Revenue enhancement forum generates ideas

November 7, 2016

Carla Browning

UAF photo by JR Ancheta. Chancellor Dana Thomas listens to a question from an audience member during a Nov. 3 forum on revenue-generating ideas for the university.
UAF photo by JR Ancheta. Chancellor Dana Thomas listens to a question from an audience member during a Nov. 3 forum on revenue-generating ideas for the university.


Approximately 70 people attended Chancellor Dana Thomas' forum on revenue enhancements Nov. 3.

Nearly 100 people watched online, and more than four dozen people have submitted ideas since then.

If you'd like to provide feedback on the forum or share your thoughts on ideas that were brought up, please feel free to use the same submission form so we capture your ideas in one place.

The forum is also available as an archive online for those who were unable to attend. For campuses with connectivity issues, staff and faculty may have a better viewing experience by watching the archived version of the webcast.

Here's the list of suggestions:


  • Continue to reduce administration.

  • Discontinue waiver of nonresident tuition surcharge and implement as a flat fee.

  • Increase number of Veterans Affairs-funded students.

  • Expand digital marketing.

  • Invest in a commercial dairy operation.

  • Resolve policy, regulation and practices regarding credit for prior learning.

  • Offer in-state tuition for out-of-state students with a B average.

  • Keep a strong cohort of UAF faculty by recognizing importance of work/life balance.

  • Invest in exposing K-12 students to the science conducted at UAF.

  • Offer grant proposal-writing services to the public.

  • Target prospective students interested in undergraduate research and Arctic science.

  • Create a proposal-writing resource website.

  • Invest in more proposal coordinators and mentorships.

  • Implement self-imposed user fees for activities on campus.

  • Partner with local tourism operator and Large Animal Research Station.

  • Use lab space and qualified personnel for cannabis testing.

  • Offer digital pedagogy credentialing to high school teachers.

  • Strengthen high school partners through the Alaska Higher Education Admission Decision (AHEAD) program and dual enrollment.

  • Develop mathematics study skill courses.

  • Develop interdisciplinary study-abroad program in climate change and the Arctic.

  • Develop drone cinematography program.

  • Offer classes in local prisons and halfway houses.

  • Market classes to elders and working adults.

  • Increase eLearning options.

  • Continue to be responsive and welcoming to our students.