2002-2003 UAF Catalog

Rural Alaska, College of

Bernice M. Joseph, Executive Dean

The College of Rural Alaska is committed to education through which all Alaskans, particularly Alaska Natives and rural residents, may make social and economic changes in their communities while protecting and enriching the quality of their lives and cultures. Particular consideration is given to the needs of permanent residents and students in non-traditional settings who seek skills and degrees suited to the rural economy and the well-being of rural communities. The college offers a wide range of academic and programmatic options that respond to the changing conditions of Alaska. Short-term courses, workshops, vocational/technical and in-service training, developmental studies, credit for prior learning and other non-degree-oriented services provide community and continuing education. CRA provides general education at the certificate and associate degree levels as well as vocational/technical training and developmental courses. The college offers baccalaureate and graduate degrees in rural development and, in cooperation with the College of Liberal Arts , education and social work.

The college geographically serves nearly two-thirds of the state, representing more than 160 primarily Native communities in the arctic, subarctic and coastal environments. Included are more than 16 indigenous language groups and an economic base that spans subsistence hunting and fishing, small-scale village development and cooperatives, and large-scale international corporate development. Rural campuses include Northwest (Nome), Kuskokwim (Bethel), Bristol Bay (Dillingham) and Chukchi (Kotzebue). Also included is the Interior-Aleutians Campus, which is headquartered in Fairbanks and which administers a number of education centers throughout the Interior and the Aleutians. Also, in downtown Fairbanks, the CRA Tanana Valley Campus provides developmental and general education and is a center for vocational and technical education as well. The college is a center for the support and development of distance delivery of education and field-based degree and non-degree coursework throughout the university.

The statewide Cooperative Extension Service, which is organized within the CRA, provides informal education relating to agriculture and Native resources, 4-H and youth development, community development and home economics.