June 27, 2024

Faculty and staff,

In last week’s contribution to this series, I talked about the importance of modernizing the student experience. In that piece, I mainly focused on how the look and feel of campus impacts both prospective and enrolled students' experience at UAF. But modernizing the student experience also requires us to ensure our academic programs and processes are keeping pace with student expectations and, more importantly, where they are headed. Academics plays a key role in a sustainable enrollment strategy at UAF. 

In order to recruit and retain students at UAF, we need to continuously assess our academic programs to ensure they are meeting current and future student needs. I know that academic leaders across campus are already thinking big about how to prepare students for the future. One example of this is the establishment of the new B.S. in energy resource engineering. The energy resource engineering degree is a modernization of the ABET-accredited petroleum engineering degree to reflect the broadening landscape of energy resources, including solar, wind, hydrokinetic and more. It was industry — future employers — who asked us to prepare students for the future of the energy industry with an expanded range of energy sources that would include, but not be limited to, petroleum-based energy. Shout-out to Dean Bill Schnabel and the faculty in CEM who made this new program possible! I encourage our deans and faculty to continue working with student interests and employer needs and thinking creatively about how we can continuously offer students a modern academic experience. 

Last week, I also shared some early thoughts on the role of the Community and Technical College going forward. In the coming years, UAF has the opportunity to more closely partner with employers to ensure that we are offering programs that meet Alaska’s workforce needs. A nimble and adaptive CTC will be essential to their critical role in ensuring we are providing a modern student experience to students. 

Another area in need of innovation is at our rural campuses. The campuses in Nome (Northwest Campus), Dillingham (Bristol Bay Campus), Kotzebue (Chukchi Campus), Bethel (Kuskokwim Campus) and the Interior (Interior Alaska Campus) have served rural students well over time. In our current model, rural campuses offer their own courses while also serving as hubs for delivery of classes from across UAF and UA. As a case in point, they host nursing programs and ANSEP Acceleration Academy on behalf of UAA. The campuses have functioned as regional hubs that allow students to get an occupational endorsement, certificate, baccalaureate degree, master's degree or even a Ph.D. without leaving their region for any substantial period of time. That is amazing! That said, advancements in internet technology and distance education have changed everything. Our students who want to stay in their region now have many options to pursue their education, and they are taking them. Enrollment at our rural campuses has dropped significantly. In response, the UAF strategic enrollment planning process is being applied to ask: What modernization strategy turns that tide? 

There are many ways that the rural campuses can serve our place-committed students. Newly appointed Associate Vice Chancellor for Rural and Workforce Education Bryan Uher will be working with each of the rural campuses throughout the coming year to assess and implement new strategies. In collaboration with CTC and the Troth Yeddha’ Campus, I expect the rural campuses to come up with new ways of knowing and doing that will sustain them and their important mission into the future. The rural campuses have adapted over the years and the enrollment trends clearly push this need to continue anew. I am confident in the staff and faculty that serve the units and the communities that support them as we collectively navigate a new path.

In the coming months, there will be many opportunities to think and act on modernizing the academic experience at UAF, some of which are already in the works. I am optimistic about continuing our work with the Gardner Institute, which so far has proposed real opportunities for inclusive modernization in areas such as institutional research, developmental education, and gateway courses. I look forward to working with faculty and shared governance leadership to continue to stay ahead of the curve in academic innovation and student retention. 

Next week I will wrap up this series with some closing thoughts on UAF’s enrollment future. Thanks for continuing to follow along!

—Dan White, chancellor