A faculty voice in matters affecting the general welfare of the
University of Alaska system and its educational programs.
First Annual UA Faculty Alliance Thought Leaders Forum
The First Annual UA Faculty Alliance Thought Leaders Forum will bring UA Faculty together to share their thoughts about the important education and research topics of today.
The Faculty Alliance will host their first annual Thought Leaders Forum for two half days of virtual Zoom meetings, March 28, from 11am to 3pm, and March 29, from 10am to 2pm. This year’s topic is artificial intelligence. Though long in development, generative artificial intelligence seemingly exploded into the consciousness of the university education community in November of 2022 when OpenAI released an early version of ChatGPT, a large language model capable of natural language processing. Since that time, universities have debated the impact, positive and negative, of GenAI on academic integrity, academic performance, the nature of work in various disciplines, and the broader impact on society. How should AI be handled in the classroom? Is AI appropriate everywhere and in every discipline? Is AI a new phenomenon fundamentally different from what has come before or is it an extension of existing processes? Should universities create new policies specifically about AI or is that an alarmist response? Does AI offer opportunities for all students, or does it privilege some forms of expression over others?
The Faculty Alliance sought proposals from University of Alaska faculty and others for presentations or panels. Some possible themes that may be addressed:
- The impact of AI on academic integrity.
- The impact of AI on academic performance.
- The impact of AI on a particular discipline or area of employment.
- Impact of AI on research.
- The impact of AI on society, including intellectual property, cultural expression, and visibility of minority voices.
- The coded biases and blind spots of limited data and the potential for discrimination and inequities.
Proposals were due: February 26, 2024
- Proposals were evaluated by members of the Faculty Alliance. Groupings of individual presentations for concurrent sessions will be determined based on submissions received.
Presenters were notified: March 4, 2024
Schedule will available: March 18, 2024
Types of Format Options that may be presented:
- Individual Presentation: 20-30 minute presentation. Individual presentations with related or complimentary themes will be placed together in one of our concurrent sessions.
- Group Panel Presentation: 3 to 4 co-presenters coordinated around a specific theme
or question for a one hour joint presentation. Panels should reserve 10-15 minutes
for questions at the end of the session. Interdisciplinary and/or cross-university
collaborations are welcome.
For more information contact:
Jennifer Carroll, UAF Faculty Senate President, jlcarroll@alaska.edu
Jacqueline Cason, UAA, Faculty Senate President-Elect, jecason@alaska.edu
Jennifer Ward, UAS, Faculty Senate Past-President and UA Faculty Alliance Chair, jdbrown@alaska.edu
Paul Layer, UA Vice President for Academics, Students, and Research, pwlayer@alaska.edu
UA Faculty: AY24 Faculty Initiative Fund!
All proposals in response to this RFP were due to the Office of Academics, Students
& Research by midnight November 5, 2023. The review period has concluded. Disbursement
of project funds began on January 8, 2024.
Faculty Initiative Fund Website
Resolutions & Motions
Current and past actions can be viewed HERE.
Constitution and Bylaws
Meeting Schedule
The Faculty Alliance meets on the second and fourth Friday from 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m.
UA Faculty Senates
Current Members
Past Members
AY23 Alliance Members
AY22 Alliance Members
AY21 Alliance Member
AY20 Alliance Members
AY19 Alliance Members
AY18 Alliance Members
AY17 Alliance members
Meeting Records
Faculty Alliance AY24 Chair
Jennifer Ward
Associate Professor, Library
and Information Science,
Outreach Services Librarian
University of Alaska Southeast
jdbrown@alaska.edu
(907) 796-6285
Egan Library 204
11066 Auke Lake Way
Juneau, Alaska 99801
Faculty Alliance AY 25 Chair
Jennifer Carroll
University of Alaska Fairbanks
Associate Professor
jlcarroll@alaska.edu
1736 Tanana Loop
Fairbanks, Alaska 99709
(907) 474-5405
Faculty Alliance AY23 Chair
Gökhan Karahan, Ph.D.
Professor, Accounting and Finance
University of Alaska Anchorage
gkarahan@alaska.edu
907-786-4132
RH 307C
3211 Providence Drive
Anchorage, AK 99501
If anyone missed the March 8th Discussion with Dr. Reichman on Shared Governance and Academic Freedom, here is The Link with the Passcode: I8E?uru%
Henry Reichman is Professor Emeritus of history at California State University, East
Bay. The author of two recent books, Understanding Academic Freedom (https://www.insidehighered.
He served as chair of the Association of American University Professors' Committee A on Academic Freedom and Tenure from 2012 to 2021.