CAS Five Aspirations

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• Students First

  Enhance student experience through curricular and co-curricular opportunities

  • Curricular review and development to provide innovative and relevant courses and programs that are responsive to local, state, and global needs.
    
  • Provide meaningful co-curricular opportunities (community engagement, research, student abroad, assistantships, …).
    
  • Enhance support for students, including advising, tutoring and scholarships.  
    
  • Develop a robust work-based experience program (internships).
    
  • Increased and regular communication of opportunities to students.
    
  • Fundraise to provide additional support and resources to students for scholarships, assistantships, and other activities. 
    
• Embrace Our Differences

  Learn from one another and allow all people to be seen and heard

  • Elevate place-based and Alaska Native learning opportunities.
  • Develop curriculum and programs that present different perspectives.
  • Promote faculty development that increases student inclusion in their learning.
  • Showcase relevant scholarship and staff contributions that advance the open access mission. 

   Revised pursuant to UA Board of Regents motion on 2.21.25.
• Be the Public Square

  Elevate community engagement on campus and beyond

  • Increase community presence through sponsored events such as the CAS Community Lecture, other public lectures, and Fine Arts events, as well as through an increased presence at local events.
  • Increase K-12 outreach through, for example, summer camp offerings, STEM Day, etc.
  • Fundraise to provide resources for special projects, workshops, and events for all CAS departments, like public lectures, workshop sessions, performances, or art exhibitions.
  • Increase communication with the community regarding CAS events and activities.
  • Strengthen ASD Partnerships including professional development and graduate training for ASD teachers, partnerships between faculty and ASD teachers, dual credit offerings, school events at the high schools and on campus.
• World Class Creativity

  Demonstrate the global reach and local relevance of our education, research, and creative activity

  • Celebrate excellence in creative activities and research within CAS, recognizing its global and local impact.
  • Demonstrate the value of research and creative activity to our economy and quality of life in Alaska; new knowledge and scholarly works benefit the community and contribute to a highly skilled and capable workforce of UAA graduates.
  • Cultivate collaborative teaching, research, and creative activity among faculty.
  • Develop themed classes and/or pursue cluster hires around important, unifying issues of global and local significance.
  • Support and promote undergraduate and graduate student research through robust faculty mentorship and student support.
  • Provide cutting edge technology and equipment to support innovative, high impact practices both in education and in scholarly activity.
• Collaborative Community

  Build a collaborative community for faculty and staff through increased recognition, support, and effectiveness

  • Recognize faculty and staff for their excellent work
  • Strengthen communication between faculty, staff and administration.
  • Support faculty and staff financially, institutionally, and through a collegial workplace environment.
  • Promote faculty and staff agency through professional development and institutional process review.
  • Advocate for and support needed university-wide improvements.