DECEMBER 22, 2017
Hundreds of people attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Dec. 8 for the newly opened Engineering Learning and Innovation Facility. ELIF will host classes starting in the spring semester, adding crucial space for the College of Engineering and Mines, Institute of Northern Engineering and Alaska Center for Energy and Power. Major donors were also recognized, including BP, Usibelli Coal Mine and ConocoPhillips. They funded the design theater, student atrium and high bay structural testing lab, respectively. The ceremony followed a forum for legislators and staffers that focused on research and its importance to the Alaska economy.
Early applications for the 2018 spring semester show solid growth in new undergraduate students compared to the same date for spring 2017. As of Dec. 11, new undergraduate applications had climbed 10.1 percent compared to a year earlier at UAF, including increases among first-time freshmen (15.4 percent) and transferring students (10.5 percent). Graduate student applications are down 4.6 percent compared to a year earlier.
In an effort to leverage UAF's expertise in Arctic research, over 50 researchers, faculty and staff participated in a planning session on Dec. 1 to investigate interest and funding opportunities surrounding the One Health concept. One Health is an integrative, multidisciplinary effort that addresses the health of people, animals and the environment collectively. In the past two years, UAF has hosted two major workshops on this topic that drew broad national and international participation, and demonstrated both the value and the need within the state of Alaska. A planning committee will convene in January to begin the work of developing a broader campus initiative.
Alaska Sea Grant hosted the seventh Alaska Young Fishermen’s Summit in Anchorage in early December. The three-day training and networking session sought to strengthen the Alaska commercial fishing industry and economy. About 80 participants learned about the fishing business, marketing, financing, fisheries management and marine safety.
The UAF Community and Technical College Law Enforcement Academy had its largest graduating class since 2010 on Nov. 10, with 18 students from throughout Alaska. Graduation from the academy qualifies a person to work as a commissioned officer. Alaska law enforcement agencies have hired 14 of the students. With the most recent class, CTC has provided required state training to more than 500 officers.
Improving Your Online Course, a three-week workshop jointly facilitated by UAF and UAA, helped nearly 40 faculty members across the UA system apply the Quality Matters rubric to existing classes in 2017. Quality Matters is a nationally recognized set of research-based standards for online course design. UAF, UAA and UAS are all collaborating to support faculty in Quality Matters activities. The next workshop will begin on Feb. 2.
UAF Community and Technical College hosted an event to celebrate its community and industry partners on Dec. 1 at the CTC downtown center. The college recognized more than 400 partners, mostly local businesses and organizations. CTC partners are vital to the community college’s mission of building a quality workforce in Alaska, as well as the success of individual students. Partner roles include equipment use, scholarship donations and student practicum support.
Nearly 100 researchers and graduate students from UAF presented their work to approximately 24,000 attendees at the annual American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting in New Orleans from Dec. 11-15. UAF research institutes also had a prominent booth in the exhibit hall, recruiting students and making connections with researchers and funding agencies. Several UAF scientists were featured in AGU press conferences for national and international media.
Riley Troyer, a physics student at UAF, is helping the Fairbanks North Star Borough with data collection and analysis through the 2018 spring semester. The Alaska Center for Energy and Power assigned Troyer to work with energy management engineer Ben Loeffler as part of a continuing partnership between ACEP and the borough. Troyer’s work has included automation of parts of the borough’s utility billing system, saving hundreds of labor hours per year.
Alaska Sea Grant-funded researchers published “Turning the Tide,” the 42-page results of a multiyear effort exploring ways the state can help boost new generations of fishermen into the commercial fishing industry. They recommend youth apprenticeship and mentorship, community-based fishing rights, support for local infrastructure and services, alternatives to purchasing quota and permits, and creation of a task force focused on fishing access for Alaskans.
UAF Community and Technical College and the Fort Wainwright Education Center celebrated the official opening of the UAF CTC National Test Center last month. The National Test Center provides the military community with an on-post location to earn college credit through testing in specific subject areas. The center at Fort Wainwright is the second created through UAF CTC’s northern military programs; the first was established at Eielson Air Force Base about eight years ago.
Alaska Sea Grant community resilience specialist Davin Holen helped facilitate 12 sessions at the Alaska Tribal Conference on Environmental Management in Anchorage. The three-day conference, organized by the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, brought together 50 tribal environmental managers to learn from each other and coordinate projects. Communities and researchers shared innovative approaches to resilience and sustainability, such as community gardens, erosion monitoring, and hunting practices designed to changing environments and species abundance.
The Alaska Nanooks hockey team secured the 2017-18 Alaska Airlines Governor's Cup after sweeping in-state rival UAA on Dec. 8-9 at Sullivan Arena in Anchorage. In the best-of-six game series between the two Alaska programs, the Nanooks secured their fifth-straight cup by going 4-0 against UAA. Following the weekend, Alaska's sophomore goaltender Anton Martinsson was named the Western Collegiate Hockey Association’s goaltender of the week.