April 17, 2024

Faculty and Staff, 

In my third and fourth installments on UAF’s path to R1 I will be sharing elements of the “why.” Why R1 for UAF and why it is important for the state of Alaska. Today I want to focus on some of the UAF “whys” I have not talked about yet.

In last week’s contribution, I outlined the many ways that obtaining R1 will make it practical to maintain R1. These are the pretty tangible whys. For example, we will be more competitive in recruiting the best faculty and graduate students in the world. We will be a more attractive institution for undergraduate students - students who are seeking a full-time, transformative education. R1 will make UAF a more attractive institution for funding agencies and we will be able to recruit grants with more facilities and administrative funds attached - reducing our reliance on state funding. The road to R1 is paved with actions that will make us a more efficient and more nimble university. These were just a few of the whys for UAF that I discussed last week in a slightly different context.

Today I want to focus on another why, one that is just as important as the tangible reputational benefits, but is a bit less obvious. It is the intangible benefit - the benefit of leaning into our future. Why us? Or, more aptly, why not?

At the end of my message last week I left you with #WhyNotUs. It occurred to me that if you have not seen me out wearing my t-shirt with a big A-Bear and the words #WhyNotUs on the front, you probably don’t know this Cinderella story. The shirt is from the Nanook Men's basketball team's historic postseason run two years ago. At the end of regular season play, the men’s basketball team was ranked 10 out of 10 in the Great Northwest Athletics Conference. Last place. Normally, only the top six teams compete in the conference playoffs, a prerequisite to the national tournament. But because of COVID-19, the GNAC agreed to let all teams participate in the tournament. The UAF men’s team won all their games and went to the NCAA Division II tournament as the most unlikely of GNAC champs. No one on the national scene was ready. The announcers at the first game mixed up and mispronounced the players’ names every which way. In response to the quite narrative of “what is this last place conference team doing in the big dance,” one of the basketball boosters had a bunch of #WhyNotUs t-shirts made up emblazoned with a Nanook logo on the front. The Cinderella story men’s team made it to the Sweet 16, accumulating fans as they went (most new fans now adorning a UAF #whynotus t-shirt). In the final game of our run, injuries resulted in a team with six players available to play, some of those limping. We did not win in the Sweet 16, but we won a lot of fans along the way. More importantly, the campaign gave the talent-laden UAF team the self-confidence they needed to play as a team and win as a team.

As I walk across campus, I recognize that this is a place of tremendous talent. Talent in staff, faculty, and leaders top to bottom. I was humbled last week when I witnessed the UAF briefing for the director of the National Science Foundation, the director of the NSF Office of Polar Programs, and the Section Head for OPP Arctic Science on the Troth Yeddha’ campus. Drs. Claudine Hauri, Courtney Carothers, Jessica Black and many others stood up and spoke authoritatively and passionately about UAF research. I thought to myself, wow! If there were a higher ranking than R1, this group of leaders would blow right by R1 and land us in that top spot.

For many years, UAF has been at the top of R2 universities. In fact, in the meetings with NSF leadership I mentioned our run to R1 and a response I got was, “I thought you already were R1?” And why wouldn’t they think so? According to the most recent information available on annual Federal research spending:

• UAF conducts more research than the University of Oregon, Syracuse University, Drexel University, University of Maine, Montana State University, and North Dakota State University (all R1 universities).

• UAF conducts more research than all universities in similarly-sized states combined - including the states of South Dakota, Wyoming, Idaho and Maine. 

• UAF is one of three institutions in the United States that rank in the top 15 in key geosciences R&D including atmospheric sciences, earth sciences, and ocean and marine sciences (the others are Johns Hopkins University and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution). 

• UAF ranks 2nd among all U.S. universities in geological and earth sciences R&D.

So if externally people think we are R1 already, we should too. We are a top-tier university, and it is to our benefit to see ourselves this way. UAF conducts high-level research while maintaining excellence in other areas most R1s do not. We do it while offering certificates and associate's degrees, and while maintaining rural campuses and learning centers across the roadless expanse of Alaska.

The way we see ourselves is the position from which we lean into our future; the basis from which we lean into increased reputation and responsibility (and accountability). It is critical to our ability to reduce our reliance on state funding. I know there is uncertainty and anxiety about going R1. That said, as I look down the bench I see a lot of faculty, staff and administrators leaning forward just like on our 2022 men’s basketball team. Leaning forward saying “put me in coach.” This team is ready to be R1.

Next week, I will conclude this series with a reflection on why R1 at UAF is paramount for the State of Alaska.

Thanks for choosing UAF.

—Dan White, chancellor