The UA Board of Regents met in Anchorage Sept. 17 – 19. Regents approved a 4 percent tuition increase for 100- and 200-level courses and a 7 percent increase for all other levels beginning in fall 2010. The regents also approved the schematic designs for the TVC Center exterior upgrade. The UA FY10 budget was reviewed and will be finalized at the Oct. 31 meeting in Fairbanks.

UAF HR is hosting regional retirement counselor Pamela Couzin on campus Monday – Friday, Oct. 20 – 24. Couzin will meet with employees in 30-min individual sessions and hold PERS and TERS evening seminars. To set up an individual session call HR at 7700. Registration is required to attend the PERS seminar Oct. 21 or TERS seminar Oct. 23.

Stuart Roberts accepted the position of associate vice chancellor for financial management. Roberts is a UAF alumnus and comes to UAF from UAA. He will begin his new duties Oct. 13.

Da-ka-xeen Mehner, CLA, is participating in the “Identity” exhibit at the Alaska House gallery in New York in November. Mehner is also featured in the article “A Generation of Innovators in Southeast Alaska: Nicholas Galanin, Stephen Jackson, Da-ka-xeen Mehner and Donald Varnell” by Aldona Jonaitis in American Indian Art.

The UAF Psychology Department is organizing a support group for people with a military deployed partner to meet every Tuesday at 12:45 p.m. in 215 Gruening. An informational meeting will take place Sept. 30 at 12:45 p.m.; regular meetings will begin Oct. 7. For more information, call the Psychology Department clinic at 1999.

The Alaska Sea Grant Marine Advisory Program and the United Fishermen of Alaska have launched an online survey to seek input from fishermen on how high fuel prices have affected their business and what steps they have taken to reduce fuel costs.

Terry Reeve, Sea Grant Marine Advisory Program agent in Bethel, is working with schoolchildren from Quinhagak village to track ocean currents in the Bering Sea. The students launch buoys that transmit location information to UAF every 30 minutes via satellite.

The UA Museum of the North is looking for volunteers to help with several upcoming events including the Saturday, Oct. 18 hunting & trapping exhibit expo, Friday, Oct. 31 Halloween open house and Saturday, Nov. 8 military appreciation family day. For more information call 5484 or email museum.membership@uaf.edu.
 
Your PolarExpress card should have your UA ID number printed on the front lower right hand corner. As of Wednesday, Oct. 15, cards that do not have this number will no longer function. Bring your old card to 203 Eielson and get a free replacement; there is a fee if you do not have your old card.

UAF managers and supervisors are encouraged to complete sixteen hours of management training every three years. The UAF HR fall training calendar is now online.

The UAF Women’s Center is hosting a Talking Circle every Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. in the RSS Gathering Room. The circle is a safe and welcoming way for all participants to inspire, celebrate, empower and honor each other as women. The next meeting is Tuesday, Sept. 30. For more information call 6360 or e-mail fywoc@uaf.edu.

The UAF Badminton Association is hosting badminton matches on Sundays at 3 p.m. and Tuesdays at 7 p.m. in the Patty Center. You must bring a clean pair of shoes and pay the user fee or use your PolarExpress card. The next game is Tuesday, Sept. 30. For more information contact fbsmash@uaf.edu.

WIN for Alaska, UA's wellness partner, is bringing a new wellness benefit, Individualized Health Planning, to all UAF employees starting Monday, Oct 13. The goal of the program is to provide the tools needed to make good health decisions. Registration begins Wednesday, Oct 1.

Leadership in Our Church: Past, Present and Future, a panel discussion with Jack de Verteuil, Patrick Tam and Nicole Sotelo, moderated by Kristan Kelly and sponsored by the UAF Women’s Center, takes place Wednesday, Oct. 1 at 7 p.m. in the Wood Center Carol Brown Ballroom. For more information call 455-7629.

Music at One, free recitals by UAF music students, take place throughout the semester on Thursdays from 1 – 2 p.m. in the Davis Concert Hall. The next recital will be held Thursday, Oct. 2. Admission is free. For more information call 7555.

Digital Television: Are You Ready?, a KUAC seminar about the transition to digital TV and what it means for you takes place Thursday, Oct. 2 at 5:30 p.m. in Wood Center conference rooms C and D.

The 11th annual Farthest North Forest Sports Festival takes place Saturday, Oct. 4. The fun begins at 10 a.m. at the Fairbanks Experiment Farm field across from the Georgeson Botanical Garden, and at 1 p.m. moves to Ballaine Lake. The festival is sponsored by SNRAS, the Department of Forest Sciences and the Resource Management Society. For more information call 7084 or e-mail john.fox@uaf.edu.

Career Services is hosting UAF Engineering and Geosciences Career Week Monday – Friday, Oct. 6 – 10. For more information call 7596.

The UA Museum of the North presents the Saturday Family Program on insects Saturday, Oct. 11. There are two sessions, from 9 a.m. – noon for ages 7 – 12 and from 1 – 2:30 p.m. for ages 5 – 7. The cost is $15 per child/adult pair, and registration is required. For more information or to register call 5360.

Check out the UAF Weekly Science Calendar, sponsored by the Center for Global Change and Arctic System Research, for science-related events happening at UAF.

Visit UAF’s online calendar for information on UAF events or to publicize an event.
 

UAF received a $50,000 gift from the Pacific Walrus Conservation Fund to create the Matthew Iya Memorial Scholarship Fund. The new scholarship offers financial assistance to UAF students studying or involved in activities related to the Pacific walrus.

The UAF Alumni Association presented 11 alumni awards Sept. 26 during the 2008 Alumni Luncheon. Jim Sampson received the Distinguished Alumnus Award. The Alumni Achievement Awards for Business and Professional Excellence went to Pat Cole, Kay Wallis and Lorena Hegdahl. Mike Sfraga, UA Geography Program, received the Alumni Achievement Award for University Support. Merrit Mitchell, Marie Matsuno Nash and Richard Tarkianen each received an Alumni Acheivement Award for Community Support. The William R. Cashen Service Award went to Don Jamieson and Scott Keyes. The Lenhart J.H. Grothe Resource Award went to Ernest Wolff.

Alaska Sea Grant received $54,750 from the Qawalangin Tribe of Unalaska to support the Unalaska Marine Advisory Program position.

Anthony Gharrett and William Smoker, SFOS, along with their graduate students Harold Geiger, Ivan Wang, Pat Malecha and Kyle Hebert, received the Stevan Phelps Memorial Award for the best genetics paper published in an American Fisheries Society journal in 2007 for their paper “What Causes Variability in Pink Salmon Family Size?” published in the Transactions of the American Fisheries Society.
 

Nanook hockey faces off with the University of British Columbia Friday, Oct. 3 at 7 p.m. at the Carlson Center.

The Nanook women’s swim team holds its Blue and Gold meet Saturday, Oct. 4 at noon in the Patty Center pool.

Oct. 3, 2008: Applications for the Washington Center Campaign 2008 Presidential Inauguration Seminar sponsorship for undergraduate students from the UA Foundation are due.

Oct. 3, 2008: Student submissions for technology fee proposals are due.

Oct. 15, 2008: All application materials for December 2008 graduation are due. For more information call 7523.
 

Cornerstone banner photo by Todd Paris, UAF Marketing and Communications.