Christa Eussen is a recipient of the UA President's Retention Scholarship. She explains why she chose to attend UAA, and why she feels she made the right choice.

Next Steps For the University of Alaska

UA President Pat Gamble talks to attendees of the 2013 NACADA (Region 8) Conference about shifting from a culture of student input (enrollment) to student output (retention) by focusing on a "college ready" approach.
 

Outgoing NACADA President, Jennifer Joslin, talks about the role the University of Alaska could play as a higher education leader with its approach toward a more student centered environment.

Recently, UA President Pat Gamble spoke to participants in the Region 8 National Academic Advising Association Conference (NACADA) in Anchorage Alaska. During his address, he talked about the important role advisors play in today's higher education environment.

After hearing President Gamble's speech, NACADA Executive Director, Charlie Nutt, talked about the challenges, and the changing times that universities across the nation face. He also talked about the proactive position that the University of Alaska is taking, with regard to advising, in its Strategic Direction Initiative.

The University of Alaska Strategic Direction Initiative is quickly approaching another milestone. After conducting SDI work sessions with deans, directors, and leadership at UAS, UAF and UAA, the next step is preparation for the May 31 deans and directors meeting at UAA.

UA Vice President for Academic Affairs, Dana Thomas, facilitated all three work-sessions. The goal was to focus on the effects statements for the five SDI themes:

• Student Achievement and Attainment
• Productive Partnerships with Alaska’s Schools
• Productive Partnerships with Public Entities and Private Industries
• Research and Development to Sustain Alaska’s Communities and Economic Growth
• Accountability to the People of Alaska

By Pat Gamble

President, University of Alaska

The national higher education agenda is in transformation and is generating a powerful message, which is being broadcast across the United States. At the University of Alaska (UA) we interpret it to say: “The time has come to raise the bar … to shape a new vanguard of workforce that is trained, educated, and ready to benefit economically by meeting the demands that a resource hungry, environmentally conscious, digitally supported world economy will place on our doorstep.” Or not. Yes, we have a choice. We can demur and say, “No need. Nothing’s broken. What’s the urgency? We’re doing just fine the way we are.” We can certainly choose that road. But, in my opinion, if we do, the consequences for Alaska become entirely predictable … and all bad.

UA is Alaska’s higher education engine, with three separately accredited universities comprised of 16 campuses stretching from Kotzebue to Ketchikan. Today, there are nearly 35,000 students enrolled in our universities and college campuses statewide. Over the past decade we have witnessed the number of students seeking postsecondary education continue to grow steadily. UA student enrollment has grown 8.8% just over the last five years, with students enrolled in high demand Alaskan career fields accounting for about 40% of that. Enrollment of first-time-ever freshmen over the same period has grown nearly 28%, with most of that group being Alaskan high school graduates. The UA Scholars Program, our top 10% performing students, has increased its enrollment by 12%. These are all unambiguous indicators that UA is winning the fight to recruit, retain and refine our state’s most precious natural resource … well educated citizens. We have been generally pretty good at building baccalaureate-level graduates … teachers, nurses, engineers, to name just a few. But we have much more to do. The competency bar keeps going up by itself. To meet the growing standards, we are going to have to focus on successful partnerships with Alaska’s industries so we can turn out specifically trained and educated employees where and when the Alaska workforce needs them. Associate degrees are rapidly becoming required, more than simply desired, because employers today want critical thinkers as well as technical experts who can manage their logistics and operate their technology. 

Strategic Course

To those ends, the university is in the midst of a major institutional directional change. We call it the Strategic Direction Initiative (SDI). Beginning about a year and a half ago, UA teams hit the road for several months, out soliciting the people of Alaska to help us chart a new course.  We were highly encouraged by their strong response, their passion, and their commitment to support the work that they said we have ahead of us. Our promise to them was that we will seek out and remove frustrating, expensive, bureaucratic, and administrative barriers to student success that might have unintentionally grown up over time within our university system. We intend to employ readily available technology to help open expeditious pathways for our many categories of students to move both physically and virtually throughout the UA system to meet their attainment goals as quickly and affordably as possible without sacrificing learning quality or value. By asking ourselves why we do things the way we do, and answering honestly and objectively, we intend to create a culture of sustained continuous improvement throughout the UA system.

Upon distilling the SDI outreach data down to its essence, we acquired a much higher degree of clarity regarding our purpose and need. Now, we plan to systematically unlock the potential energy that we observed within the businesses and communities all across our state, and use it to help power our own higher education future. Our ability to parry the challenges lying in ambush along the way of progress links directly to our ability to foresee and then nimbly respond to the myriad of economic market changes trending throughout the Alaskan workplace. Our university system’s ability to adapt plays an essential role in this process. For example, after a decade, Alaska is about to reach a pivotal decision on oil and gas development. What is decided on paper will undoubtedly be hailed as a landmark achievement in our state’s economic history. But at the same time Alaska employs an aging imported oil and gas workforce that needs replacing. Alaska has prospects brewing for several diversified industries. Alaska sits on the cusp of realizing significant brand new types of mining and oil/gas expansions. Alaska is center stage for international arctic environmental and geophysical research. Alaska is responding to a growing number of economic development inquiries that are being received as a direct result of our highly advantageous market location in a world of expanding globalization. In short, Alaska is potentially lead time away from confronting a substantial need for filling management and technical jobs that don’t even exist yet. To accommodate the need without resorting to outside labor will require much closer interface with the Alaska Department of Labor, local industry, and local communities. They will help us identify how many, where, and what those future jobs will look like so UA can get down to the business of designing, planning, engineering and resourcing all the customized workforce education and training programs we will need.

