SCHAEFFER NOW DIRECTS UAF'S CHUKCHI CAMPUS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 26, 2000

Fairbanks, Alaska — Former Commissioner of the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs and retired Maj. Gen. John W. Schaeffer is the interim director of the University of Alaska Fairbanks' Chukchi Campus in Kotzebue. The Chukchi Campus is one of several administered by UAF's College of Rural Alaska. Other campuses are located in Bethel, Dillingham, Nome, and the Tanana Valley and Interior-Aleutians campuses located in Fairbanks.

"We're privileged to have a man of his caliber agree to serve the University in this capacity," said the college's Executive Dean Ralph Gabrielli, who appointed Schaeffer to the post.

Schaeffer, an Inupiaq Eskimo, was born in Kotzebue and served 34 years in the U.S. Army before retiring in 1991. Schaeffer was formerly Adjutant General of the Alaska National Guard, and Commissioner of the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs from 1986 to 1991.

A distinguished civic leader, Schaeffer has served terms as Mayor of the Northwest Arctic Borough, President of NANA Regional Corporation, Chairman of the Alaska Federation of Natives, and a member of the University of Alaska's Board of Regents.

In Kotzebue, Gabrielli said Schaeffer will focus his attention on leadership of the campus' involvement with the Northwest Arctic Higher Education Consortium, outreach to students and prospective students throughout the region, building closer relationships with employers and community leaders and enhancing the college's ability to respond to regional needs.

Gabrielli also said Schaeffer will help implement Chukchi College's participation in the U.S. Department of Education's recent Title III grant award to the University. Title III awards are made to strengthen developing institutions such as UAF's community campuses, four of which along with the University of Alaska Southeast's Sitka Campus, received these federal DOE grants to support programs and services for Alaska Native students. Each campus will receive from $290,000 to $400,000 a year over the next five years for career training programs in health and business, land and business management, and for financial aid advising and other student support services.

Schaeffer began his military career as a private with the First Scout Battalion of the Alaska Army National Guard at the age of 17. Upon his graduation from Infantry Officer Candidate School, he was commissioned a second lieutenant in 1958. The general is a graduate of the Army Command and General Staff College and alumnus of the Army War College. He was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Public Administration from Alaska Pacific University in Anchorage.

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CONTACT: Executive Dean Ralph Gabrielli, College of Rural Alaska at (907) 474-7143 or by email at: gabrielli@uaf.edu

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