2007-2008 Academic Catalog
Overview
Campuses
The 2,250-acre Fairbanks campus, located near the center of Alaska, offers limitless opportunities for activity and recreation. The main campus has two lakes and miles of trails as well as a major student recreation complex for indoor sports. Facilities are available for basketball, volleyball, badminton, tennis, calisthenics, dance, gymnastics, judo and karate. There are rifle and pistol ranges; courts for handball, racquetball and squash; a jogging track; a swimming pool; weight training and modern fitness equipment areas; an ice arena for recreational skating and hockey; a special aerobics area; and a two-story climbing wall. UAF sponsors intercollegiate athletics teams in men's and women's basketball, men's and women's cross-country running and skiing, co-ed rifle, men's ice hockey and women's volleyball and swimming.
The Wood Center is the focus of many out-of-class activities. With a pub, snack bar, food court, bowling lanes, conference rooms, lounge and games area, the Wood Center is a gathering place for the entire university community.
UAF has some of the best facilities in the state. Performances are scheduled almost every weekend during the academic year at the Davis Concert Hall or the Salisbury Theatre. The Rasmuson Library, Alaska's largest library, has extensive resource materials both in print and online. An array of computer databases provides access to hundreds of academic journals, and Internet connections allow students at remote rural sites to use library resources. The UA Museum of the North is not only one of the top visitor attractions in the state but also a resource for students. Its vast collections are used for demonstration and comparative studies in classrooms and labs.
The Fairbanks campus is the statewide university system's principal research center. Internationally respected research institutes provide students with an opportunity to see research in action and participate in research activities.
Fairbanks, Alaska's second largest city, sits on the banks of the Chena River in the heart of Alaska. From the UAF campus, the downtown district is easily accessible via the local bus system and a network of bike trails. The city is steeped in a history of riverboat captains and gold seekers. Its character has been shaped by a large military presence, construction of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline and the continuing oil economy, and a thriving university. It is a city where old quietly blends with new. Striking modern buildings sit side-by-side with log cabins built in the early part of the last century.
With a population of more than 80,000, the Fairbanks area offers the conveniences of a big city, yet millions of acres of rolling hills and spectacular panoramas are only minutes away. Denali, the highest mountain in North America, is often visible from many UAF residence hall windows. Whether the sport is canoeing, climbing, running, dog mushing, skiing or fishing, nowhere else compares with Alaska.
Fairbanks is easily accessible by land or air. Anchorage is 365 miles away via the Parks Highway or the Alaska Railroad, and Seattle is 2,300 miles away via the Alaska Highway. Major airlines offer several daily flights between Fairbanks and Anchorage, Seattle and many other destinations.
The Alaska Railroad provides a special one-way fare between Anchorage and Fairbanks for all full-time UAF students in summer or regular sessions. Students must ask for the special rate when making reservations and present their student ID to the ticket agent at check-in. For reservations, contact the Alaska Railroad at (907) 458-6025 or 800-544-0552.
In addition to its main Fairbanks campus, UAF has community and rural campuses in downtown Fairbanks, Bethel, Dillingham, Kotzebue and Nome, and maintains six community centers through its Interior-Aleutians Campus in Fairbanks. These branches, part of the College of Rural and Community Development, are central to fulfilling the UAF mission of providing educational opportunities throughout the state. Credits earned at any UAF campus or center are recognized at all UAF campuses, meaning that students may change campuses and transfer all UA credits.
For more information about the College of Rural and Community Development, visit www.uaf.edu/rural/.
Bristol Bay Campus in Dillingham
The Bristol Bay Campus is situated in a 55,000-square-mile region bounded by Bristol Bay, the Bering Sea and the Pacific Ocean. The administrative center is located in Dillingham (about 322 air miles from Anchorage and 570 air miles from Fairbanks) with centers in King Salmon, Togiak and Iliamna. The Bristol Bay Campus serves 32 rural communities as far south as Ivanoff Bay, into the north at Port Alsworth, and west to Togiak.
Enrollment at Bristol Bay Campus ranges from 500 to 800 students. The campus offers an associate of arts degree in general studies and associate of applied science degrees in applied business, community health, early childhood education, human services, information technology, interdisciplinary studies, office management and technology and renewable resources. Bachelor's degrees are offered in elementary education, interdisciplinary studies, rural development and social work. Master's degrees are offered in rural development and education.
The Bristol Bay Campus also provides educational opportunities for the communities within its service area, including vocational-technical, community interest and graduate courses. Classes are offered by distance delivery (audio-conference, video-teleconference, correspondence or Internet) and by instructors using traditional methods. For more information, visit online at www.uaf.edu/bbc/.
The Chukchi Campus is located 26 miles north of the Arctic Circle on the shores of the Chukchi Sea. The campus serves Kotzebue and 10 villages in a region of more than 36,000 square miles. Chukchi offers associate of arts as well as associate of applied science degrees, and courses leading to baccalaureate degrees in education, rural development and social work. Courses are offered by local instructors and through the College of Rural and Community Development audio-conferencing and live Internet instructional systems. For more information, visit online at www.chukchi.alaska.edu.
