University of Montana Western
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Former names
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Montana State Normal College, Montana State Teachers College, Western Montana College |
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| Type | Public |
| Established | 1893 |
| Chancellor | Beth Weatherby |
| Provost | Deb Hedeen |
| Vice-Chancellor | Susan Briggs |
| Students | 1379 |
| Location |
Dillon, Montana, United States 45°12′30″N 112°38′18″W / 45.20833°N 112.63833°WCoordinates: 45°12′30″N 112°38′18″W / 45.20833°N 112.63833°W |
| Colors |
Red, White, Black |
| Athletics |
Frontier Conference NAIA |
| Nickname | Bulldogs |
| Affiliations | The University of Montana |
| Website | www.umwestern.edu |
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Red, White, Black
The University of Montana Western is a public university located in Dillon, Montana, United States. It is affiliated with The University of Montana and is part of the Montana University System. The school was founded in 1893 as Montana State Normal School. The college was founded as a center for training teachers. It was formerly known as Western Montana College before becoming part of the Montana University System in 2000. Enrollment as of fall 2016 was 1,501 students.
The University of Montana Western is the only public college in the U.S. to offer Experience One, an innovative program in which students take one class at a time for about 18 days. This type of scheduling, called block scheduling, creates a unique learning experience that allows for students to learn in-depth one subject at a time. The block also gives flexibility for students to learn outside of the classroom setting on one day or multiple week trips.
UMW’s Environmental Sciences department offers many courses that take overnight trips throughout Montana, to Utah, and Canada. Multiple courses have been offered through the university’s Honor’s Program where students get to study abroad for up to 3 weeks. Experience One, combined with small classrooms and affordable tuition, has given Western’s students an opportunity to excel and placed University Montana Western among the best in the nation in recent U.S. News & World Reports.
It was founded as the Montana State Normal School in 1893, to train teachers according to a model used by other states. Education was considered highly important for the state. It was expanded with increased programs and had a four-year curriculum; the addition of other subjects and departments led to its being renamed as Western Montana College. It became part of the Montana University System in 2000, and is titled University of Montana Western.
The first term of the Montana State Normal School began on September 6, 1897 with courses in elementary education for all grades below high school which took two years to complete, a one year professional course for all teachers with two years of prior experience, an English-Scientific course which gave students a four year diploma, a four year Latin course, and a graduate course. The first course catalogue had this statement along with an explanation of the necessity of teachers:
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