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Community Classes

Center for Learning & Innovation

Western’s community classes hosted through the Center for Learning and Innovation offer you the opportunity to develop your personal and professional passions. Review the list below to see current course offerings and registration details.


Spring 2025 Courses

Take the mystery out of Grant Writing! This practical course will help nonprofit groups write effective, fundable proposals. You’ll create a proposal for a project idea. You’ll also be provided with resources and samples that you can reference after the class ends. Gunnison Valley Health Foundation is providing a limited number scholarships for students, reach out to Center for Learning at WCU for scholarship applications.

Instructor: Maryo Ewell

Dates: Tuesdays and Thursdays – February 4, 2025 – February 18, 2025 – 6:00 to 8:30 pm

Location: Taylor Hall 229

Cost: $130.00

Four-hour course gives tools to respond to a medical emergency with confidence and have the knowledge base to perform CPR/AED/ First Aid. Course includes Narcan and EpiPen use and procedures. This is an interactive class that includes discussion and hands on demonstrations with a bit of role playing.

Instructor: Nickie Thompson

Date: Saturday, February 8, 2025 – 8:00 am to 11:30 am

Location: Tuck Garage

Cost: $140 (includes material sand Red Cross fee)

This course explores the environmental impacts of the clothing and textile industry and offers practical solutions for minimizing individual impact and consumption. Participants will learn the foundational skills of sewing, garment repair, and upcycling, giving them the opportunity to extend the lifespan of their existing wardrobe. Through hands-on techniques and skill-building practice, this garment care course creates the opportunity for participants to step away from the toxicity of fast fashion and overconsumption. Join this course to discover how making mindful, sustainable choices can redefine style and create positive change for the planet. This course is perfect for anyone interested in reducing their environmental impact through practical, creative opportunities.

Instructor: Megan Yost

Dates: Tuesdays, Feb 11, Feb 25, March 11, April 1 and April 15, 2025 – 5:30 – 7:30 pm

Location: WCU Library 101

Cost: $60.00

In this 8-week course, you’ll learn to grow your own vegetables and overcome the challenges of our cold climate and short growing season. Local farmer Sue Wyman provides techniques, tips, and tricks to grow great vegetables in the Gunnison Valley. Learn about varieties, seed starting, transplanting, direct sowing, frost protection, deer & rodent control, pest management, amendments, compost teas, worm composting, and more.

Instructor: Sue Wyman

Dates: Thursdays, February 27 – April 24, 2025 – 5:30 to 7:00 pm

Location: Taylor Hall 229

Cost: $130.00

Course will help you crack the code for leading groups that face uncertain and complex challenges. You will learn how to create space for a team into and persist in creativity, resourcefulness and innovation. The course also works to bring business, hospitality, education and civic leaders together to help make teamwork happen, anytime, anywhere.

Instructor: Paul Duba

Dates: Thursdays, April 10 – May 15, 2025 – 8:00 am to 12:00 pm

Location: TBD

Cost: $250.00 (optional 2 credit WCU ROE course additional $360.00)

Register NOW! Many classes fill quickly. Classes may be canceled if minimum enrollment is not met at least three business days before class begins. Register as soon as possible to ensure a place in the course(s) you want.

Ways to register:

Online: Use this link
Call: (970) 943-2885
Email: center@western.edu

Mail request to:

Center for Learning & Innovation
303 Taylor Hall
1 Western Way
Gunnison, CO 81231

Ways to pay:

Payment must be received before course begins. Cash, Credit Card. Visa, Discover, or MasterCard. (Must call Cashier Office: (970)943-3003 between 9 a.m.-4 p.m., please have your ID number from your invoice. Check can be mailed to address above.

Registration Confirmations

Center for Learning & Innovation staff will send out an email confirmation as reminders of class dates and times. Participants will be notified if there are changes, such as location, time, date, or instructor. If classes are canceled, notification will be made as soon as possible.

Registration and Payment Information

Payment for classes is due with registration. Check or cash payments are accepted with registration. AFTER you have received your Registration Confirmation, please call the Cashier’s Office at (970) 943-3003 to make a payment with a Visa, MasterCard, or Discover card. Checks that are returned for non-payment are assessed a $20 service charge.

Senior Discount

Seniors, ages 62 and older, may register for Center for Learning & Innovation non-credit courses at half price. This discount will be applied at the time of registration and may not be combined with any other discounts. Course fees payable to another agency, materials fees, or courses which involve travel do not qualify for discounts. The Center for Learning & Innovation is a part of the Colorado Statewide Extended Campus. State funds were not used to produce this document.

Employee Discount

Center for Learning & Innovation offers a $100 credit for Western faculty/staff per semester. This credit does not include Continuing Education Units cost, credit costs, material fees, tour course fees or outdoor program course fees. This credit does not apply to student employees.

Continuing Education Units (CEUs)

The Continuing Education Unit (CEU) is a nationally recognized method of quantifying the time spent in the classroom during professional development and training activities. Ten hours of instruction = 1.0 CEU. One hour of instruction = 0.1 CEU. CEUs appear on your Western Colorado University transcript; however, they are not college credits and do not fulfill degree requirements.

Graduate Credit

Some classes are offered for graduate credit (510 level). Students must have a bachelor’s degree to register for graduate credit courses.

Prerequisites

Prerequisites for some classes listed in this brochure are mentioned in the course descriptions. Students who enroll in graduate credit must be within 12 hours of receiving their undergraduate degree or must already have graduated.

Transcript Information

Transcripts for credit courses can be obtained by visiting www.parchment.com

Undergraduate Credit

Undergraduate credit classes offered through the Center for Learning & Innovation are based on semester credits and have the same academic expectations, including class time, as those offered through resident instruction.

Cancellations

The Center for Learning & Innovation reserves the right to cancel classes and to make changes when warranted. Participants will be notified via email if a class is cancelled and will receive a full refund.

Refunds for Withdrawals and Dropping a Course

Drops from a course will result in a refund if they occur prior to the week before the start date (unless otherwise specified). Non-attendance or non-payment does not constitute a drop. Full refunds are not given after the last day to drop. All drop requests must be in writing to the Center for Learning & Innovation at center@western.edu

Evaluations

Students have an opportunity to evaluate class content and their instructor at the conclusion of the class. Input from students is important, as it helps improve future classes. Evaluations are anonymous.

Immunization Requirement

Students attending the Center for Learning & Innovation classes are not required to be immunized or sign an immunization waiver.

Liability Waivers

Classes which present a degree of risk may require a signature on a waiver of liability. Waivers will be e-mailed with registration confirmations. Please return these to the Center for Learning & Innovation prior to the start of your course.

Photograph Policy

Photos of students and instructors in various classes are often taken to promote Western Colorado University Center for Learning & Innovation. Such photos are used in schedules of classes, flyers, and other marketing pieces.

Selective Service Information

Males who are 18 years of age or older, born after 1960, and who are not permanent residents of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands or the Northern Mariana Islands MUST be registered with the Selective Service to comply with Colorado law and to register for credit classes. Individuals not in compliance are subject to penalty of law and to withholding of transcripts.

Textbook/Materials

Materials and/or material fess needed for a course will be listed with the course description.

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