Linda Joule appointed Chukchi Campus director

November 5, 2015

Leona Long
907-474-5086

Linda Joule has been hired as director of the University of Alaska Fairbanks Chukchi Campus in Kotzebue.

Joule previously served as executive director for the Native Village of Kotzebue.

“Linda understands the unique challenges our rural and Alaska Native students face as they pursue higher education,” said Evon Peter, UAF vice chancellor of rural, community and Native education. “She understands how the campus and university help students overcome these obstacles. Linda is a proven leader who will help Chukchi Campus strengthen our community partnerships and make higher education more accessible to those who live in the surrounding communities.”

Committed to incorporating Alaska Native values into higher education, Joule was part of the team that created the Rural Human Services program at UAF in the late 1980s. For more than 20 years, RHS has provided culturally appropriate education to front-line behavioral health workers across Alaska. The certificate program provides students with the knowledge and skills to deliver culturally relevant behavioral health services to Alaska Native people. Joule has also served on the program’s advisory council.

“Weaving Alaska Native values into many of the Chukchi Campus classes makes higher education seem more accessible to our students,” said Joule. “As campus director, I see this is one of the ways I can help connect the campus to the community we serve.”

Joule earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in rural development from UAF. She has taught seminars for the Department of Alaska Native Studies and Rural Development, some of which featured her husband, Reggie Joule, mayor of the Northwest Arctic Borough, as a guest lecturer. The Joules have five children and eight grandchildren.

A critical link between the university and Alaska's communities, the College of Rural and Community Development fulfills the community college mission for the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Its five rural campuses and the UAF Community and Technical College bring education to students’ front doors, providing both distance education and place-based classes. For more information about CRCD, community campuses or any of the more than 40 certificate and degree programs available through the college, visit www.uaf.edu/rural/ or call 907-474-7143 or 866-478-2721.