Welcome to the Division of General Studies

Greetings to new and returning General Studies Students!

You were most likely admitted as a General Studies student if you were not ready to declare a major.  Being a General Studies student does satisfy the degree-seeking requirements for financial aid purposes.

General Studies also refers to a degree completion option offered through the Interdisciplinary Studies Program.  An Interdisciplinary degree allows an ambitious and focused student to pull from several areas of knowledge to develop a unique curriculum that best prepares that student for his or her goals after graduation. Interdisciplinary students will work closely with an advisor and faculty members to select appropriate courses to achieve their desired academic goals.

Students who are interested in pursuing an Interdisciplinary degree should contact the Academic Advising Center at (907) 474-6396.

We want to assist you in finding the most appropriate degree program best suited to your interests.  While you do not need to declare a major during your freshman year, it is wise to investigate and plan to do so during your sophomore year.  There may be courses you would like to take with prerequisites that are important to take early in the degree program.  Advisors are prepared to assist you at any time in helping make this decision.

The Division of General Studies provides the administrative home for undecided and undeclared students as well as pre-major students.  The division provides advising, coordination and oversight of academic assistance and actions.

Offices within the Division of General Studies include:

As of July 1, 2022, the following offices are no longer administratively housed under the Division of General Studies:  

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Biography for the Dean of General Studies:

Alex Fitts in office
Alex Fitts, PhD., Vice Provost and Accreditation Liaison Officer, Dean of General Studies and Professor of Women's & Gender Studies and Spanish

Alexandra Fitts completed her B.A. in Political Science at Furman University (Greeneville, SC), her M.A. in Spanish at Bowling Green State University (Bowling Green, OH), and her Ph.D. in Romance Studies with certificates in Latin American Studies and Women’s Studies at Duke University (Durham, NC). She joined the UAF faculty in the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures in 1995 and was subsequently tenured and promoted to Professor. She served as Chair of the Department of Foreign Languages for six years, and as Coordinator of the Women’s and Gender Studies Program for three years.

Dr. Fitts’ research focuses on contemporary Spanish and Latin American literature, concentrating on women writers and the links between gender, language, and power. She has published a number of articles on writers from Spain, Argentina, Uruguay, Mexico, Chile, Puerto Rico, and the United States. She lived and studied in Spain and in Argentina, and has twice been a faculty member at UAF’s Study Abroad site in Oviedo, Spain.

As dean for the Division of General Studies (undeclared baccalaureate students and premajors) she supervises the Academic Advising Center, Testing Services, the federally funded Student Support Services and Upward Bound (TRIO) Programs, Undergraduate Research and Scholarly Activity (URSA) and the Honors College.