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Friday Focus: The power of celebration
May 10, 2024
Last weekend marked the biggest celebration of the year for UAF. At our 102nd commencement, thousands of people packed the Carlson Center to cheer for the members of the Class of 2024, joining graduates in a raucous round of chanting U! A! F! As they walked across the stage, graduates accepted some well-deserved congratulations from university leaders. They posed for photos with the faculty who made their degrees possible. And they joined the community of more than 35,000 alumni who are the heart of Nanook Nation. Commencement is UAF's largest public event. It's a big deal for the university advancement team.
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Student health, counseling center posts summer hours
May 08, 2024
The UAF Student Health and Counseling Center has updated summer hours.
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Teaching tip: Proactive measures to help students with post-COVID mental health issues
May 05, 2024
Four years after the COVID-19 pandemic began, there has been a massive increase in students requesting disability accommodations. Explore the data behind this trend, and learn what the UAF Disability Services office recommends to make your class more accessible.
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May 03, 2024
Join the Faculty Senate IT Committee on May 14 to learn about AI, including Google's new Gemini large language model. We will cover Google AI tools and resources that can help UAF achieve R1 status faster, with a focus on streamlining administrative processes, accelerating Ph.D. student graduation rates, and enhancing research capabilities.
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May 03, 2024
Commencement is one of my favorite days in our annual calendar. I love the gathering of our community and the celebration that fills the great cement hall of the Carlson Center. The whole academic year culminates in this wonderful afternoon. The Nanook Ice Hockey arena, normally floored in a sheet of ice, is filled with celebration and warmth. All the months and years of work by our students and their support teams, and all the work by our staff and faculty from the months gone by come together in this wonderful, uplifting exhalation of collective joy. It is great. I hope to see you there! (1 p.m. in the Carlson Center.) It recently occurred to me that commencement refers to both a beginning and an end. I don't know why I never thought of this before, but it struck me as being so appropriate for our special day of celebration. For our students, commencement IS both. It is the day when we celebrate the completion of their great journey with us and their moment of a new beginning. It is a great stepping off into the next chapter of their lives.
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Academics: Celebrations and gratitude
May 01, 2024
As we wrap up one more academic year and celebrate the successes of our graduating students during UAF's 102nd commencement, I want to recognize the tremendous amount of work that goes on to provide a quality education and experience to every student. Every individual's work at the university, directly or indirectly, contributes to the powerful academic engine that, in turn, contributes to student success.
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May training spotlight: Performance management, evaluation
May 01, 2024
As we navigate performance evaluation season, and in response to the 2023 UA Employee Feedback Survey, UA HR's Talent Acquisition and Development team is highlighting development resources available to you for coaching, setting goals, supervising diverse teams (including remote and hybrid team structures), and conducting evaluations for this month's training focus.
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Apply now for SOTL Summer Writing Residency
May 01, 2024
In this summer writing program, faculty and staff are invited to prepare scholarship of teaching and learning work for academic publication. Participants can join at any phase of the writing or research process. The program will include collaborative work, as well as individual writing time.
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New employee checklist available
April 29, 2024
There is a new employee checklist available along with other resources to help your new hires keep track of basic onboarding tasks. Please share it with them and encourage them to attend the New Employee Welcome event when they receive their invitation.
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April 29, 2024
Summer 2024 Is the time to transition to Canvas LMS from Blackboard. Haven't made the switch yet? No worries! The Center for Teaching and Learning is hosting a Canvas Procrastinators Bazaar from May 6-17 full of training sessions to help you make the move.
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Friday Focus: The value of a degree
April 26, 2024
A week from tomorrow is one of my favorite days of the year, Commencement! It is inspiring to shake the hands of UAF graduates as they walk across the stage and receive the degrees they have worked so hard for. As students wrap up their finals and offices across the university prep for one of the biggest events of the year, I am thinking about the value of the degree that UAF students receive. A college diploma itself is just a piece of paper, but it symbolizes the achievement of a journey that started with a decision. A decision based on an analysis of puts and takes, or in other words, return on investment (ROI). For the past decade or so, there has been a national conversation about the value of a college degree. People from all different perspectives and backgrounds have been asking, is a college degree worth it? Before I answer that (spoiler alert - I am going to say YES), I need to know how you (or they) define "worth it."
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April 24, 2024
In this edition of Alaska 259 Common Questions, we review the options available when a child doesn't use all the funds in their Alaska 529 account.
