Sept. 26, 2023

Welcome to Week 5!

Wherever this finds you, I hope you are doing well and feeling strong and confident in your progress. You are already one-third of the way through the semester – not that you want to live your life counting your days away, but when working hard toward a distant goal, it can feel good to put some significant mile markers behind you. You are doing great and making excellent headway on our journey. Congratulations!

If you were in Fairbanks this weekend, I hope you enjoyed Starvation Gulch! It was epic! It was the 101st year of Starvation Gulch,  an important Nanook Tradition. More than 1,000 students, staff and faculty were present for the celebration. It was a beautiful and memorable evening in the middle of a wonderful Interior Alaska weekend. Whether you attended ‘Gulch’ or not, I hope you had a great Saturday and Sunday wherever you are.

Here we are with nearly five weeks behind us and if we had been hiking each day and every day since the start, our gear may be wearing a bit thin, our boots may have worn some sores on our feet, and our daily rations may be growing a bit tired.

How is your semester going? How are you doing? Now is a good time to take a hard look at how you are doing on our journey. Are you on track to finish where you’d like in the fall? Are you feeling good with your balance of school work, social life, family life and work? Are you managing the stress of your classes, roommate(s), and money OK?

Seriously, take a moment. How are you doing? If you are feeling strong, that’s great. How are those around you doing?

How do you know when it is time to ask for help? Have you asked for help before? When was the last time? One of the critical skills we all need in life is to know who, when and where to ask for assistance. We all need help and support in life – help from our family, friends, professors, partners, counselors, tutors, kids, guides, doctors, etc…

Now is a great time to ask for help if you need it. At UAF, we have hundreds of people who go to work every day with the goal of helping people and this includes you. If you think you need some help but aren’t sure who to turn to, you can always start with the Office of Rights, Compliance and Accountability. This team is waiting to help. In fact, there is something called the CARE Team which includes people from all across UAF who help coordinate care. If you could use some support, this is a good place to start. Their number is 907-474-7300.

If you are looking for counseling or medical support, the Student Health and Counseling Center is the place to go. Here, you will find more wonderful people devoted to helping you succeed on your journey.

Of course, your advisor is also here to help you on your academic journey. They can also help direct you to tutoring support if you could use a hand in this department.

Also, we have academic coaches as part of our new Student Success Center, academic coaches provide a series of one-on-one conversations designed to enhance well-being and academic performance. Coaching is a partnership between students seeking to improve their study strategies and peer coaches who are trained to listen, ask thought-provoking questions, and help students identify resources and set goals. You can meet with a coach once or weekly to help keep you on track, feel more confident and reach your goals. Coaching is free for all UAF students and is available in person or via Zoom. Learn more or schedule an appointment!

We are one-third of the way through our journey this fall. Now is a great time to reach out for a hand or offer one to a fellow student – a fellow traveler. You are doing great. You are strong and you’ve got this. You will have a much more pleasant experience in the coming weeks with a little help here and there.

Things to do:

We are always trying to make your time here at UAF better. To that end, your UAF team is partnering with Hanover Research to conduct a study about your experience on campus, and we would greatly appreciate your feedback! As an appreciation for your participation, the first 100 participants who qualify and complete this survey will be rewarded with a $10 gift card. Please allow 4-6 weeks from the close of the survey for the gift card to be delivered by Hanover’s partner, Tango Card.

All information you provide will be kept confidential by Hanover Research and your responses will only be used and reported in an aggregate form, so please be as candid as possible.

Please click to take the Hanover Student Satisfaction Survey.

Have a great fifth week!

As always, if you have any questions, suggestions, or feedback for me, please don’t hesitate to send your thoughts my way. You can find me at obguthrie@alaska.edu.

— Owen Guthrie, vice chancellor for student affairs and enrollment management