Friday Focus: The Round Table

May 20, 2022

— Owen Guthrie, vice chancellor of student affairs and enrollment management

One of the great pleasures of my role as vice chancellor of student affairs and enrollment management is the regular meeting of the leaders in our division. At our most recent gathering a couple of days ago, we had nine directors and our associate vice-chancellor present. Attending the gathering of such hard working and capable people is a great experience. It is like being present with the knights of the round table as they share stories of their heroic deeds on their return to Camelot. 

As their supervisor, it is inspiring and hugely humbling to hear of their journeys and their challenges. They are such gifted leaders and they are giving so deeply of themselves to our students and to our cause. Their tales of adventure are distilled into a small bullet point or relayed in just a momentary highlight, but the saga behind those summaries contains the many personal struggles we all face. These include all the struggles of managing our personal existences here in the far north and all the struggles of trying to maintain our current services and systems, while at the same time moving us forward. It is like relaying the details of a great expedition in just a blurb. Behind the short version there are a lot of quiet moments of personal struggle, and it is through these quiet personal moments, at scale, where we move, step-by-step, collectively forward. This is how we make things better for our students, and how we make a difference in our students’ lives.  

We heard from Tom Hough (pronounced: ‘howf’), the new director of University of Alaska Military and Veteran Services. Col. Hough just retired after 27 years of service in the U.S. Army. He chose to return to Fairbanks, join the UAF team, and serve our students and our community. Tom and his DMVS team bring a strong sense of entrepreneurship to our military and veteran student initiatives. They are building relationships with military leaders across the state, launching a new online student recruitment effort with a remote worker based in Texas, improving processes, and so much more. 

Amber Cagwin, director of Disability Services, shared that she and the DS crew have already provided services for 67 students for the summer term, and the term just started! This brings their total to 422 students served this year, up 17 percent from last year. These services are important for our community and critical to the students who rely upon them.

Teddi Walker, director of Residence Life, reported that campus housing will be hopping this summer! We are already housing the first of more than 50 summer workers on J1 visas. These folks are coming from around the world to spend the summer in Fairbanks and work for Fountainhead Partners at Wedgewood and Sophie Plaza. We are also providing housing to rival teams of the Goldpanners, staging field research teams for Toolik, hosting Rural Alaska Honors Institute students, and much more! We are delighted to welcome all of these people to Fairbanks and to UAF. 

Jeni Macomber, our contracts manager, is our connection to Chartwells and all things dining and bookstore-related. Jeni reported that she and her small team have lined up a series of food trucks starting in June for our summer lunchtime pleasure. Featured vendors will include Early Bird Loaded Fries and Alaska Cheesesteak among others. This schedule will have more information as it becomes available. This fall, Chartwells new concept, the Nanook Bagel Company, will be located at M3 Café in the Murie Building, and look for local favorite The Chowder House to establish a presence in the Wood Center! Lastly, Jeni, OIT, and the Follett Bookstore team just finished a years-long project implementing a new textbook adoption solution called Follett Discover. Look for more information about this exciting improvement soon!

Cody Rogers, director of the Center for Student Engagement, reported that Ice-Cream Thursdays are back! Also, our new eSports Coach and the Manager of the Alaska eSports Center, Drake Richard, has arrived here in Fairbanks. UAF CSE is also helping to host the Fairbanks Suzuki Institute starting next week. Busy times, indeed. 

Director of Admissions, Anna Gagne-Hawes, shared that we have 503 new incoming students registered whereas last year at this same time we had 367! They are modernizing our transfer credit processes and launching a new summer bridge program. Woohoo! Go Admissions! 

Kaydee Van Flein, director of the Center for Student Rights and Responsibilities and her team have been burning the candle at both ends. The end of the term is a trying time for many and they routinely go above and beyond. They helped organize and support all the arrangements necessary to help two students in need get themselves and their things to their homes far away. They extend critical care, help to keep us all safer, and help to make UAF a friendlier place. 

From Financial Aid and Nanook Recreation to Health and Counseling, the great deeds just keep coming. It is difficult to express what it is like to be regaled with the heroic tales of all those who work so hard to better serve our students and to better serve our collective effort. It is uplifting and humbling at the same time. To this great team of UAF heroes and to all those who work away and persevere in your quiet moments of personal struggle, I thank you. I am so grateful for all the work you do, and for the heart and soul you devote to our cause. I am grateful for the opportunity to work with and for you. Supporting our students is an important and meaningful quest. Thank you.  

Enjoy this beautiful Friday!

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