Chancellor’s Report: 

Chancellor White would like to acknowledge the Alaska Native nations upon whose ancestral lands our campuses reside. The Troth Yeddha Campus is located on the traditional lands of the Dena people of the lower Tanana River. 

Chancellor White would like to give an update on the budget. We are in essence flat from the previous year. Which is a little bit higher in our budget from the state. We anticipated that it could be another cut from the Governor but that was not the case. The board had asked for an eight million dollar increase over last year, but that didn't pan out with the Governor's budget. There are a number of additions to the budget that the governor has supported, the twenty million dollars needed to modernize and update the Moore-Bartlett-Skarland Hall facilities. Those funds are currently in a geo bond and this debt would be taken on by the state. It is our hope that these funds would be moved out of the geo bond and into the capital budget. These upgrades would happen over the next couple years. 

The board asked for staff salary support and a modest amount was included in the budget, roughly a 2% increase. The system office is working with the university leadership to determine how that would be distributed. If it would be distributed as 2% for everyone, or if it's somewhat distributed according market. If this is retained by the legislature, the budget would be returned to the Governor, then back to the university. We have reason to believe that the salary support would stay in the budget, we’re excited about that and would be a long overdue increase for staff. 

There has been a lot of confusion over the vaccine requirement. There are some units at UAF that have a vaccine requirement by their nature, such as some cohort classes, the toolik field station, the sikuliaq, high-contact high-duration lab classes. When the federal government and President Biden issued an executive order that anybody with federal contracts need to be vaccinated, for UAF that triggered everyone on the Troth Yeddha campus, including system employees on Troth Yeddha campus or those remote employees that support Troth Yeddha campus. That vaccine requirement was issued by President Pitney who owns decision making on vaccines, she issued that requirement for UAF because that is where the federal contracts reside. The January 18th vaccine deadline was put in place for UAF, then a court in Georgia filed an injunction against the federal government stating they cannot enforce a vaccine mandate. Due to this situation the UA President said the vaccine is still a requirement but it won't be enforced, as long as the injunction is in place. The injunction prevents enforcement. So the question has been if people are not compliant with that policy after January 18th, what happens? HR will be sending out a message with details soon. If the injunction is upheld we will continue in non-enforcement of that policy.  If the injection is overturned HR will lay out a new timeline for compliance and work with employees to meet the requirements. 

Human Resources Updates:

Nycolett Rabley gave an update on the current vaccination status of the UAF campus. There are 74% of employees that have verified they are vaccinated, 4% have been granted waivers or exemptions, 23% are currently unknown at this time. 

A notice about the January 18th vaccination deadline will come out this week with details on how to provide vaccination records or proof of exemption. The deadline is still in place until we have a decision on the injunction. 

The new HR business partner recruitment is open, they will be the functional expert and liaison for HR and university leadership. New pieces have been added to the position description to include long term strategic planning and implementation process improvement processes with the HR coordinators. February 14th is the initial review date for this position. https://careers.alaska.edu/en-us/job/518605/senior-human-resources-business-partner 

The Spoke software has been bought out by another company and we will not be utilizing that service anymore. A replacement software is being reviewed and Michelle Pope is leading that effort.

Officers reports: 

Ronnie Houchin would like to mention he will be participating in an ad hoc tuition committee meeting next week, established by the Board of Regents in November. He will also be participating in a task force looking at creating a mission statement for the system office. That's being put together in response to one of the recommendations of the system office administrative management review committee. The idea is looking at the office in particular, and what their mission is in how it fits in with the broader mission of the University of Alaska. 

We currently have 2 open seats on staff council. One in IT and one in facilities services,  if you know anyone from those departments that may be interested in participating please reach out to Ronnie and we can appoint them. We welcome Marine Vanlandeghem Gillespie, she is a new staff council representative with the Geophysical Institute. 

Guest Speakers: 

Margo Griffith joins us today to speak about UAF’s strategic plan for inclusive excellence. Margo is the Director of the Department of Equity and Compliance. We are currently in phase 6 of the strategic planning process, which is implementation. We are in year 2 of this project, our target is to ensure UAF has accessibility to curriculum, and open new ways of thinking and doing with an emphasis on indigenous ways and knowledge. We are looking for subject matter experts or groups on observances and celebrations for DEI related events. 

The student experience and access to resources group is led by Ronnie Houchin. This group focuses on creating an environment which reflects UAF’s inclusive culture and thriving community. Ensuring that UAF has a holistic trauma informed and culturally responsive student centered success model which intentionally closes equity gaps. Climate survey data and funding have been identified, we are looking for someone interested in assisting with the climate survey data and analysis process. If you are interested you can reach out to Ronnie or Margo. 

Margo will be leading the DEI training for members of leadership, this focus will provide training to core cabinet, chancellor's cabinet, deans and directors of colleges, as well as the research working group. These training sessions will start at the end of January, it's a 12 hour leadership program that will go over terminology, other’s views and experiences, reflect on behaviors and how international or unintentional behavior can cause harm. 

These are just a few pieces that are taking place right now, but you can refer to the strategic planning website for more information or how to get involved. https://uaf.edu/diversity/strategic-plan/. 

Carla Browning joins us today to give an update on commencement and graduation plans for 2022. UAF will have 2 in-person ceremonies. We will have a grad fair on February 17th for students to get more details on commencement. Students will be limited to 4 guests per person. Be sure to purchase your regalia by March 24th. The Grad bash will take place April 22nd. If you would like to volunteer to help at commencement please contact UAF-commencement-team@alaska.edu. 

Updates and Announcements: 

Staff Council has adopted a new logo and you will see that advertized soon. 

Staff Recognition and Development Day will be held on May 5th, 2022.