We Are Alaska’s University

In Alaska, anyone eligible and ready for college essentially has an open door to enter our universities and campuses. The burden on a new student of making so many difficult decisions that typically come with enrollment can be quite intimidating. We believe our students deserve first class personal service as they each seek out the best placement in order to transition academically (and affordably) from high school into and through the UA system. To accomplish that tall order we have to form a solid, trusting relationship with Alaska’s school districts … aligning curriculum, collecting student academic data from preschool to high school … making sure that teachers, principals, advisors, parents and students alike are all confident that their expectations for continued academic success are addressed and well placed. Rural Alaska presents its own very important imperatives. We believe that the successful university education programs for rural Alaska are the ones that will prepare students for the analytical rigors of college through the use of culturally-relevant social norms and curriculum. This idea is breaking new trail at the college level. We believe that students learning critical thinking in humanities, math, and science can thrive just as well academically by applying quantitative and qualitative reasoning to the lessons of Alaskan history, culture, and the learning ways of a subsistence experience deeply rooted in their Native heritage. After all, math and science in the bush are the very same as that found in urban Washington, D.C. We believe economic and infrastructure disparities in rural Native communities stand the best chance of elimination by returning well educated, well trained sons and daughters … who never lost sight of who they are during the process of becoming academically prepared …  back to their villages as leaders and educators.

Student-Centered Focus

Clearly, our state lawmakers want the same things we want: a systematic reduction of institutional barriers so that Alaskan students can easily and cost effectively transition into, through, and out of higher education. For example, students and parents alike have come to expect that the basic core courses taken at any one state campus should transfer to any other, regardless of the method of instruction used, such as the increasingly popular eLearning methods. We agree. This saves money, time, and eliminates a major source of student/parent frustration. Reducing the “hassle factor” would undoubtedly encourage increased enrollment, contribute to better retention, and enhance faster graduation. Additionally, our student-centered community focus needs to be reinforced by similarly progressive attitudes throughout UA itself regarding the system’s co-equal responsibility to provide high quality, timely, student personal service, world-class academic and financial advising, and a genuine inviting and pleasant overall student campus experience inside and outside the classroom. Students want choices and flexibility. They want expanded eLearning opportunities and custom course offerings that allow for family schedules commonly required by our “non-traditional” working students. To that end we are looking at more non-traditional classroom hours, supported by universal internet access and broadband upgrades. We are dialoging across the state with Alaska’s business communications leaders. Off the grid students desperately need access to high data rates that can enable the latest software applications, regardless of where they live in Alaska. When it comes to our role in providing for student’s success, a cursory look at the rate of change occurring around the nexus of leading edge communication, teaching and learning clearly demonstrate that we can’t rest on our laurels. The university has an obligation to maintain the best environment we can for student success, upgraded regularly at a rate commensurate with the high tempo development of their commercial personal technology, and with the expected tempo of the business and scientific advances we are teaching them about in the classroom. Anything less is akin to the illusion of Michael Jackson’s famous “moonwalking” … backward progress disguised as forward motion.

Bottom Line

Alaska’s communities told us clearly that their future is deeply invested in the entire education continuum, K-16. Every Alaskan school district, business, and community is a potential partner, beneficiary and contributor toward UA’s comprehensive effort to meet state education and workforce development challenges. SDI, our university system institutional shift in strategic direction, is a comprehensive initiative to pursue much improved and measureable student outcomes at every level … to create greater academic and economic value, and stimulate a greater state return. SDI is about UA adopting a philosophy of system-wide continuous improvement as an enduring cultural tenant. That is what a top line university system should be all about. We Are Alaska’s University. We are all about UA graduates who not only succeed in their higher education aspirations, but also succeed in their life’s calling. For we Alaskans will all assuredly depend on them someday.

The University of Alaska Strategic Direction Initiative is reaching out to the deans and directors at UAS, UAF, and UAA. UA Vice President of Academic Affairs, Dana Thomas, has been conducting the work sessions focusing on the effect statements for SDI themes. Thomas talked about the importance of the work sessions, and why they are specifically targeted at deans and directors.

“ The deans and directors are the ones who are going to be largely responsible for implementing the effects that SDI will be striving to achieve. They set workloads for faculty and staff. So it’s absolutely critical that our deans and directors are engaged in this process.”

The first deans and directors work-session was held in Juneau, on April 16, where the discussion focused more on SDI Themes that included student achievement and attainment, partnerships with Alaska’s schools, and accountability to Alaskans. 

According to Thomas, the group came up with some very good recommendations that he said he would share with UAF and UAA.

“For example, the group wanted to address part-time student completion rates which makes perfect sense, since so many of our UA students are part-time.”

“In addition, they wanted to make sure that that there was more emphasis on distance delivery, including access, and convenience for students. Instead of associating eLearning with online courses, they wanted to refer to distance delivery as eLearning and hybrid courses for the purpose of access.” Added Thomas.

Both UAF and UAA have much larger groups of deans and directors attending their work-sessions. Vice President Thomas said that the goal in those sessions would be to achieve the same outcomes as the UAS meeting, but through a different methodology.

“Because of the size of the UAF and UAA groups, my goal is to break out groups that would tackle the individual SDI themes and effects statements. Then each group could begin the process of formulating potential approaches to achieve those effects.”

“ The desired outcome of these work-sessions is to refine the effect statements that have been identified by our chancellors and provosts, and begin identifying the operational or tactical approaches in order to achieve those effects.” Said Thomas.

The UAF deans and directors meeting was conducted on April 24, at the Wood Center. UAA’s deans and directors meeting is scheduled for May 02, at Gorsuch Commons. After the deans and directors work-sessions are completed, another meeting is scheduled for May 31, in Anchorage. There, the information gathered during the work-sessions will be discussed, and next steps will be identified. 

