Chancellor Steve Jones addressed faculty, students and staff during Convocation Sept. 29 in the Schaible Auditorium, and even though Jones has only held his post for a little more than a year, he had a warm, familiar and comfortable rapport with the audience.

Jones put special prominence on the quality of humility and its importance in working with those both inside of UAF and outside of campus. As Jones pointed out, UAF's continued strength is closely tied to how faculty, administration, staff, students and alumni can engage the greater Alaska community and also key individuals throughout the entire Pacific Rim and circumpolar region.

He highlighted UAF as an international university, one example being our close formal relationship with the Japanese government and such Japanese institutions as Hokkaido University, which is a testament to UAF's success in promoting its stature as a world class university.

But before we can promote our institution abroad, we must ensure that we pursue and maintain excellence, Jones said, giving this charge paramount importance. He spoke about UAF's strength's, such as its location, its experience and its diversity. Closely tied to this is what he stated to be UAF's goal to not only prepare its graduates for a job but also to prepare them for life. To help illustrate the university's unique ability to accomplish this goal, he pointed the audience's attention to the campus's advantages of location, for instance the importance of its latitude, its vast amount of natural resources, the contribution of Alaska's native peoples, its unique environment and its 360-plus million acre classroom, all of which are vital aspects that can be utilized to help prepare students for life after graduation.

Chancellor Jones elucidated distinctions about UAF, noting that we are three institutions in one: a rural college, a community college, and a research university that is independent, interdependent and integrated.

A key feature of the Chancellor's oration was his address to the roadblocks in the way of progress and growth. He mentioned that the state has a $1 billion dollar surplus, but the university has a $2.3 million shortfall. For UAF to continue to provide the same salaries, student resources and pay its operating costs, Jones stressed the need for an increased budget, which he noted would come from state allocations as well as philanthropic donations. Jones urged everyone affiliated with UAF to call or write their congressmen, and to be creative in eliciting philanthropic giving.

Jones outlined the path to success as having six distinctive lanes: student success through improved recruitment, retention and selectivity; a commitment to excellence achieved through progress and better team effort; higher enrollment by a more targeted appeal to the Lower 48 and an emphasis on doctoral growth; success in research through increased federal, state and private funding; increased philanthropy by soliciting individual, corporate and foundation giving; and economic development by working better with our business, government and industrial partners and making UAF a greater force in employment and workforce development.

Chancellor Jones concluded by encouraging all to continue to "seek the summit," and to stay committed to improvement. He said that the Convocation was a calling together to stimulate conversation and cooperation in the pursuit of UAF's place as America's premier Land, Sea, and Space Grant university and International Research Institute.