Friday Focus: All about the community
September 19, 2019
— by Evon Peter, vice chancellor for rural, community and Native education
The community college mission is essential to meeting Alaska workforce needs and providing career pathways for students of all backgrounds. It is an entry point into postsecondary education that is open to all people interested in pursuing technical skills and academic knowledge, independent of where they are in their educational journey. Some begin while still in high school through college partnerships, such as with the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District to become a certified nurse aide. Others start later in life or return to pursue a second or third career transition.
At UAF, we deliver on this mission through the UAF Community and Technical College and the College of Rural and Community Development, with its five rural campuses: Chukchi Campus (Kotzebue), Northwest Campus (Nome), Bristol Bay Campus (Dillingham), Kuskokwim Campus (Bethel) and the Interior Alaska Campus (Interior).
The community college mission is all about community partnership and responsiveness. Each of our six community campuses has a local advisory board composed of local business leaders, public and private organizational leaders, and community members. They help bridge campus relationships with local and regional entities to maximize the focus and benefit of programs and opportunities offered through the campus.
This level of community engagement results in program offerings that are directly linked to job opportunities at the local and regional level. This brings value to students as well as to regional employers. We recently received three donations that highlight mutual appreciation in the positive outcomes of delivering on the community college mission.
The aviation program accepted a Bering Air donation of a Beechcraft 200 King Air plane. The diesel/heavy equipment program accepted an Alaska West Express - Lynden donation of a 2012 freightliner semitruck. And an anonymous donor has committed a $1 million legacy gift to UAF CTC to support students with tuition and related educational expenses. We are grateful for the generosity of organizational and individual partners that help us collectively prepare students to meet the needs of Alaska.
The community college mission is all about offering a community-level entry point into postsecondary education for people of all backgrounds and at any stage in their life journey. We understand that every person is unique and has different circumstances affecting them when they embark on their education and training pathway. Our student advising is designed to be comprehensive and responsive to help provide support and guidance toward degree completion, meeting students where they are in their journey. This quality of support is critical to increasing the number of Alaskans being prepared to meet workforce needs and to continue into further academic studies. Local awareness, relationships and care provided through our community campuses ensure opportunity at the community level.
Alaska is unique and as such necessitates unique approaches to meet diverse community and student needs across the state. As we dream forward into the coming years, it will continue to be important for us to uplift the unique attributes of the community college mission. We are here to serve our students and we are here to serve our communities.
Friday Focus is a column written by a different member of UAF’s leadership team every week.