UAF selected to join Gardner Institute's inaugural cohort

The University of Alaska Fairbanks has been selected as a participant in a new national initiative, Transforming the Foundational Postsecondary Experience. Led by the Gardner Institute, a leading national student success non-profit organization, this initiative aims to transform the critical first two years of college education during which students create the foundation of educational success and degree completion.

The effort will help institutions focus on inequitable performance gaps and take action to improve student learning and success. By participating in this initiative, UAF will collaborate closely with the Gardner Institute and the 10 other institutions in the inaugural cohort over a five-year period to develop innovative strategies, enhance teaching and learning practices, and promote student success and retention. The effort will help the institution move toward eliminating demographics, zip code, and other variables as the best predictors of who does or does not succeed.

The 11 institutions in the inaugural cohort include:

• Bridgewater State University in Bridgewater, Mass. 
• California State University- San Bernardino in San Bernardino, Calif.
• Capital University in Columbus, Ohio
• CUNY Queensborough Community College in Bayside, N.Y.
• Columbia College of Chicago in Chicago, Ill.
• Louisiana State University Shreveport in Shreveport, La.
• Mississippi State University in Starkville, Miss.
• Normandale Community College in Bloomington, Minn.
• Purdue University Global an online university
• University of Alaska Fairbanks in Fairbanks, Alaska
• University of Alaska Southeast in Juneau, Alaska