Friday Focus: Fall-time transitions and higher education

Aug. 18, 2023

— By Charlene Stern, vice chancellor for rural, community and Native education

Growing up in interior Alaska, fall time represents a season of transitions. The long summer days begin to shorten. The air gets a little crisper. The leaves begin to change color. And we at UAF are busy preparing for the start of the new academic year. Our various campuses from Dillingham to Fairbanks and everywhere in between are teeming with the energy of students, faculty and staff. It is a great time to be a part of the UAF community.

An aspect of UAF that I appreciate most is our enduring commitment to increasing the accessibility of higher education. It was not so long ago in the state of Alaska that those interested in pursuing a post-secondary education were limited to choosing between the more traditional campus environments in Fairbanks, Anchorage or Juneau. For residents from rural Alaska, the cost(s) of higher education were not just financial but also social and cultural in nature as it often necessitated relocating from ones’ home community to an urban center. I often think about the individuals and families who have faced that difficult decision and it makes me grateful that prospective students today have more options via any one of UAF’s seven campuses and distance-based programs.

As access to technology continues to improve and expand, the universe of possibilities for interested learners expands exponentially. As I talk to prospective students and/or their families, it feels good to be able to share with them that the pathway to higher education does not have to mean compromising on where to live or choosing between education or our cultural ways of life. I have had the privilege of working with students who chose to attend UAF’s Troth Yeddha’ Campus, others who chose one of UAF’s 40+ community college degree programs, and others yet who chose to complete their UAF degrees entirely online. The diversity of pathways to obtaining a higher education at UAF are as numerous and varied as the students we serve.

One of the most exciting design features of the future Troth Yeddha’ Indigenous Studies Center facility at UAF is an educational kitchen that will provide much needed space for hands-on, instructional learning opportunities. The kitchen will be equipped with the technological capacity to engage both in-person and distance students in applied courses and workshops that explore Indigenous science. I am very much looking forward to future fall seasons when we can gather together at Troth Yeddha’ and celebrate the diversities of culture and worldviews that shape UAF now and into the future. For more information about the Troth Yeddha’ Initiative, please visit https://www.uaf.edu/trothyeddha/.

Friday Focus is written by a different member of UAF’s leadership team every week.