Dear Friends and Colleagues,
September has been a great month with many special events. Classes are off to a good start, new exhibits are up on campus gallery walls, the UAA Department of Music kicked off its Jazz Concert Series this week, the Banff Mountain Film Festival's Radical Reels Tour opens this weekend, Seawolves volleyball is 10-5 overall already doubling their overall and league win totals from a year ago, and our men's and women's cross country running teams also had some terrific showings this month. There is a lot happening at UAA and a lot more to come!
Last week, the Board of Regents met in Anchorage at the Lee Gorsuch Commons. The Board approved a 4 percent increase for lower level undergraduate classes -- the 100 and 200 level courses -- and a 7 percent increase for all other levels beginning in fall 2010. Out of the four-year public universities in 15 western states, UA tuition ranks 9th. It is my hope that this tuition increase will not seriously impact our students while providing necessary revenues for our programs.
The Board also reviewed the first version of the university's operating and capital budgets for FY10. It was the first review of the budget, which will be finalized by the end of October.
The proposed priorities in the operating budget are strengthening K-12 bridging and partnerships, energy, engineering, climate, health programs, workforce programs and meeting fixed costs.
What this means for UAA on the operating side is support for our engineering bridging and summer camps, ANSEP, new academic development and student success coordinators in a number of areas (including health), funding for additional faculty in engineering, CTC, ESPM, and WWAMI. It also includes funding for developing pharmacy and physical therapy programs and expanding the physician's assistant program.
The proposed capital request includes state funding of $65 million for UAA's Sports Arena and $61.57 million for UAF's Life Sciences Innovation and Learning. Life Sciences is an alternative approach to BIOS and has a total cost of $102.8 million. (What the state does not cover will be funded via UA funded revenue bonds.) Other capital budget items include $50 million for maintenance and repair of existing facilities, planning for several new facilities and specific research projects.
More than a dozen people, including UAA engineering graduates, students, School of Engineering Advisory Board members, as well as members of the engineering industry testified before the Regents about the need for a new engineering building at UAA. Alaska has a shortage of engineers; many employers are looking to the University of Alaska to fill this need. Engineering majors have increased by 18 percent annually the last five years and ongoing growth is expected to continue. A recent space needs analysis indicates that the current engineering building's 40,000 sq ft is woefully inadequate.
Thanks so much to those who came to testify before the BOR. Your personal appearance means a lot and we appreciate your willingness to take time to provide your perspective on UAA priorities.
