Letter from the Chancellor

Aug. 30, 2010

TO: UAF students

FROM: UAF Chancellor Brian Rogers

SUBJECT: Welcome to Fall 2010

Whether you’re in Fairbanks or downtown at UAF's Community and Technical College, at the Interior-Aleutians Campus or at one of our community campuses in Bethel, Dillingham, Kotzebue or Nome, I'd like to officially welcome you to UAF for the 2010-2011 academic year.

I encourage you to get involved at your campus. Take advantage of opportunities for leadership development, undergraduate and graduate research and public service. Together with our faculty, your involvement could help make a difference in one of the many Alaska communities where we study, teach and serve.

I encourage you help to shape the campus of the future. That's what Fairbanks students did in 2009 when they voted to charge themselves a $20 sustainability fee. The fee—funds that are matched by my office—will, over the next decade, help support overall efforts for a greener campus.

The best of Alaska's future is, in many ways, represented by some 10,000 students from all over the state, the U.S. and more than three dozen countries converging this week at UAF's campuses. Your involvement is essential to your success and to ours.

I wish you all the very best -- academically and personally. Have a fantastic semester!
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Students, staff and faculty are invited to attend fall convocation, Thursday, Sept. 9 from 1 - 2 p.m. in the Charles Davis Concert Hall. An ice cream social will take place at each of the campuses afterward. The event will also be webcast.

Information about the fall semester is also online in the Cornerstone newsletter at http://www.uaf.edu/cornerstone/. Be sure to follow UAF on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/uafairbanks and Twitter http://twitter.com/uafairbanks for updates

Orientation events welcome students to campus, community

Once again, UAF welcomes our incoming students to campus. Orientation is one of my favorite times of the year! I always feel the energy and excitement for the start of the fresh new academic year. This morning the admissions counselors and I welcomed the newest members of our community and asked them how many had met with one of us. It was not too surprising to us that the majority of the audience stood to acknowledge that they had received some sort of help from the admissions team. In the coming weeks the admissions counselors will head out on the road to meet the next class (starting in Fall 2011)! Keep an eye out at your high school for one of the counselors and hopefully we'll see you at Orientation next year!

UAF News and Events » Blog Archive » Orientation events welcome students to campus, community

Fairbanks Summer!!

Campus from in front of my office in Signers' Hall

Today is one of my favorite days in Fairbanks - Summer Solstice - the longest day of the year. The sun rose at 2:58am this morning, and won't set until tomorrow at 12:48am - and it's light out for 24 hours around the clock. The sun is shining, and Fairbanksans are celebrating!

Fellow Admissions Counselors Carrie Coxon and Chris Wheeler both completed the 10k Midnight Sun Run, where people come out in droves to run and walk through Fairbanks under the midnight sun, often in costume!

Wherever you are, I wish you a warm, sunny, Summer Solstice (or a warm, sunny, Winter Solstice for those of you in the Southern Hemisphere!) full of joy and friendship!!

Outdoor Adventures

Now that it is summer in Fairbanks and the sun is shining almost 20 hours a day, everybody is outside. The UAF Outdoor Adventures office provides a way for people of the Fairbanks community to get outside and be adventurous. Whether you are an experienced outdoorsman or someone who just likes to try new things, Outdoor Adventures has something for you. You can choose to go on one of their trips or rent some equipment from them and take your own adventure. So whether you want to go canoeing, snow camping, ice climbing or hiking, Outdoor Adventures can help you. To see pictures of past trips and get more information, visit their website at: http://www.uaf.edu/woodcenter/outdoor/ or check out their Facebook page at UAF Outdoor Adventures.

- Jessica

The Really Free Market: Not your everyday garage sale.

Ask most UAF students, and they’ll tell you Alaskans do some things a little differently than most folks in the lower 48. They might drive to work on a snow machine in the winter, choose to live without running water in a dry cabin, or have some reindeer sausage with their eggs in the morning. And the Really Free Market is no exception.

The basic idea of the Really Free Market is simple; sustainability can be simple and free.

Here’s how it works:

1) Members of the Fairbanks and UAF communities donate clean, safe unwanted items that still have some life left in them to the market. (For example, brand new Columbia jackets and sweaters or nice furniture pieces are not uncommon finds at the market.)

2) Anyone needing or wanting any of these items can show up during the designated Really Free Market dates and times to find what they’re looking for and take them home for free.

That’s it. No selling, bartering, or swapping takes place. Everything is free; no bucks needed! So bust out your calendar’s and circle August 14^th, when the next Really Free Market will be held on UAF’s campus. Do things a little differently this summer, like an Alaskan!

UAF Celebrates is 88th Commencement

Hello!
This weekend, UAF celebrated its 88th Commencement on May 16th at the Carlson Center here in Fairbanks. At the event, we honored more than 1,000 graduates completing programs ranging from Certificates all the way through PhDs. We were particularly honored to be conferring 42 PhDs this year, and three honorary PhDs. This was also President Hamilton's final Commencement as President, and he was honored with the title of President Emeritus, an honor which has only been given to three other presidents in UAF's nearly 90 Commencements.