The five Strategic Direction themes adopted by the UA Board of Regents are:

• Student Achievement and Attainment
• Productive Partnerships with Alaska’s Schools
• Productive Partnerships with Public Entities and Private Industries
• Research and Development to Sustain Alaska’s Communities and Economic Growth
• Accountability to the People of Alaska

The University of Alaska is kicking off its third phase of the Strategic Direction Initiative conducting work sessions with deans and directors at UAS, UAF, and UAA. Dana Thomas, UA Vice President of Academic Affairs, is facilitating all three work sessions.  The first kicked off on Tuesday, April 16 at UAS. The next work session is scheduled for  9 a.m., April 24, at UAF. The final work session is scheduled for 3:30 p.m., May 02, at UAA.

The University of Alaska (UA) has been very busy building partnerships with Alaska’s schools. Last year, the UA Board of Regents met with the Alaska’s State Board of Education and Early Development (EED). Esther Cox serves on the (EED) board of Directors and recalled that it was the first time in a long time that the two boards had met.  She also talked about the tone of the meeting.

“There was a lot of discussion about next steps, and accountabilities; that put into motion a number of agreed upon priorities.” Said Cox

One of those priorities was generating greater awareness about the UA Teacher Education Consortium. The consortium brings together education leaders from across the state to focus on continuous improvements in UA’s teacher preparation programs.    

University of Alaska Southeast Provost Rick Caulfield took the lead in organizing the first meeting held in Anchorage last September, and more recently in Juneau last week (March 26). For Caulfield, the goal of having the meetings is simple and strategic.  

“Our goal in the end is to see more highly-qualified Alaskan graduates find employment in schools across the state-particularly in rural communities and in high-demand fields like special education. These meetings enable leaders to share ideas and data, and to develop common strategies and action steps,” added Caulfield.  

One of those leaders, Mat-Su Borough Superintendent Deena Paramo, said last week’s meeting was a very important step toward understanding where the gaps lie.

“The meeting really was about connecting the dots between K12 and the university. It’s important for us to have these kinds of meetings so we can talk openly about what it takes to prepare students for success in higher education.

When you’re in a room talking about what kinds of skill sets we need in today’s teachers, it becomes evident that a school district my size requires a very different set of skills when recruiting teachers than the skill sets that are needed in rural Alaskan school districts.”

Dr. Rosita Worl (PhD) is the President of the Sealaska Heritage Institute, and a member of the Alaska Federation of Natives Board of Directors. Dr. Worl addressed the importance of ‘Growing our Own Teachers’ during the meeting.

“Teachers are key to the future of our youth and communities, and it is essential that we have the best-trained teachers.  Alaska is different in many respects to other states. The problems we see, particularly in our rural communities, stem from teacher training that is not designed to prepare teacher to teach culturally diverse students, and to live in remote communities.  I applaud the university for reaching out to interest groups to seek ways to improve their teaching programs and to increase the number of Alaskan teachers, and notably Alaska Natives, to enter this noble profession that is so important to our future.  Collectively, we may be able to make significant changes and improvements.”    

Esther Cox said it was critical for school district leaders to work closer with the University in teacher development. She went on to say that she is hoping that the Consortium will include input from the state’s principals. 

“Principals are the boots on the ground. They have an understanding of what kinds of tools would better prepare a teacher to succeed in their schools.”

Sitka Superintendent, Steve Bradshaw also attended the meeting in Juneau. Bradshaw noted that today’s Alaskan student comes to class with a very different set of circumstances than previous generations.

“Part of our discussion drilled down to a question that really needs to be addressed; ‘how do you balance a student’s academic environment with that student’s social environment?’ More and more students in our schools are not learning the way they should because of outside elements that can range from family dynamics to homelessness. This isn’t a rural, or suburban, or urban issue in Alaska; it’s a national issue. There is no silver bullet fix to the issue; it’s going to take accountability from all of us in order to find the best solutions for all of our students,” added Bradshaw.

The next UA Teacher Education Consortium meeting is planned to align with the Statewide Principals’ Conference, which will be held in Anchorage in October.

The University of Alaska's Teacher Education Initiative includes four key components:

Future Educators of Alaska (FEA) - FEA is evolving into a Career and Technical Student Organization (CTSO). For this reason, the focus of FEA is on preparing high school students for leadership roles. FEA will continue to help students plan for careers in education, work with FEA students in after‐school clubs, and guide FEA students enrolled in ""Exploring Education Careers"" courses. In addition, FEA students will participate in competitions that hone their oral presentation skills. In addition to the ""Exploring Education Careers"" course, a second dual‐credit course is being planned to help ease graduating FEA high school student transition into UA Schools and Colleges of Education.

Alaska Teacher Placement (ATP) - ATP will host one major in‐state and two out‐of‐state job fairs to connect qualified educators with Alaska districts, along with dozens of virtual job fairs and 24‐hour iCommunity support. ATP is increasing collaboration with the Deans of UA Schools and College of Education to determine how to offer career services to education majors in their final years at UA, with the ultimate goal of assuring placement in Alaska districts for increasing numbers of UA education graduates. Because ISER statistics show that teachers from Alaska stay longer in Alaskan schools, the ATP bridge between UA Schools and College of Education and Alaska districts for our UA education graduates should lead to increased retention and decreased dependence on teachers from out of state. A pilot project between ATP and the University of Alaska Southeast is underway to determine how much and what kind of intervention is needed to increase UA Education student interest in jobs in rural Alaska.

Statewide Teacher Mentoring - The Alaska Statewide Mentor Project (ASMP) is a partnership between the University of Alaska and the State Department of Education and Early Development. State funding currently provides mentors to an average of 380 early career teachers annually in mostly rural districts across the state each year. ASMP has received a $15 million grant to expand the program to first‐ and second‐year teachers in the Anchorage, Fairbanks, Mat‐Su, Sitka and Kenai school districts.

