Academic Review process underway
Dear UA Community,
The Expedited Academic Review process is now underway. There are 13 inter-university academic review teams charged with preparing reports on possibilities for greater program integration, structural changes, and accreditation options to achieve cost savings and re-envision the delivery of academic programs across the university system. The teams are starting their work this week. Their reports will inform options for consideration by the Board of Regents at its November meeting.
Committee Membership
The membership of all committees has been posted to the New UA website specific to each academic review area. President Johnsen appointed the chairs of each committee. Faculty, staff, and student members were appointed by university governance groups. The chancellors each appointed additional committee members including administrators and in some cases additional faculty or students. Neither President Johnsen nor Paul Layer selected internal members other than the chairs. Based on suggestions from chancellors and committee chairs, President Johnsen and Paul Layer selected external stakeholders to join the review committees. The committee members were notified about their participation by last Friday. Some membership changes continue to be made and updated on the website.
Committee Meetings
Chairs were asked to take the lead on setting up committee meetings and work sessions either in-person or virtual. As the meetings are set up, the schedules are posted to the calendar on the New UA website. It is the discretion of the chair as to whether the meetings will be live streamed, however every meeting will be recorded and posted on the website as will the committee reports.
Committee reports and public feedback
Reports are due to President Johnsen on October 10. Committee chairs will present an overview of their committee findings and options to the Board of Regents’ Subcommittee on Restructuring at a meeting tentatively scheduled for October 11. Following those presentations, which will be livestreamed at alaska.edu/bor/live, a series of town hall meetings will be held to gather additional feedback.
The Town Hall meetings are scheduled for October 14, 15, 16. Each review area will have a dedicated session to present initial findings and answer questions from the public. There are also two public sessions for addressing general questions on university structure. The Town Hall meetings will be live streamed and recorded and will incorporate both pre-submitted questions and questions submitted during the live broadcast. More information will be shared closer to those events.
Executive recommendations
The Executive Council, comprising President Johnsen, the three university chancellors, vice president for university relations, and the vice president for academics, students and research, will hold a series of work sessions in late October to prepare recommendations for the Board of Regents. Those recommendations will be presented to the Board of Regents’ Subcommittee on Restructuring at a meeting tentatively scheduled for October 28. Final recommendations will be posted to the Board of Regents website October 31.
There will be opportunities for public testimony on those recommendations prior to the Board of Regents consideration on November 7. In its Sept. 12 meeting, regents recognized that some areas will not be ready for a decision in this timeline and also clarified that they are interested in reviewing multiple options that include single and multiple accreditation scenarios.
The New UA website is updated regularly to provide current information and access to resources and feedback mechanisms. Your participation and feedback is a vital part of this process.
Thank you