The external review of UAF by higher-education consultant Terry MacTaggart is complete. The 22-page report (PDF) affirms many of UAF's existing priorities and provides suggestions for how to better align UAF with its strategic plans and position UAF as one of the nation’s best student-focused research universities. Send any questions or comments to uaf.chancellor@alaska.edu.

UAF Journalism professor Brian O'Donoghue and students Tom Hewitt, Jessica Hoffman and Jennifer Canfield are embedded with the 25th Infantry Division's 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team in Diyala, Iraq for a month. They will file stories for the Sun Star and other news organizations, and are writing a blog about their experience.

The Tanana Valley Campus Automotive Technology Program earned the general service technician certification from the National Automotive Technicians Education Foundation.

The SNRAS AFES Matanuska Experiment Farm now hosts the Palmer Center for Sustainable Living.

The UAF Travel Office and Environmental Health, Safety, and Risk Management remind departments and employees that university regulation defines the travel authorization form as follows: “... the official approval form designated for documentation of all costs associated with a specific trip to meet federal income tax, and internal reporting requirements, encumbrance of funds, and approval of related advances.” Please note that completing a travel authorization form for an individual does not create insurance coverage for them.  For more information on travel processes, contact Leann Holzmueller at 474-6216 or fnlrh1@uaf.edu. For information on insurance, contact Annette Chism at 474-6164 or apchism@alaska.edu.

The general manangers at KUAC in Fairbanks, KTOO in Juneau and APTI in Anchorage released the results of a study on the feasibility of a unified statewide public broadcasting organization. The report is available for review online. For more information or to comment on the idea visit the blog.

George Aguiar and Greg Finstad, both AFES, worked with 4-H participants for nearly a year on reindeer husbandry. The project culminates in the first-ever reindeer auction in the nation, as part of the livestock auction at the Tanana Valley State Fair Friday, Aug. 14, at 6 p.m.

Maria Russell, IAB and president-elect of the UAF Staff Council, was elected chair of the Staff Alliance.

SFOS is seeking public input on a name for the new Alaska Region Research Vessel. This is not a naming contest, but all submissions will be considered by the naming committee. Send your name ideas to shipname@sfos.uaf.edu by Sept. 1.

The new SupervisorSafety-L listserv will keep UAF supervisors updated with current activities and information related to employee safety training. Visit the listserv page to subscribe.

The UA Press published Giinaquq: Like a Face, edited by Sven D. Haakanson, Jr. and Amy F. Steffian. The book presents information and detailed photos of rare Sugpiaq masks collected on Kodiak Island in 1871 by French explorer Alphonse Pinart.

The Alaska History Store's 2010 annual wall calendar is now available for purchase. The price is $15. Your support will benefit the continuing access and preservation work of the Alaska and Polar Regions Collections.

Nicole Mölders, GI and CNSM, and Gerhard Kramm, GI, authored the paper "A Case Study on Wintertime Inversions in Interior Alaska with WRF" that was included in the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences Pielke Research Group's blog in July.

The GI Map Office in 204 IARC continues to be open for business Monday – Friday from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.

The Statewide Voice July 2009 issue is now available online. This issue includes information about the July salary grid increase, future modifications to the salary grid format, and other news and information from around the UA system.

The Cooperative Extension Service Food Product Development Program and the Fishery Industrial Technology Center are conducting consumer taste tests of freeze-dried Alaska wild salmon Tuesday – Wednesday, Aug. 11 – 12, from 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. in Wood Center Conference Rooms C and D. Testing will take 10 – 15 minutes and you must be 18 or older to participate.

The Alaska Center for Climate Change and Policy is hosting a statewide webinar Tuesday, Aug. 11, at 10 a.m. Nancy Fresco, Scenarios Network for Alaska Planning, and Katie Kennedy, UA Geography Program, will present Using Web-Based and Google Earth Maps of Projected Climate Change in Alaska.

The UA Museum of the North presents museum artist demonstrations by watercolor artist Nikki Kinne Wednesday, Aug. 12, and painter Karen Austen Monday – Tuesday, Aug. 24 – 25. All demonstrations are from 1 – 4 p.m. and are free with museum admission. For more information call 474-7505.

The Discovering Alaska lecture series, hosted by UAF Summer Sessions, presents Lance Mackey discussing growing up in a dog mushing world Wednesday, Aug. 12, at 7 p.m. in Schaible Auditorium. Admission is free.

Summer Sessions hosts free movie nights this summer. The Alaska Center for Documentary Film will show In Our Own Images: Alaska Native Doll-Makers and Their Creations and Tununerimiut: The People of Tununak Tuesday, Aug. 11. Reel History — Documenting Alaska presents Call of the Wild Thursday, Aug. 13. All movies will be shown in Schaible Auditorium at 7 p.m.

UAF Day at the Tanana Valley State Fair is Tuesday, Aug. 11. Receive $1 off the price of admission with a current UAF PolarExpress card or a UAF Alumni Association card. The fair runs Aug. 7 – 15.

UAF HR is hosting the International Employee Open Forum Monday, Aug. 17, at 3 p.m in 401 IARC.

The University Employee Assistance Program provider, ComPsych, is hosting webinars on select Wednesdays throughout the year including: Kids and Computers: How to Become Cyber Savvy Parents, Aug. 19, at 11 a.m. For more information call Anne Sakumoto at 786-1432.

The University Women's Association presents the Fabulous Fairbanks Fashion show Monday, Aug. 24, at noon in the Wood Center Carol Brown Ballroom.

The UAF Student Job Fair (PDF), hosted by Career Services, takes place Wednesday – Thursday, Sept. 9 – 10, from 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. in Wood Center. For more information or to register for a department table call 474-7596.

The Center for Research Services is hosting an undergraduate research fair Friday, Sept. 18, from 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. in the Wood Center multilevel lounge. Departments are invited to host a table. For more information contact jenn@alaska.edu.

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

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

Six individuals were chosen as the Nanook Hall of Fame class of 2009.  Shooters Carole Rollison Warner and Joe Nava, hockey player and coach Tavis MacMillan, men's basketball player Mike Lessley, rifle coach Everad F. Horton ( posthumous) and University President William R. Wood ( posthumous) will be inducted into the hall Saturday, Sept. 26.

The Nanook volleyball team kicks off its season with the annual Blue and Gold game Friday, Aug. 21, and vs. Alumni and the Fairbanks Flyers Saturday, Aug. 22. Both games take place at 7 p.m. in the Patty Center gym.

Aug. 15: Parking decal renewal forms (PDF) are due. The form must be postmarked or in the Parking Services Office by Saturday, Aug. 15, to have decals sent in the mail. For more information contact Parking Services at 474-7275 or fypark1@uaf.edu.

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