PREPARES -  Is a 5‐yr National Science Foundation funded scale‐up research project exploring whether a model that has shown promise in improving teacher retention in rural, predominantly indigenous and low‐income serving Alaska districts is transferable to other parts of Alaska and the nation. The model involves providing professional development for teachers based on data‐driven and research‐based best‐practices for engaging indigenous students in the study of science, math, and other subjects. The professional development enables teachers to provide place‐based, community‐relevant, culturally responsive instruction in their classrooms, and is based on the premise that teachers who learn to provide place‐based instruction that is also community‐relevant and culturally responsive are more likely to see an increase in both the engagement and achievement of their students across subject areas, are therefore are more likely to stay in rural districts longer than teachers who do not offer such instruction. Unanticipated benefits to the model to date include persistent increased community and parental engagement in student scholastic endeavors. To find out more about "Growing Our Own Educators", click here.

For a number of years, the University of Alaska's Board of Regents has presented a report to the legislature on teacher preparation, retention, and recruitment, in accordance with Alaska Senate Bill 241. According to Diane Hirshberg, Director for the Center for Alaska Education Policy Research (CAEPR), this year's presentation to the legislature contained new data to help provide greater insight into the challenges that Alaskans face in preparing, retaining, and recruiting Alaska's teachers. Please click here to view the complete report on teacher preparation, retention, and recruitment presented to the 28th Alaska State Legislature by the  Board of Regents of the University of Alaska.

The University of Alaska is conducting Arctic Research that continues to innovate new technologies and new ways of thinking; making a difference for Alaskans and communities throughout the Circumpolar Region.

“Today, we’re leaving the second phase of the Strategic Direction Initiative, and entering the final phase… or what I like to call… the doing phase of SDI.   Doing means we have to own what we do. We have to be accountable. That’s a little bit of a culture change. That’s why we have you, our leadership in this room. You have to have the courage to believe in this culture change so you can inspire others to do the same.”

President Pat Gamble

Turning the SDI Conversation into Action

The University of Alaska Strategic Direction Initiative reached another major milestone on Wednesday, February 20. Leadership across all UA campuses gathered at UAA to build on a vision of becoming the University of Choice for Alaskans.

The meeting, facilitated by Dr. Terry MacTaggart (UA SDI Consultant), began with an assessment of where SDI was in relation to similar initiatives at other state universities. 

“You all are part of a change process that is happening at universities across the nation right now. What sets you apart is that you are actually moving the needle in the right direction already.”

It didn’t take long for UA Leadership to affirm the five themes that were drafted on July 23, 2012. Those themes are embedded in many of the initiatives that are ongoing at UA campuses, demonstrating the Strategic Direction Initiative in action.

The Courage to Change the Way We Do Business

There were five topics of discussion that were brought up during the meeting.

• Increasing the number of Alaskans receiving certificates, licenses, degrees and program completions
• Accelerating remedial/developmental education for students
• E-Learning
• Establishing a common set of General Educational Requirements (GER’s)
• Raising the profile of research and development to advance Alaska’s communities and our economy

All three MAU’s are already working on academic advising, aligning common education requirements, and building stronger research and development ties. The consensus was that the University’s role in supporting these collaborative efforts was to:

• Provide leadership for a new direction
• Provide support for the MAU efforts
• Convene meetings that highlight improvement and success
• Communicate progress to the State of Alaska

President Gamble summarized this cultural transition from gathering and processing information to a new phase, one of “doing”. It will not be easy, but it has great potential for both short and long term higher education opportunities for Alaskans.

“Phase three is not all downhill. As a mater of fact, it’s like the “heartbreak hill” of a marathon. We know the end is in sight, but we still have some big hills to climb.”

This is a point in time when we have the opportunity to show that we made this attempt in order to remain relevant in a time of change. I believe that future generations of Alaskans will look back at this time and say that was a pivotal moment in the history of this University system, where we decided that we were going to be Alaska’s University of first choice. That’s our legacy. Doing nothing is the worst thing we can do; our relevancy is at risk.”

President Gamble went on to say, “In a sense, we have to think about where we want to be in three years. We will want to get the results that advance the University of Alaska. Therefore, the importance of our next phase is underscored by the work we select and the initiatives we that we complete. Our communications, both internal and external, will help to keep everyone engaged in our process. By building a strong coalition of support among agencies, Community groups, private enterprises, and any stakeholders we partner with, we’ll be able to achieve the effects or outcomes we need to stay relevant.”

Next Steps include:

• Our Chancellors and Provosts identify their initiatives
• Select the outcomes for UA’s Advancement (Effects we want to achieve)
• Build a communications plan for internal and external engagement and support
• Prepare a report of progress to the Board of Regents and to the University

FedEx is partnering with both UAA and UAF in a big way.  Each University is getting a Boeing 727-200 aircraft for use in avionics training at their Community and Technical Colleges. It's a huge win for University of Alaska students who are looking for careers in avionics!

“We are Alaska’s colleges and universities - how can we serve you better?” That question was asked at eighty Listening Sessions conducted at campuses throughout Alaska. The University of Alaska Strategic Initiative (SDI) began those listening sessions in October 2011. But, the plan, and the process that continues to evolve, actually began earlier that year when discussions emerged about formulating a “strategic direction” with the President’s Cabinet and Staff.

“By the time the September 2011 Board of Regents (BOR) meeting in Juneau rolled around, the process we would move through was roughed out. At that important session, the Faculty Alliance became involved in drafting the critical questions for the Listening Sessions.” according to Paula Donson, AVP of Academic Affairs & Strategic Direction. “The BOR also endorsed the SDI process and the Statewide Academic Council (SAC) offered support for the initiative.” “I recall that in that 30-day period, we worked with the Community Campus Directors to schedule the 80 sessions, mobilized our plan, and brought to life a vehicle that was directed at transforming and energizing the University of Alaska’s mission to better serve its students”. 

