Goal 3

Be a leading partner with communities, industry and government to solve specific state and national needs

To link its teaching, research, and service more directly with the public, UAF's leaders must make clear statements about the university's mission, priorities, and activities. By the year 2000, each unit in UAF should be actively Involved in outreach projects and collaborations. These projects should address needs jointly Identified by UAF and our partners in villages, towns, schools, government, and the military. By improving communication and encouraging collaboration, UAF will remain a leader In fulfilling Alaska's needs for a well-trained work force and in educating productive citizens who contribute to their communities, their nation, and the world.

Focusing its energies on these priorities, UAF will be:

1. The leading Alaskan Research Partner with communities, business, government agencies, the military, and other universities within and outside Alaska.
   1. Place particular emphasis on areas of study that highlight our geographical location and our strengths.
   2. Hold regular meetings and symposia with groups inside and outside the university to identify needs, opportunities. and priorities.
2. A builder of human capital for Alaska with emphasis on the areas of our strength.
   1. Work closely with Industry and statewide and local agencies to determine trends and likely areas of growth.
   2. Create stronger ties between UAF faculty and staff and K-12 schools and students.
   3. Create in each unit proactive outreach projects In the community and state and coordinate into the planning process the information those contacts provide.
   4. Emphasize master's degree programs and selected doctoral programs in the humanities. social sciences, natural sciences, and engineering as professional and mid-career programs for Alaska's labor force. Encourage inter-institutional arrangements to create such programs in Alaska.
   5. Emphasize vocational-technical programs to meet the workforce needs of Fairbanks and the rural areas of Alaska and to enhance economic development.
3. A provider of practical information and problem-solving strategies with special emphasis on matters relating to the North. Our unique location, our strong faculty, and our established service units such as the Cooperative Extension Service make UAF the ideal university to work with people interested in natural resources, global change, environmental issues, Arctic health, the diversification of Alaska's economy, youth development, human relations, Alaska Native languages and culture, and distance delivery of education.

   Several approaches to sharing ideas and solving problems will evolve. To build on what is working well already, we propose focusing on public service.

   1. Create a UAF Practical Information Access Group.
   2. Publish a UAF Speakers Directory and distribute it regularly.
   3. Make UAF programs, events, buildings and people more accessible to the public.
4. The center of excellence in arts and culture for Alaska. We consider it a primary responsibility of UAF to provide first-rate coursework in the arts and to ensure access to high-quality cultural experiences for Alaskans.
   1. Provide support and coordination for statewide arts programming. Statewide backing for traveling exhibitions, touring groups, and individuals will help UAF share guest musicians. writers, artists, and performers with rural and underserved areas, as well as with Fairbanks, and create a statewide clearinghouse for arts programming and show booking.
   2. Bring our studio and performance facilities up to code and allow basic budgets to include funds for upkeep and periodic replacement of equipment and instruments.
   3. Emphasize master's programs to support the development of Alaskan artists, writers, and performers.
   4. Support additions to the public-service and exhibition efforts of the UA Museum of the North.
   5. Support international exchanges within the arts.
5. The visionary leader for the state.

   What opportunities and what difficulties will Alaska face in the year 2020? What will the role of the higher education be in the next ten or the next twenty-five years? Part of UAF's responsibility to the citizens of the state includes thinking ahead--way ahead. UAF can draw on its 75 years of leadership in learning for Alaska to envision what can be.

   1. Create a UAF Think Tank, a resource group of people from a variety of disciplines from within and outside the university who are open to fresh and lively new ideas.