Friday Focus: Getting the work done

Jan. 7, 2022

— by Ali Knabe, interim vice chancellor for student affairs

Happy New Year and good riddance to 2021! I have to laugh when I think about how 2021 ended for us in Fairbanks. While the campus was essentially shut down for winter break, Fairbanks experienced an unprecedented weather event that included heavy snowfall, heavy rainfall, temperatures ranging from 40 above to 30 below, and crazy wind gusts! 

As a result, much of Fairbanks and surrounding areas were without power for an extended time, and many roads were impassable. People were literally stuck where they were, and for a few days, most businesses shut down to allow for the roads to be cleared. This was all fine, albeit inconvenient, for most of us. We're tough Alaskans — we can handle anything! 

The majority of students had left the previous week and most employees were off through the new year. However, we still had approximately 100 students staying with us over the closure, plus everyone living in family housing. So when power and water outages began as a result of the storm, we needed to respond. Facilities Services crews were scrambling to do everything from troubleshooting outages to snow and ice removal on campus.  

Being on closure presented its own set of challenges since everyone is supposed to be off. Communication got a little clunky. But everyone showed up and got the work done. During the break our dining contractors couldn't get to campus, and we had some students in isolation who needed food delivered. Restaurants weren't delivering food, cabs and Ubers weren't running, stores weren't delivering — so what do we do? 

At UAF, we get a list of requested food items, go to Costco for a grocery run and deliver back to the isolation hall! Pizza, chicken tenders, fruits, veggies, and OJ were some of the requested items. No problem — crisis averted! Meanwhile, other employees were scrambling to respond to the various disruptions to power, water and heat, and develop contingency plans for every situation.  

A huge thank-you to the many employees who worked over break to respond to all of the issues, including Facilities Services, Residence Life, the UAF Police Department and many others.  

Oh, and did I mention that in the middle of all of this, we had a scurry of squirrels break into a facility? Like I said, at some point you just have to laugh!

One thing is for sure, winter break 2021 was memorable! But isn't that what so many of us seek when coming to Fairbanks and UAF? Adventure and excitement? Like so many other times that I can recall living in Fairbanks, people tend to come together when we experience hardship, inclement weather, etc. Able neighbors plow out other's driveways. Strangers stop to help strangers out of a ditch. This is one of the many reasons why I love living here and why I think others are attracted to Fairbanks and UAF.

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