Contributed by Monique Musick
University of Alaska President Jim Johnsen outlined a more deliberate and inclusive planning timeline for streamlining the university, reducing administrative costs, and reinvesting in academic programs and student services. The process and timeline were presented Wednesday at a special meeting of the Board of Regents’ Subcommittee on Restructuring the University of Alaska.
“The proposal that we will make to the full Board of Regents at its meeting in September will be to conduct program reviews for all programs across the state, now that we have a little more time after the Regents terminated its declaration of financial exigency,” Johnsen said. “This effort is still about optimizing how we serve people – our students and our communities across the state.”
The broader strategy includes:
- Holding additional academic workshops
- Frontloading the process with administrative reductions
- Continuing stakeholder meetings and forums across the state
- Working this fall toward administrative integration across the UA system
- Creating inter-university teams to conduct academic expedited program reviews in the fall across all campuses to determine how best to integrate, reduce or discontinue units and programs
- Analyzing the outcomes of those program reviews
- Optimizing administrative changes in Spring 2020
- Continuing to plan for academic administrative changes
- Presenting options, in November, for continuing athletic programs
- Exploring opportunities for revenue – the development of new and innovative academic programs that attract students and grow enrollment
- Recommending a structure at the November board meeting
“Once the board makes its decision in November about a new structure – whatever is determined by the board – we would transition in the summer of 2020 and be operational with those changes in the fall,” Johnsen said.
The subcommittee also heard about the process to look at athletic programs. “Of great importance to the student experience is athletics and we’ve been working to develop options on athletics,” Johnsen said. “We need to tell our student athletes, as well as all those who support our athletic programs, how we will go forward with the goal of maintaining and preserving our athletic programs where we have them.”
Information about the work to review and restructure the university can be found at www.alaska.edu/newua.
The Board of Regents will hold telephonic public testimony from 4 - 6 p.m. on Sept. 9; to testify, call 1-866-726-0757. In-person testimony will be held beginning at 8:15 a.m. during the full board meeting in Anchorage on Sept. 12.
For Information, call Roberta Graham, assoc. vice president/public affairs, (907) 360-2416 (cell).
