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Many of you will have seen the message (PDF) from our accrediting agency that was shared on Friday afternoon, the response from university leadership (PDF) shared by John Davies, Chair of the Board of Regents, or my own follow up message over the weekend. While the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU) has raised an issue of concern, the Regents, President, and Chancellors will address this issue. The regents will hold an emergency meeting in the near future to understand fully the points raised by the commission and take necessary action.
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The university is fully accredited and in good standing. An important point about the NWCCU memo is that it raised no concerns about the quality of our academic and research programs. Their concerns are with governance, specifically the roles and responsibilities of the Regents, President, and Chancellors, and the inclusivity of decision making processes regarding university structure.
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I’ve heard concerns about potential impacts of the memo to federal financial aid, which depends on accreditation. There are no impacts as a result of the commission’s memo; your current and future ability to secure financial aid to attend UAF remains unchanged and unaffected.
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One other thing I’ve been asked about recently is the term “teach-out” as it applies to accreditation. In the rare occurrence that a student’s academic program is eliminated, we have a responsibility to ensure that students in that program can finish their degree without undue hardship. While that responsibility is part of our accreditation, nothing about the commission’s memo is related to any program elimination. There are no UAF programs currently proposed for elimination.
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Please reach out to our Provost, Dr. Anupma Prakash, at aprakash@alaska.edu, if you have questions. Thank you for choosing UAF.
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