Published Sep 7, 2023 by Liam Knox

Even institutions in as remote a region as Alaska have been able to make swift recoveries in recent years. The University of Alaska system went through five years of steep enrollment declines, averaging a loss of 8 percent between 2018 and 2022. That led to dire financial straits, which two years ago forced the system to make massive program and staffing cuts.

But this fall, the University of Alaska saw a nearly 5 percent systemwide increase in enrollment, a welcome burst of life for its three major four-year campuses in Anchorage, Fairbanks and Juneau.

System president Pat Pitney, who has been on the job for about a year and a half, said organizational restructuring—rather than addressing larger, external issues—drove the recovery.

“COVID was the least of our problems. It was the turmoil, organizationally and financially,” she said. “Getting to a place of stability was my main goal coming in.”

That renewal is also linked inextricably to a fiscal surge: last year, Alaska’s Republican Legislature voted to increase public higher ed funding by $47 million, helping it crawl back from the devastating effects of $55 million in cuts from 2019 to 2022.

“It would have been impossible to do this without state support,” Pitney said.

Published Sep 7, 2023

The annual fall lecture series Evening at Egan kicks off on Sept. 8 at the University of Alaska Southeast Auke Lake campus with a presentation by Fulbright Scholar Dr. Shingo Hamada: "Eating the Herring: Rifts and Responses in the North Pacific."

The herring is one of the world’s most culturally and ecologically important species.

Dr. Shingo Hamada will provide an overview of the environmental and food history of herring in Japan, and discuss some "rifts" in people's relationship with the herring and possible responses for sustainable seafood cultures in the North Pacific.

Dr. Hamada talked to KINY about his focus for the lecture.

"I want to emphasize the importance of culture, putting a culture in the middle of the resource management. To do that we need to get more involvement of Indigenous people, knowledge bearer, because they have so much knowledge that we could learn a lot," he said. "So, I think you know, the things we need to learn and things I want to emphasize...how we can put the culture in the middle of the resource management."

He used herring eggs as an example of how food can connect community members.

"It's not just about food," he said. "This is the things that connect people."

Published Sep 6, 2023 by DANELLE KELLY Daily News Staff Writer

Ketchikan High School senior Sanjeev Putta participated in the Rural Alaska Honors Institute this summer in Fairbanks.

According to information on the www.uaf.edu website, the RAHI program was started in 1983 at the request of the Alaska Federation of Natives. Participants earn an average of nine college credits during the six weeks that they live on the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus, and the program is free of charge.

Published Sep 6, 2023 by Carter DeJong

Enrollment throughout the University of Alaska system, including University of Alaska Fairbanks, is up for the first time in five years.

The number of enrolled students at UAF increased 2.5% from last school year, UAF Spokesperson Marmian Grimes said. Total credit hours increased 5.9%. University enrollment system-wide is up 4.7%.

Enrollment system-wide had been trending down since 2018, according to a UA report. Enrollment went from 26,641 in 2018 to 20,228 in 2022, a 24% decrease.

Published Sep 6, 2023 by Claire Stremple

Gov. Mike Dunleavy appointed Stephen Colligan to the board that guides policy and appoints the president of the state’s university system on Tuesday.

Colligan is the governor’s third attempt to fill the seat on the state university system’s board of regents. His appointment comes a month after the governor’s last pick, his former chief of staff Tuckerman Babcock, resigned after two months in the role and before confirmation by the Legislature. Babcock’s tenure came after legislators rejected Bethany Marcum for the position in May.

Colligan is a lifelong Alaskan, according to the governor’s news release. He completed coursework at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, where he obtained an associate degree in petroleum engineering technology. He is the president of the Alaska Drone Racing League and the Alaska government relations coordinator for the Academy of Model Aeronautics.

His appointment is effective immediately but is ultimately contingent on approval from the state Legislature during the legislative session next year.