College Trustee Erin Kilbride Shares Lessons Learned From National Conference

A Sheridan County woman who represents all Wyoming Community Colleges on a national level, says the problems that the Cowboy State’s colleges face today aren’t much different from the rest of the country.

About 1 month ago Erin Kilbride, who is the Wyoming state representative with the Association of Community College Trustees, was at the ACCT Leadership Congress Conference in New York City.

The ACCT is a non-profit educational organization of governing boards that represent more than 6,500 elected and appointed trustees, who govern more than 1,200 community, technical and junior colleges in the US and beyond.

While in the Big Apple, Mrs. Kilbride says she found 3 problems that Wyoming Community Colleges share with colleges in other states.

“Internet to the rural areas, second would be funding and then really student basic needs and I think this has a lot to do with COVID-19, but mental health of our students is a challenge and becoming an issue and the cool thing is we all see it and we’re all trying to wrap our hands around it and really trying to reach those students in different ways.”

Mrs. Kilbride is also a member of the Wyoming Association of Community College Trustees, and a trustee within the Northern Wyoming Community College District.