Now, the third, and final phase of the UA Strategic Direction Initiative will begin on February 20, when leadership from UAA, UAF, UAS, and UA Statewide will gather in Anchorage.

According to UA Vice President of Academic Affairs, Dana Thomas, this meeting is vital to SDI success.

“I’m asking all leadership attendees to come prepared to contribute. This meeting will help us finalize priorities so we can actually start moving the needle in the identified direction, and keep it moving in that direction.” Said Thomas.

President Pat Gamble will kick off the meeting, and Dr. Terry MacTaggart, UA Strategic Direction Consultant, will lead the group through the following steps:  

The five SDI Directions (Themes) are:

• Student Achievement and Attainment
• Productive Partnerships with Alaska’s Schools
• Productive Partnerships with Public Entities and Private Industries
• Research and Development Sustain Alaska’s Communities and Economic Growth
• Accountability to the People of Alaska

SDI will provide outcomes immwediately following the February 20 meeting in .

Alaska ACE one of the largest research projects of its kind in the state of Alaska. The five-year, $20 million project, is principally funded by the National Science Foundation through an Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) award.  The project is aptly named ‘Alaska Adapting to Changing Environments’, or Alaska ACE. 

According to the Alaska ACE Project Director, UAA Professor of Biology, Lilian Alessa, there is a very important shift in how the research is being conducted in this particular project

Alaska ACE is a collaborative between the University of Alaska’s research scientists at UAA, UAF, and UAS, and is organized into three regional test cases in Southeast, Southcentral, and Northern Alaska.

Southeast Test Case : The Southeast Test Case centers on Berners Bay, a diverse icefield-to-estuary ecosystem near the city of Juneau, with research that also encompasses Southeast Alaska as a whole. Glacial recession in Berners Bay is altering hydrology and landscapes, which affects key local industries and activities. The goal of the test case is to measure these glacier-mediated changes; to understand how they affect the key ecosystem services of ice, salmon, and plankton, and to gauge the capacity of the Juneau resource-management and business communities in order to anticipate these changes.

Key external partners include the Juneau Economic Development Corporation (JEDC), the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), and the Alaska Coastal Rainforest Center (ACRC).

Southcentral Test Case :  The Southcentral Test Case focuses on communities in the Kenai River watershed south of Anchorage. The area is subject to multiple drivers of change, including global and regional temperature and precipitation changes, salmon population fluctuations, a recent tourism downturn, recreational pressure from Anchorage, shrinking wetlands, and forest fire dynamics.

Key external partners include the Kenai Peninsula Economic Development District (KPEDD), the Department of the Interior's Alaska Climate Science Center (ACSC), and the Kenai’tze Indian Tribe.

Northern Test Case :  The Northern Test Case focuses on two villages, one in Arctic Alaska, and one in Interior Alaska. Research will begin in the North Slope village of Nuiqsut and will shift focus in year three to the Interior. Nuiqsut and other northern Alaskan villages are subject to a changing landscape caused both by climate change and by accelerated oil and gas exploration and development. Interior villages face a different set of challenges, including high levels of households below the poverty level, and climate changes associated with the boreal forest that include increased fire frequency.

Key external partners include the North Slope Borough Wildlife Management and Planning departments, the interagency North Slope Science Initiative (NSSI), and BP Energy.

The communities participating in all three test cases will play a critical role in the success of the project’s mission : “build capacity in order to provide the state's communities with the means to effectively respond to change, and to further the field of social-ecological systems science.”

Look for more SDI Updates on the Alaska ACE Project progress.

UAA Chugiak-Eagle River began a collaborative with the Mat-Su Borough School District (MSBSD) last fall.  About forty Mat-Su Juniors and Seniors who volunteered for this pilot project are going to high school and college at the same time on the UAA Chugiak-Eagle River Campus.  MSBSD officials project that the number of students enrolling in the Alaska Middle College will grow significantly in the fall of 2014.

The University of Alaska is already experiencing growing national and international competition for Research funding. In this video, UAF Vice Chancellor of Research, Mark Myers, talks about the new research environment, the future effects of sequestration, and how the University is proactively meeting those challenges today.

In October, UAA’s Vice-Chancellor for Student Affairs, Bruce Schultz, described how the University was implementing an upgrade of MAP-Works®, a comprehensive student success and retention program that is used to help predict student attrition and low academic progress using demographic analysis and predictive analytics. In addition to the upgrade, UAA funded a position to work with front-line student support professionals in order to easily and quickly identify their struggling students. The program also serves as the infrastructure to manage critical outreach efforts, referrals, and collaborations among faculty and staff.

Vice Chancellor Schultz provided the following update on MAP-Works’ progress:  

• In fall 2012 the MAP-Works program increased its student enrollment from about 2,000 Anchorage-campus students in AY11 and AY12, to more than 5,500 students in AY13. This year, all degree-seeking first-year and sophomore students on the Anchorage campus are enrolled.

• In addition to these 5,500 degree-seekers, every student on the Anchorage campus in a preparatory or 100-level course is enrolled, regardless of degree or class standing. This enabled UAA to pilot the Faculty Referral (Early Alert) System feature in MAP-Works for all interested PRPE and 100-level faculty.  

• To date UAA has received 65 alerts, each acted upon through at least one interactive student contact by an academic advisor. Significant faculty participation came from the departments of College Preparatory and Developmental Studies, Biological Sciences, and Computer Office and Information Systems.

• In fall 2012, front-line Student Affairs staff and faculty from New Student Orientation, Advising and Testing, Guidance 150, and Residence Life completed 856 targeted and intentional interventions with struggling students based on MAP-Works student enrollment profiles.

• Administrators in Student Affairs have provided more than 50 faculty members, department chairs, and academic deans with information and training on use of the faculty referral system. The faculty referral system is easy to use, confidential, and FERPA compliant.

