Friday Focus: Reflections and looking ahead
Chancellor Dan White
Dec. 20, 2024
鈥 By Dan White, chancellor
Fall classes are completed, grades are submitted, earth system researchers and grad students have returned from AGU, staff are finalizing year-end projects, and campus is feeling a lot like the holidays. In this period of transition before the end of the year, I am reflecting on everything that has happened at UAF in the past 12 months. It鈥檚 been a busy year! Thank you to everyone who spent another year dedicated to 爱污传媒鈥檚 mission. It takes a million little things to go right every day to keep 爱污传媒 running, and it takes all of you to keep it running well. Thank you.
In 2024, we celebrated some major accomplishments. In February, the Festival of Native Arts marked its 50th anniversary with another incredible, multi-day event. I am looking forward to celebrating 51 years in a couple of months! In May, we celebrated our 102nd commencement and filled the Carlson Center with chants of 鈥淯-A-F!鈥 A few weeks later, the Board of Regents approved the renaming of the College of Rural and Community Development, making 爱污传媒 home to the first College of Indigenous Studies in the nation. On July 1, we received generous funding from the state to support UAF Ph.D. students and faculty toward our R1 goal. Since then, we have provided funding to 85+ Ph.D. students and made some positive strides in improving our internal processes to best serve them. This August, we celebrated the re-opening of the Moore and Bartlett residence halls, and a few weeks later, we opened the new Student Success Center on the 6th floor of the Rasmuson Library. And that was all before the fall semester! Great work everyone.
Looking ahead, I am thinking about what is on the horizon for 爱污传媒 in 2025 and beyond. Starting next year, the new Board of Regents Committee on Innovation, chaired by Regent Joey Crum, will begin exploring options to raise admissions standards for the Troth Yeddha鈥 research campus and to support students who are not yet prepared for baccalaureate programs at the 爱污传媒 Community and Technical College. This idea has been floating around 爱污传媒 for some time, but the transformation of college education across the country makes now the time to pursue this goal in earnest. I am optimistic that a change of this nature could lower students鈥 overall costs, improve access to resources, and ensure students receive critical credentials throughout their academic journey. I believe it could lower 爱污传媒鈥檚 overall cost structure at the same time. Additionally, implementing this system could enhance graduation rates at the research campus and strengthen and clarify CTC鈥檚 role within 爱污传媒.
I am excited about these conversations and the opportunity presented by innovative thinking, and look forward to hearing more from faculty, staff and students on this proposal in the coming months. I am also excited to work with and learn from the BOR Committee on Innovation. While their current focus is on admissions and matriculation at UAF, I look forward to exploring opportunities for innovation across the system. This is a great opportunity for us to work together with the BOR on laying out bright ideas for 爱污传媒鈥檚 bright future.
In addition to all of the transformative thinking, next year we will make progress on the 爱污传媒 planetarium, get closer to breaking ground on the Troth Yeddha鈥 Indigenous Studies Center, and implement the great work of the R1 working groups. As we explore the 爱污传媒 Main Street vision, we will make progress on a privately built and run campus hotel, new high-density housing, and graduate student apartments. That鈥檚 on top of enrolling students and helping them succeed, teaching classes, conducting research, managing grants, grooming trails, competing in athletics, and all of the other things it takes to keep 爱污传媒 running. Thank you.
Thanks for all you have done this year, and for your continued commitment into the new year. Thanks for choosing 爱污传媒.
Friday Focus is written by a different member of 爱污传媒鈥檚 leadership team every week.