The Interior-Aleutians Campus in Fairbanks services 61 towns and villages within the Doyon region and the Aleutians/Pribilof Islands, an area of about 200,000 square miles. The Interior-Aleutians Campus is the most decentralized of the UAF campuses. Although the director's office and some faculty are located in Fairbanks, there are Interior-Aleutians Campus centers in Fort Yukon, Galena, McGrath, Nenana, Tok and Unalaska. Courses are offered throughout the region via distance delivery, on site by local or visiting instructors, and by correspondence. The campus offers a range of degree programs, including associate of arts and associate of applied science in construction trades technology, educator: para-professional, rural human services and tribal management. Programs for math success and support for future teachers are also available. For more information, visit online at www.uaf.edu/iac/.
The Kuskokwim Campus is located in Bethel, a regional transportation and service center for an extended community of more than 40 rural villages. Bethel is a community of about 6,000 people 80 miles inland on the Kuskokwim River. The Kuskokwim Campus offers academic, vocational and community interest courses, as well as courses leading to associate, baccalaureate and master's degrees. The Emerging Scholars Program is designed to assist all full-time freshmen in the transition to college, both academically and socially, and in the completion of certificates and degrees. The campus also sponsors one-week summer "Talent Search" programs to prepare incoming students for college. Students may attend class on campus, through distance delivery or at sessions presented by faculty who travel to villages for intensive training and course delivery. Housing on campus is available in Sackett Hall and the Annex, which provides suites with space for four students in each. For more information, visit online at www.bethel.uaf.edu.
Northwest Campus is located in Nome, a community of 3,500 that is the service hub for the 15 villages of the Bering Strait region. This 44,000-square-mile region extends from Shishmaref on the northern edge of the Seward Peninsula to Stebbins on the southern rim of Norton Sound. It includes communities on St. Lawrence and Little Diomede islands. The area contains 570 miles of coastline, which includes all of Norton Sound and portions of the Bering Sea and Arctic Ocean.
Northwest Campus serves a total population of nearly 10,000. Certificates and associate, bachelor's and master's degrees are offered to the region's residents, with courses taught both traditionally and by distance delivery. Affiliated learning centers are located in the communities of Shishmaref, Savoonga and Unalakleet. The campus responds to vocational and academic needs of the Bering Strait region. Many courses, programs and degrees are offered in cooperation with regional health and tribal organizations, school districts and corporations. For more information, visit online at www.nwc.uaf.edu.
Tanana Valley Campus in Fairbanks
The Tanana Valley Campus fulfills UAF's community college mission in the greater Fairbanks area by offering quality certificate and degree programs. Its core purpose is to provide community-driven education to meet needs for workforce development, academic preparation and lifelong learning. TVC helps prepare Alaskans for Alaska's jobs, now and in the future.
TVC offers 40 certificate and degree programs such as allied health and nursing, process technology, applied business and accounting, paramedic and law enforcement academies, information technology, fire science, aviation, and early childhood education. The Fast Track Training program offers intensive job training in six high-demand job fields: auto and diesel technician, drafting/CAD, power generation, instrumentation, and health/safety/environmental awareness.
TVC benefits from strong partnerships with local employers in business, industry and organized labor. Many TVC faculty come from active workplace settings, ensuring that TVC students learn from people at the forefront of their professions.
Many TVC classes are held during evenings or weekends; the campus also offers a growing array of courses online. TVC specializes in meeting the needs of non-traditional students who have been away from college or whose work and family obligations make full-time student status impossible.
TVC's main campus is located at the Tanana Valley Campus Center at 604 Barnette Street in downtown Fairbanks. At the Student Assistance and Advising Center students can receive academic advising, register and pay for classes, take placement tests and buy textbooks for TVC classes.
Additional TVC locations in Fairbanks and other communities include:
- Downtown Center: 510 Second Ave.
- Hutchison Institute of Technology: 3750 Geist Road
- University Park Building: 1000 University Ave.
- Bunnell House Early Childhood Lab School: 703 Chatanika Drive
- Automotive Technology Center: 3202 Industrial Ave.
- Offices on Fort Wainwright and Eielson Air Force Base
- Partnership office at Delta Career Advancement Center in Delta Junction
For more information contact TVC at (907) 455-2800 or visit www.ctc.uaf.edu.
Center for Distance Education and Independent Learning
UAF developed a Correspondence Study Program in the late 1950s, but the current Center for Distance Education and Independent Learning (CDE) was created in 1987. The Independent Learning Program offers more than 135 courses in 39 disciplines providing more than 16,500 student credit hours and serving more than 3,400 individual students throughout the world each year. Most independent learning courses may be taken on either a semester-based or year-long timeframe. Semester-based courses follow the UAF academic calendar although some courses have an earlier ending date. Students in year-long courses have up to one year from the date of enrollment to finish course work. Semester-based independent learning courses are included in determining full-time/part-time status, eligibility for financial aid and grade point average. Enrolling in year-long independent learning courses will not affect credit load or semester-based grade point averages but will be counted in your cumulative totals. UAF independent learning counts as UAF residence credit.
CDE also supports close to 800 distance-delivered courses which are offered within Alaska on a semester-basis for the College of Rural and Community Development. Courses are available each academic year leading to several certificate and degree programs through the master's level. For more information, visit online at www.distance.uaf.edu.