• The most common issues identified in faculty referrals were 1) students falling behind in coursework but still attending class regularly; 2) students experiencing unforeseen and temporary events negatively affecting their success that semester; and 3) issues related to student’s time management and work obligations impacting success.

• The total number of student responses to MAP-Works surveys in fall 2012 nearly doubled from fall 2011 (832 students in fall 2011 vs. 1,625 in fall 2012).

• By the end of fall 2012, the network of registered faculty and staff MAP-Works users on the Anchorage campus grew to 68.

SDI will continue updating the progress made by UAA's Academic Advising Initiative throughout the school year.

In October, UAF Interim Dean for General Studies, Alexandra (Alex) Fitts, shared UAF’s focus on intensifying academic advising by expanding Student Support Services with more academic advisors. According to Dean Fitts this Comprehensive Advising Initiative includes a more in depth one on one approach toward meeting students’ needs.

“ By meeting longer and more often with students, advisors can then connect them with the support networks that they specifically need.” added Fitts.  

Since our interview in October, UAF’s Student Support Services has been busy collecting data on numbers of students advised, and the percentage of students that are first generation or low income. Other data being collected includes the amount of tutor hours provided, and the amount of scholarship money that has been disbursed for October and November.

• 352 different students were advised in 474 appointments

• 275, or 78% of these students are first generation and/or low income

• Student Support Services, the Degree Completion advisor, the Student-Athlete advisor, and the staff advisor in the College of Liberal Arts advised these students

• Tutors in Student Support Services provided an additional 159 hours of tutoring to low income, first generation students

• 85 students have already applied for Comprehensive Advising scholarships in the College of Liberal Arts alone. The scholarships will be awarded for the Spring semester.

Dean Fitts went on to say, “In January, we’ll begin looking at success rates of SI and ENG111-plus sections, GPAs and academic progress of the students that were advised, and GPAs and the academic progress of students that received scholarship funding.”

SDI will continue updating the progress made by UAF's Comprehensive Academic Advising Initiative throughout the school year.

In October, SDI spoke with UAS Vice Chancellor of Student Services, Joe Nelson, about the focus on academic advising at UAS campuses. Recently, Vice Chancellor Nelson provided us with an update on further academic advising initiatives at UAS .

• A very important part of the increased comprehensive academic advising effort at UAS is the Academic Early Alert System. By the beginning of November, the number of early alerts increased by 28% over last spring’s numbers. UAS Faculty participation in the program increased by 23% over last spring. These two indicators are important contributors to UAS’s commitment to increase student retention.

• The UAS Financial Aid Office successfully implemented a financial incentive for the Stay On Track program.  131 students received a $500 Tuition Waiver by registering for 15 or more credits and meeting additional qualifications.  82% of students who received the scholarship maintained 15 or more credit as of November 30.

• UAS partnered with Tlingit and Haida Housing Authority to provide a multi-week Financial Literacy series on campus.  Twenty-seven students entered the six-week program, studying topics of budgeting, credit card management, interest rate analysis, identity theft prevention, and purchasing insurance.  Twenty students completed 100% of the sessions, with an additional five completing two-thirds of the sessions.

• UAS recently added an academic advisor position. In addition to providing comprehensive academic advising for UAS students, this person will be responsible for tracking targeted groups of students, including Alaska Scholars, students referred through the Early Alert system, UA Scholars, etc.

• UAS has begun developing a retention program for students on probation. Degree seeking, full time freshman and sophomores enrolled in fall 2013 will be a part of the program. The purpose of the probation program will be to assist students in returning to and maintaining academic good standing.

Vice Chancellor Nelson also shared UAS’s commitment to increasing and enforcing bachelor degree admissions standards by stating , “We’ve been incrementally increasing our standards over the last few years.  Our goal is to continue to raise those standards, and we are making forward progress on a number of fronts.”

SDI will continue updating the progress made in academic advising at UAS throughout the school year.

UAS Sitka's Health Management Program is increasing trainings for health care professionals throughout Alaska.  According to Campus Director Jeff Johnston, UAS Sitka has the only nationally accredited Health Information Management Program in the state!  Click here to find out more!

University of Alaska Student Regent Mari Freitag explains how she would like to take the opportunity afforded by the UA Strategic Direction Initiative (SDI) to improve the student experience on UA campuses.
Click here to see the interview.

According to the project’s Principal Investigator, UAF Vice Chancellor for Research, Mark Myers, Alaska ACE embraces each of the UA Strategic Direction Themes.

Alaska ACE is, first and foremost, a collaborative research project between the University of Alaska’s research scientists at UAA, UAF, and UAS, and is organized into three regional test cases in Southeast, Southcentral, and Northern Alaska.

Click here to see the Alaska ACE Strategic Plan in its entirety.

Look for more SDI Updates on the Alaska ACE Project progress.

UAS Ketchikan is the higher learning hub for Ketchikan and its surrounding communities. One of the most important communities in Ketchikan is the US Coast Guard Station. Many of the men and women assigned there take advantage of the courses offered at UAS Ketchikan. For service members using the GI Bill, there are some requirements that have, in the past, been barriers. One such requirement provided UAS Ketchikan faculty the opportunity to experiment with a hybrid method of ‘expanding the classroom’ that seems to be working. UAS Ketchikan Interim Director Priscilla Schulte explains in this video.

Forty-six Mat-Su Borough School District (MSBSD) high school juniors and seniors became the first class to enter the first Middle College in Alaska on August 16, 2012. The Alaska Middle College is located on the UAA Chugiak-Eagle River Campus.  

It’s a hybrid educational environment that includes a team of two MSBSD high school educators and two UAA professors dedicated to providing an opportunity for students to complete their high school education as well as track right into a college ready environment before graduating from high school. According to Cynthia Rogers, UAA’s Chugiak-Eagle River Campus Director, this ‘Middle College’ model does work. 

