I couldn’t be more proud of that,” she said.

Into The Future
Dale said she can look back at her time at Western with warmth, fondness and great pride as she prepares for the next chapter of her life. Dale’s final day at the college will be Monday, when she passes the baton to incoming President Kirk Young. She will work remotely until her final contracted day July 12, providing any final information or assistance needed to complete the transition.

Dale and Young have met every other week since the announcement that he would succeed her. She said the two have been working through a list of internal and external operations she thinks Young will need to be aware of. Dale said an aspect of working as a rural college president is that a president is involved in many of the internal operations that a president at a larger college wouldn’t deal with because they would be more focused on externally-facing responsibilities such as representing the college to outside interests.

“It’s your job to meet with CEOs of companies. It’s your job to meet with communities in your service area,” Dale said.

Following her departure from the college, Dale will start a consulting firm to work with rural colleges like Western, but plans work a part time schedule moving forward. The shift will let her have more time for family and give her a chance to enjoy life at a slower pace, saying she looks forward to having lunch with her grandchildren and having the ability to attend an afternoon yoga class if she wants to. One of the aspects of being a college president is that the president’s time is almost solely focused on the college. She said she gave the college everything she has in her for the past five years and that requirement of the job has left her feeling tired and unsure of if she can continue serving as the college president and giving the role as much attention as it can demand.

“It came at a cost,” she said.

That cost isn’t something she regrets however. While she faced challenges in her five years, she came to Western to be challenged and help grow the college. During her tenure, the foundation has been laid to grow the college, through initiatives like the power line technician program and the upcoming construction of the new health sciences wing. While there was a lot of work done to accomplish those goals, Dale said she can look back with pride in what she was able to do at Western Wyoming Community College.

“We made things better … and had a good time doing it,” Dale said.