On a personal note, there's a certain weight that comes with commencement. It actually hits you that you've completed something big, something important. For those reading this, I heartily encourage you to participate and walk if you can when you complete whatever program you dream of completing. It's a rite of passage, and you may think you're doing it for your family, I know I did, but I found out during the ceremony that it was really for me. I'm thrilled to still be involved in UAF's Commencements.

If you want to learn more about the event, read the official article here.

Thanks for reading, and Ad Summum!

Posted by Joe Alloway, Admissions Counselor, UAF Alum '07, '08, and soon to be '11

PS: Our class speaker for this year was excellent, check her out

Good Morning Fairbanks!

As the sun peaked over the morning sky today, I took the opportunity to stop at Creamer's Field to say good morning to our returning visitors: the Canada geese, sand hill cranes, swans and other migratory birds who make a stop in Fairbanks each spring as part of their Northern migration. The scene this morning was serene and peaceful, even among the 1000 or so chatty birds.

The birds are a sight to be seen! We all look forward to greeting our feathery friends as they make an annual stop at the former farm turned migratory waterfowl refuge. They visit Fairbanks throughout the summer, but are known to stop in this mass abundance both in the spring on their way into Alaska and in the fall on their way back out.

The scene draws visitors to the refuge to observe the magnificent gathering as they land among the 2000 acre property. There are no rides, no bells and whistles, no fancy trams driving people around...it's just 1000 or so transient guests stopping for a rest... and miles of well-maintained walking trails for the rest of us. It's one of my favorite places in Fairbanks!

UAF Orientation

If you have been admitted to UAF, you will definitely want to start thinking about your next steps.

1. Talk to your advisor! Check out this PDF for a complete list of advisors.

2. Register for classes! After you have met with your advisor, make sure to register for classes!

3. Sign up for orientation!

Want to know what to expect? See what incoming students had to say about their New Student Orientation experience. For more information, visit http://www.uaf.edu/orientation/





Want to know more about your next steps? Check out our admitted student page.

Cheers!

Lael

Spring is finally here!

Hello fellow Spring Lovers,
Spring has arrived in Fairbanks, and we are loving it! We're getting lots of sunlight, the sky has been crystal clear, and the weather has gotten up to the 50s (at least, it felt like it ^_^). Spring always makes me pause to consider the interesting place I live. I think we probably appreciate Spring and Summer a bit more than places that have three month long seasons: we've learned to savor the sweetness of the warmer months and soak up the sunshine while we can.

In Spring and Summer, it seems that there's a new "fun-run" going through Fairbanks every week, and the community seems to come together for exciting celebrations of the season. Don't get me wrong, I love the Fairbanks Winter, too, but in a different way. Spring is a release, and it's the beginning of some of the longest, most beautiful days in the world. If you're in Fairbanks, get out there and have some fun. If you're not in Fairbanks, still get out there and have some fun. Remember, no matter where you live, Spring only comes around once a year, and if you miss it, it's gone. Have fun out there, everyone, and have a great, sunny weekend!

Joe Alloway
UAF Admissions Counselor, Fairbanks local since 1986 ^_^

UAF aviation students reach new heights!

The University of Alaska Fairbanks Tanana Valley Campus is pioneering a method of training aircraft mechanics that is likely to set the stage for training programs nationwide.

TVC’s aviation maintenance technology program is the only organization in the nation that is approved by the Federal Aviation Administration to deliver the training via simulcast. A record 11 locations participated in the training earlier this month.

“This will likely spread throughout the country, proving once again that Alaska is on the cutting edge of American aviation and UAF/TVC is a leader in aviation maintenance education,” said program coordinator Kevin Alexander.

The second-year pilot program delivers training to aircraft mechanics located around Alaska via two-way webcasting. The webcast is delivered from the Butrovich Building on the Fairbanks campus.

The goal of the program is to increase training participation by the 1,400 authorized inspectors in Alaska. Participating locations in the training included Fairbanks, Bethel, Kotzebue, Nome, Glennallen, Juneau, Sitka, Kenai, Ketchikan, Anchorage and Springfield, Ill.

"It's absolutely wonderful to be working with the FAA to help raise the level of safety and professionalism in the statewide aviation maintenance industry,” said TVC professional piloting program coordinator Roger Weggal. “The number of mechanics we're able to reach simultaneously and the ability to get real-time questions and answers from around the state is invaluable."

CONTACT: Michelle Renfrew, TVC information officer, 907-455-2833, mmrenfrew@alaska.edu

ADDITIONAL CONTACTS: Kevin Alexander, Aviation Maintenance Technology coordinator, at 907-322-5224 or via e-mail at akmechanic@aol.com.