“These students have the opportunity to complete their high school education in a college setting. The success of this Middle College’ model is in the power of the site. When you place high school students into a college setting, it provides the motivation to want to work hard to become college ready. What we have already found is that students can raise the bar, and they are capable of competing at the college level.

SDI: “What are the criteria for determining whether students are college ready?”

Rogers: “They demonstrate their college readiness through their SAT, ACT, or ACCUPlacer test scores, just like any other UAA student would.”

SDI: “How far can a motivated student progress in the Alaska Middle College?”

Rogers: “Students have the opportunity to complete up to a two-year Associate of Arts degree while attending the school, or make significant progress toward their individual educational goal.”

Both the MSBSD and the UAA Chugiak-Eagle River Campus envision doubling the number of Mat-Su high school students enrolled in the Alaska Middle College by the fall of 2013.

When you ask Kenai Peninsula College Director Gary Turner about 'Student Success' his response is "We're building it right now". By the summer of 2013,The KPC Kenai River Campus will be home to two new buildings designed to flow from one to the other, seamlessly.  To find out more, click here!

One of the most discussed issues brought up by students, faculty, and staff during the UA Strategic Direction Initiative Listening Sessions was universal access to all campuses through a single user name and password login. Right now it looks like UA’s Office of Information Technology is well on its way to narrowing that gap.

SDI Caught up with Karl Kowalski, UA’s Chief Information Technology Officer, to find out more about the projects his team’s been working on.

Kowalski: “One of the biggest barriers for students and faculty throughout the University System was having a seamless way to access Blackboard when taking classes from multiple campuses. Now they do. All students and faculty need is their user name and their password to log in to Blackboard. All three campuses worked collaboratively to create the single sign-on (SSO) solution implemented this Fall. We’re hoping this will help eliminate some of the hassle both faculty and students told us they were experiencing when trying to log on to Blackboard. Now, students should see all their UA classes in Blackboard, and when they click on one, they will automatically be logged in to the appropriate campus Blackboard system. By the way, we’re seeing much more Blackboard use University wide, including increases in the use of the mobile ‘Blackboard Learn’ application.”

SDI: "What other projects are in the works right now?"

Kowalski: “We’re very close to building on what we accomplished with our Blackboard project. By the beginning of 2013 all UA students, faculty and employees will be able to access their UA Online account by simply logging in with their UA username and password. They will no longer have to remember their login number, or their pin number.”

Kowalski also talked about how his entire team is undergoing an organizational transformation process. We’ll have more on that story coming up soon on SDI Insights!

P.S. if you run into problems logging on to Blackboard with your username and password, don’t hesitate to contact OIT. They’ll be more than happy to help you out!

Prince William Sound Community College has an innovative way for students to take biology labs in a virtual environment. Recently, Wes Lundburg, Interim President of PWSCC, says the virtual labs are a great option for students.    Click here to find out more!

One of the key elements of the UA Strategic Direction Initiative is Leadership Development. SDI continues in 2012-2013 with 360-Degree Feedback through the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL). This developmental exercise has the ability to strengthen the management team across the University and help integrate efforts within the emerging SDI Themes. An additional 30 employees have started their ratings this year. All Community Campus Directors and those statewide leaders, who weren’t able to participate earlier, started their feedback process during the last week of September. 

UAF leaders are joining in this developmental process as well, by staging the entire leadership team for feedback and developmental planning for 2012-2013. UAF leaders began their CCL assessments in October and will continue them through January 2013. 

“What we’re doing with the funding we received for student advising is we have hired more academic advisors to work within the model of student support services, which more specifically is intensive advising. This model goes much deeper than what we might expect from traditional academic advising. In order to better serve the student, we need to gain an understanding of their life situation. Do you have your financial aid lined up? How many hours a week are you working? What kind of tutoring might you need? What kind of financial literacy workshops might be helpful for you? Do you need to find childcare services?  It’s a lot more in depth one on one. By meeting longer and more often with students, advisors can then connect them with those other support networks that they specifically need.”

Dean Fitts also said that she is hoping to build additional training opportunities for faculty at UAF. She noted that faculty are already such a valuable academic resource for students in terms of guiding them through their academic process.     

The University of Alaska Anchorage has been ramping up its technology in order to be more proactive and intrusive about student advising. UAA’s Vice-Chancellor for Student Affairs, Bruce Schultz, described how the University is putting additional FY13 funding to work for first and second year students.

We’re excited about this model, not only because it provides timely academic intervention for the student, but also provides a certain amount of accountability. Think about all the University processes that are dependent on student attendance.

Now, if a student is not showing up for class, the faculty has the ability through the MAP-Works Faculty Referral program to notify UAA so it can respond to other implications like student aid, academic records, and a host of other factors that cost both the student and the University.” 

Vice Chancellor Schultz noted that the ‘Faculty Referrals’ feature is available in all 100 or lower courses with an emphasis on students who are identified as underprepared. According to the University of Alaska about 55% of incoming students require some form of developmental course work.

Today, UA President Pat Gamble invited Statewide employees to attend a 'virtual' coffee gathering to talk about Statewide issues ranging from the FY 14 Budget to SDI. During the meeting one person asked what the themes for SDI were. The five draft SDI Themes are:

• Student Achievement and Attainment
• Productive Partnerships With Alaska's Schools
• Productive Partnerships with Public Entities and Private Industries
• Research and Development to Sustain Alaska's Economic Growth
• Accountability to the People of Alaska

For more information about SDI, please click here.

The Alaska Statewide Policy Research Alliance held a Forum on College and Career Readiness at UAA today to address that question. Representatives from the Governor’s office, President Gamble, school district superintendents, state policymakers, and UA Education leaders attended the forum via videoconference and in person at the UAA Consortium Library. 

