Chukchi Campus celebrates expansion

Submitted by Marmian Grimes
Phone: (907) 474-7902
03/02/06

UAF Photo by Kathleen Schedler

From left, University of Alaska President Mark Hamilton, former Chukchi Campus Director John Schaeffer, Caleb Pungowiyi and Christina Qaiqpak Hensley dance during a ribbon-cutting ceremony for two additions to the Chukchi Campus on Monday, Jan. 30, 2006 in Kotzebue. The additions expanded the campus building by about 1,500 square feet and nearly doubled its classroom space.

Absent a modern lab, chemistry students at Kotzebue’s University of Alaska Fairbanks Chukchi Campus last summer chose the only other available option.

They did their experiments outdoors.

With the opening of two additions at the campus, the days of chemical reactions in the parking lot are gone. The 1,500-square-foot expansion nearly doubled the campus’ classroom space and made multiple improvements to the building’s interior and mechanical systems.

On Monday, Jan. 30, the campus hosted a public ribbon-cutting ceremony in the newly updated building. The event included visits from UA President Mark Hamilton, UAF Chancellor Steve Jones, UAF College of Rural and Community Development Executive Director Bernice Joseph and UAF Associate Vice Chancellor for Facilities and Safety Kathleen Schedler.

Speakers at the event included Chukchi Advisory Council Chair MaryAnn Porter and former Chukchi Campus director John Schaeffer. In addition to the speakers, the Northern Lights Dancers and Maniilaq nursing students performed and Maniilaq President and CEO Helen Bolen presented the campus with a carved walrus tusk.

The largest part of the expansion is the nursing/science addition. At 1,350 square feet, it includes a chemistry lab, complete with acid-resistant tabletops and sinks and an exhaust hood, as well as a patient-care area for nursing courses and two distance education classrooms.

A second addition created a 150-square-foot student study area, something previously absent from the building, according to Chukchi Campus Director Lincoln Saito. The lounge includes reference materials and computers as well as a refrigerator for students to use.

"Before we had this area, students had nowhere in the building to hang out between classes,"? he said. "Now students have a place to meet with other students, to study before, between and after classes. They have a place to call their own."?

UAF Photo by Kathleen Schedler

Front row, from left, adjunct professor Dara Whalen, Professor Susan Andrews, former Chukchi Campus Director John Schaeffer, University of Alaska President Mark Hamilton, UAF College of Rural and Community Development Executive Director Bernice Joseph, Chukchi Campus Director Lincoln Saito and University of Alaska Fairbanks Chancellor Steve Jones participate in a ribbon-cutting ceremony for two additions to the Chukchi Campus on Monday, Jan. 30, 2006 in Kotzebue. Members of the staff, faculty and local community look on. The additions expanded the campus building by about 1,500 square feet and nearly doubled its classroom space.

In order to complete the project, the campus secured more than $1 million in state bond and federal Title III grant funding. Construction began in May, Saito said.

The additions mean the campus can bring its classes back to one central location, he added. In the past, the campus rented space from the high school and local tech center to address course demands, he said.

In addition to creating more space, the renovation included replacing much of the carpet in the building, some of which was worn down to plywood, and installing a new, more-efficient furnace.