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Friday Focus: Let go and let be
April 19, 2024
During a daily phone conversation with my mother, who lives in India, she remarked, "It is hot like in summers. It feels like spring is long gone." I looked out of my window, and snowflakes were coming down. In Alaska, seasons have a whole different meaning. Here, I can still talk about the idea of welcoming spring for a long time! Last month, students of the UAF Namaste India club organized a free-for-all event to celebrate Holi - the exuberant festival of colors that marks the beginning of spring in India. A group of 50 or so students, faculty, staff, and community members of all ages came together on a Saturday morning to be a part of this joyous festival that celebrates the diversity of our communities.
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April 17, 2024
In the rapidly evolving landscape of higher education, the establishment of a Center for Teaching and Learning represents the next iteration of academic excellence at UAF.
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Alaska Sea Grant welcomes new fisheries workforce specialist in Cordova
April 17, 2024
Alaska Sea Grant welcomes John Williams as our new fisheries workforce specialist, based in Cordova, Alaska. He will coordinate statewide commercial fishing training and events as well as provide extension, education and applied research in support of regional needs.
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Credential connection: Exploring microcredentials
April 15, 2024
Join us for an insightful session on microcredentials. There are two opportunities to attend this online information session. Register for the Friday, April 19 session from 10-11 a.m. or the Wednesday, April 24 session from noon-1 p.m.
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April professional development opportunities
April 15, 2024
In the 2023 UA Employee Feedback Survey, employees called attention to the need for more professional development opportunities. UA HR's Talent Acquisition and Development team is highlighting training collections monthly, and specific to the employee feedback received.
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A Place For Knowledge Exchange: Intersection of well-being and fisheries
April 15, 2024
The International Arctic Research Center and the College of Rural and Community Development co-host a virtual seminar series called A Place for Knowledge Exchange. April's conversation is with Courtney Carothers, Harmony Jade Sugaq Wayner and Freddie Christiansen on the intersection of well-being and fisheries.
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Friday Focus: Igniting transformative experience through public service
April 12, 2024
UAF's vision statement of "excellence through transformative experiences" can be applied in every facet of this institution, and I want to share how we at the University Fire Department align with that vision and what it means to you as the community we serve and protect. In public service, few experiences match the intensity and impact of being a student firefighter. Within the UAF community, UFD serves as a vehicle for transformation, shaping the lives and futures of those who answer the call to serve.
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Arctic energy advisor Paul McKinley joins ACEP
April 12, 2024
Paul McKinley joined ACEP a few months ago as an Arctic energy advisor in a joint position with the Department of Energy Arctic Energy Office. McKinley’s current work primarily focuses on feasibility assessments - detailed analyses of the costs, benefits, risks and opportunities - on integrating hydrogen-based fuels and other long-duration storage technologies to microgrids to improve reliability and access to clean energy in remote communities in Alaska.
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Climate adaptation specialist joins Alaska Sea Grant
April 10, 2024
Alaska Sea Grant welcomes Sean Kelly as its new climate adaptation specialist. Based at the downtown Anchorage office, Kelly will add capacity to Alaska Sea Grant's coastal community resilience efforts.
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UA Careers site: Supporting internal career advancement
April 10, 2024
Our employees now have an opportunity to apply for jobs before they are visible to external candidates. Employees can access internal opportunities by selecting the "Internal Jobs" option on the UA Careers page.
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Friday Focus: The athletics effect
April 05, 2024
I had my son between my freshman and sophomore years of college here at UAF. As a full-time student with a baby-turned-toddler, I spent my free time doing free things. That included many hockey and volleyball games. One of my most treasured memories is of my son, when he was two years old, sitting in my lap in the student section at the Carlson Center and being a little celebrity as he captured the attention of other students sitting around us. At one game, he was paying particular attention to the crowd and watching the students yell, cheer, stomp, and clap, and he was getting really into it. Suddenly, during a quiet moment in our section, he decided it was his turn to shine and belted out TwinkleTwink Little Star as loud as he could, causing a wave of laughter throughout the section. He was so proud.
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April 05, 2024
While many courses at UAF are offered and listed as asynchronous, nothing prevents the inclusion of optional synchronous sessions. This teaching tip offers advice on a variety of synchronous activities that you might consider adding to your course as supplemental ways for students to connect with each other, you, and the content.
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Apply for Academic Leadership Institute
April 03, 2024
The UAF Academic Leadership Institute is a unique and exciting, two-semester-long professional development opportunity for a cohort of university employees interested in gaining a deeper understanding of current issues and the changing landscape in higher education.
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