• Academic Preparation and Achievement for College
• College Knowledge and Postsecondary Education
• Understanding College/Career Success for Alaska Native Students
• Framing a State Level College-Ready Accountability System

Diane Hirshberg, Director, UAA Center for Alaska Education Policy Research (CAEPR), was one of the key presenters during the forum. She provided preparation and achievement data on Alaskan students from K-12, as well as a comparison with the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) scores. 

A big part of today’s forum centered on the importance of strengthening the Alaska's education partnerships in order to implement a “College and Career Ready” continuum in Alaska’s primary and secondary schools. 

President Pat Gamble met with University of Alaska Community Campus Directors to talk about the UA Strategic Direction Initiative. He started out by telling the group that that they really were at the cutting edge of what SDI was all about.

UAA, UAF, and UAS are taking advantage of a software tool that is available to students and advisors throughout the University of Alaska System.

UAS Vice Chancellor of Student Services, Joe Nelson, talked about how student needs are being addressed by expanding on some of DegreeWorks planning functionalities.

Nelson:  “Financial aid has been driving this planning process. DegreeWorks’ Planning Tool is a great tool for addressing that need. So now, a part of the financial aid appeals process that we implemented at UAS requires a print out from DegreeWorks of a student’s academic plan for the next two semesters.”

Nelson:  “What we already see, down the road, is the opportunity to focus much more on course scheduling and course sequencing. When you look at our retention studies, course scheduling and course sequencing are top themes that students tell us we need to get our arms around.

We believe the DegreeWorks Planning Tool will help us begin working on those issues. We’re starting out with the School of Management at UAS. They are going to take the lead by feeding us these courses for a six-year sequence. Then we can feed that information into DegreeWorks, giving students a comprehensive academic road map to work from. We believe this kind of effort will result in improved student retention”

President Gamble Addresses "Educating our Future Workforce" at Commonwealth North Forum...

Recently, President Gamble participated in the Commonwealth North Forum in Anchorage.  The topic focused on the question: "What product was Alaska getting from the state's education system?"

President Gamble said that the University of Alaska needed to  "ensure that the students who enroll in our university campuses attain their education so they can contribute to Alaska's growing workforce". He also noted that there needs to be a more concerted effort to align K12 with the Univeristy of Alaska in order to bridge the "college ready" gap that exists today.

The Anchorage Mayor's 2011-2012 Education Summitt reflected some of the issues that students, teachers, and parents face in bridging the "college ready gap" in the state's largest school district. 

The Mayor's office released a short video that includes data on how students are faring.  Click here to see that video clip. 

Unmanned Aerial Systems Researchers Fill the Room With Potential Public and Private Partners...

The University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute was at the forefront of a three-day conference dedicated to setting the goals for unmanned aircraft in the Arctic.  Both public and private sector attendees were there to discuss everything from FAA airspace issues to the latest applications for these innovative unmanned aircraft. 

Greg Walker, Director of the Unmanned Aircraft Program at the Poker Flat Research Range facilitated the meeting. According to Walker, unmanned aerial vehicles are already innovating strategies with industries in Alaska and beyond.

Walker said that, “The University’s Center for Unmanned Aircraft Systems Research, Test, and Evaluation is still being developed, but it has already experienced growth in the corporate partnerships arena.” 

Walker referenced partnerships with:

• Atkinson Aeronautics, a small business from Virginia consisting of 24 employees that now has a new division in Alaska focused on unmanned aircraft technology exploitation and Alaska operational opportunities.   
• Concurrent Technology Corporation, a not-for-profit company that spun out of the University of Pittsburg with about 1,500 employees, currently has an employee visiting Alaska one week out of four to six seeking collaborative efforts with the University.
• Two Fairbanks startup companies: Mobile Mapping Corporation, and Polartronix LLC, who each were awarded Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) phase I contracts have joined forces for unmanned aircraft volcanic aerosol detection from the USAF (Air Force Research Lab).  These two companies missions were expanded to support this opportunity.
• Airborne Technologies Inc. of Wasilla is working under contract from UAF in support of a NOAA grant on what amounts to be an SBIR phase III award to use the small aircraft they developed under a NOAA SBIR Phase I and II to track Japanese Tsunami debris across the Pacific.
• Northern Embedded Solutions, LLC is a company that was started by three recent UAF ECE graduate students is working on the technical issues with bringing new payloads and capability to our small-unmanned system.  Our partnership with them is moving well and we are helping them establish a foothold in this new industry. 

To find how the Geophysical Institute Unmanned Aerial Vehicles fly, click here!  

Growing Our Own Educators...

The University of Alaska recently hosted the Alaska Teacher Education Consortium, inviting education leaders across the state to discuss how the University of Alaska can bridge the "Alaska Grown" teacher gap.

Dr. Kathryn Berry Bertram, University of Alaska K-12 Director, told the audience that, "Growing our own educators begins with inspiring and attracting students to become teachers throughout primary and secondary education. Future Educators of Alaska is a statewide initiative designed to do just that."

Dr. Bertram presented a map that outlined the Alaska educator continuum from kindergarten through graduation at one of UA's Colleges of Education.  From there, a strong collaborative partnership with the school districts (Alaska Teacher Placement) can provide qualified graduates with the opportunity to teach in Alaska; and to grow in their early careers through the Alaska Statewide Mentor Project.

"The last leg of this continuum is as important as the very first part of the journey.  We can grow our own leaders by offering experienced teachers the opportunity to become involved in innovation, research, and cultural training through programs  like Prepares.  It will give our education leaders the ability 'pay it forward' by inspiring and attracting even more Alaskan Grown Educators," Said Bertram. 

To find out more about the UA "Growing our Own Educators" map, please click here.