April 7, 2020

For Immediate Release
April 7, 2015

UA Regents to Meet in Bethel

The University of Alaska Board of Regents will meet this Thursday and Friday, April 9 - 10, in Bethel. The meeting will be held at the Yupiit Piciryarait Cultural Center on the UAF Kuskokwim Campus. The last time the Regents met in Bethel was in April 2005.

In addition to taking public testimony from those present in Bethel, Regents will hear a report on the progress of the UA presidential search, Shaping Alaska’s Future, the Educator Quality and Quantity Report, and a number of policies that are up for approval as well as project change and schematic approvals for UA facilities. Highlights include presentations on:

• A presentation on Shaping Alaska’s Future - Theme 3: Productive Partnerships with Public Entities and Private Industries will highlight how UA has demonstrated success in these important areas during these financially challenging times. UA is developing business partnerships to meet the needs of the Alaska workforce through training for high demand jobs and workforce training initiatives designed to precisely meet the needs of Alaska industries.

• The Educator Quality and Quantity, a study by Citizens for the Educational Advancement of Alaska’s Children will deliver their results outlining the need for systematic change in Alaska’s education system to improve the quality of Alaska educators and increase the number trained in Alaska.

• UAF Chancellor Rogers and Provost Henrichs, and UAS Chancellor Pugh and Provost Caulfield will provide updates on program prioritization at their campuses. (UAA provided their program review update at the February meeting.)

The approval and consent agendas include: revisions to the Industrial Security Resolution and revisions to the UA Optional Retirement Plan. Three UAF items include: project changes to the engineering facility, schematic design approval for the combined heat and power plant and project approval for phased renovations at the Northwest Campus.

In other business, the board will acknowledge the departures of UA leadership with resolutions of appreciation of service to President Patrick K. Gamble, who has served the university as its 13th President; John Pugh, Chancellor of the University of Alaska Southeast; Kit Duke, Associate Vice President for Facilities and Land Management; and Courtney Enright UA student Regent.

An important part of the Bethel meeting is community outreach. Board members and staff will attend a community reception at the Yupiit Piciryarait Cultural Center Thursday night beginning at 5:30 p.m. hosted by the UAF Kuskokwim Campus.

During the meeting the board will be relying heavily on the use of video-conferencing and web based interfaces for administrative reporting. The conferencing locations at the main campus sites are listed below:

University of Alaska Anchorage

204 Administrative Building - Full Board and Academic and Student Affairs Committee meeting
201 Administrative Building - Facilities and Land Management Committee meeting

University of Alaska Fairbanks

204 Butrovich - Full Board and Academic and Student Affairs Committee meeting202C Butrovich - Facilities and Land Management Committee meeting

University of Alaska Southeast - Juneau

124 Administrative Building - Full Board and Academic and Student Affairs Committee meeting
101D Hendrickson Annex - Facilities and Land Management Committee meeting

The full agenda and link to a live video stream is available on the BOR website: http://www.alaska.edu/bor/agendas/

-30-

For more information, call Kate Wattum, Assistant Director, Statewide Office of Public Affairs,» 907-450-8104, cell/text 907-699-3262, kate.wattum@alaska.edu

NR03-15