The report of the Anchorage Community Assessment Project was released on February 14, 2007.  The CAP is "...an unprecedented gathering of quality of life information" on the topics of education, public safety, health, the economy, and the social and natural environments of our city.  Full of data, public opinion, and summaries of why these things matter, the report provides a solid foundation to inform the next steps of community priority setting and action. The report includes in-depth research on a wide range of quality of life issues such as job growth, wages, high school dropout rates, health insurance coverage, crime rates, charitable giving, and water quality. Starting from that baseline, the community will then be able to set goals and begin working together to achieve those goals.  The project began in April 2006 as a partnership between the United Way of Anchorage and the Municipality of Anchorage.  Vice Chancellor Renee Carter-Chapman served on the Steering Committee.

The Office of Community Partnerships and the College of Education co-sponsored a Civic Learning Policy Roundtable on September 22, 2006. The event brought together representatives from across Alaska, including the legal system, state government, non-profit agencies, and the educational community, to address the question “how can we as community leaders advance civic learning in our schools?”

The Roundtable event is part of a larger project called the Alaska Civic Learning Assessment (ACLA) project, which itself is part of a national congressional initiative known as the Civic Mission of Schools. Recommendations developed in the Roundtable brainstorming sessions will be combined with research findings and incorporated into a Policy Brief outlining the current state of civic learning in Alaska, identifying opportunities for change, and recommending strategies to strengthen civic education in the state. The Policy Brief will be presented to the national Congressional Conference in Civic Education (CCCE) at their November meeting in Washington D.C. The document will also serve as a blueprint for future curriculum development, grant writing, and possible partnerships between UAA and other community organizations, as well as a catalyst for local civic engagement, service learning, and community-based research initiatives.

The ACLA project is funded by a grant to the Alaska Teaching Justice Network and carried out in large part by the Institute for Social and Economic Research. The Roundtable event was funded by UAA’s Strategic Opportunity Fund as a way to support this national effort while also strengthening UAA’s own civic engagement, public policy, and public square missions.

A UAA/APU partnership was one of 27 proposals accepted by the Ford Foundation for their Difficult Dialogues initiative.  The project is called Encountering Controversy (sometimes called Engaging Controversy) and is designed to improve civil discourse on our campuses and to engage our faculties and students in constructive dialogue about sensitive political, religious, racial, and cultural issues.  The project includes three components:  faculty development intensives (Faculty Fellows), practicing civil discourse around common readings and other events (Books of the Year), and creation of a handbook of best practices.

Grant amount:  $100,000
Duration:  May 2006 through December 2007
Co-PI’s:  Renee Carter-Chapman (UAA Vice Chancellor for Community Partnerships) and Marilyn Barry (APU Academic Dean)

The Health Research Think Tank (HeaRTT) consists of UAA research faculty and a broad spectrum of partners from service agencies, research agencies, and health care providers in the community. The group engages in research, roundtables, and community forums on health care issues of importance to Alaskans, supported in part by the Center for Advancing Faculty Excellence (CAFE), the Office of Research and Graduate Studies (OURS), and the Office of Community Partnerships.

During the 2006-07 academic year, HeaRTT is presenting a 3-part series on health and health care in Alaska. Each session includes a university/community forum with a panel of experts and open discussion, followed the next morning by a faculty panel presenting their research and insights over breakfast. These events are free and open to the public. 

November 16-17     Health:  At What Cost?
January 18-19        Challenges to Health and Health Care
March 15-16           Improving Health and Health Care in Alaska

A partnership between LitSite Alaska and the UAA/APU Consortium Library was awarded a two-year grant for Website Development to Create Statewide Access to Interactive Learning Opportunities.  The project will  develop electronic content around Alaska’s Digital Archives and to upgrade LitSite with new architecture, text-to-speech capabilities, interactive games and exercises for children, and other enhancements.  The project also includes partnerships with the Anchorage School District and with Boys and Girls Clubs of Alaska.

Grant amount:  $250,000
Duration:  Two-year grant, awarded in June 2005.  Start-up substantially delayed; first-year expenditures are occurring in 2006-07.
PI:  Ronald Spatz

UAA has received four EPA Pollution Prevention Incentive grants since 2003, three of which are running concurrently in 2006-07.  The grants share similar objectives: to assist small businesses, involve student interns, build networks, and promote pollution prevention, energy conservation, and other sustainable business practices in the community.  Green Star, a local non-profit agency, has been a major partner in all grant activities.

Grant #2
Amount:  $111,253
Duration:  October 2004 to December 2006
PI:  Larry Foster

Grant #3
Amount:  $99,930
Duration:  August 2005 to December 2006
PI:  Larry Foster

Grant #4
Amount:  $84,997
Duration:  August 2006 September 2007
Co-PI’s:  Margaret King, Larry Foster, Allison Butler