The UA Strategic Direction Initiative (SDI) is preparing for a conference in Fairbanks on July 23. Conference attendees will include President Gamble, Chancellors Case, Pugh and Rogers, along with other campus leadership including the Provosts, Vice Chancellors for Student Services and Administrative Services, UA System Executives and governance representatives. The group will begin the process of identifying options for addressing the inputs and ideas that came from the 80 SDI listening sessions.

Since the SDI listening sessions began in October 2011, we have been asking you what you would like to see in your University of Alaska online . At this time, at least 245 of you have taken the time to click here and answer the same questions we asked at the listening sessions. We thank each of you for taking the time to be a part of “Shaping Alaska’s Future 2017”. 

“What does SDI stand for?”

SDI stands for the University of Alaska Strategic Direction Initiative. It’s part of Shaping Alaska’s Future 2017 , a project recognizing the 100^th anniversary of the establishment of the Alaska Agricultural College and School of Mines, and to celebrate and accelerate its transformation into a 21st century statewide system for higher education and workforce development.

What are SDI’s guiding principles?

There is no timeline. The idea is to get it right, not get it fast.

SDI is about making our culture more focused on continuous improvement, especially with respect to student success and service to students.

We want to effect changes that will make UA the “University of Choice” in Alaska.

What is your role in SDI?

It is everyone’s role to be a part of “Shaping Alaska’s future” and support the change efforts that will make us a better and stronger University in the 21^st century. Be proactive, ask questions of your department manager, your dean, or anyone in a leadership role and find out how you can get involved.  To find out more about SDI, please click here!