August 13, 2019

To All UAA College of Engineering Students:

First, some good news – if you are an Alaska Performance Scholarship and/or Alaska Education grant recipient, funding for your awards has been passed by the legislature this academic year!  In addition, any College of Engineering and/or private scholarships you may have earned will also be awarded as usual.

Fall classes will be offered as originally planned except, perhaps, for those with low enrollment. Spring semester classes have not yet been finalized, but I anticipate we may see an increase in the number of courses taught by our colleagues from UAF via distance delivery.  We are committed to working with you to find your path toward graduation.  All of our Bachelor of Science programs are accredited by ABET, and the Master of Science in Project Management is accredited by PMI-GAC.   Rest assured that we are working with our accreditors as we navigate through any restructuring mandated by the UA Board of Regents.

 You have likely heard that our Board of Regents recently approved development of a plan to move from our current separately accredited campuses toward a singly-accredited University of Alaska (“New UA”).  If implemented, this plan will mean that UAA, UAS, and UAF would consolidate into a single university.  The Board of Regents is expected to vote on a proposed plan at their mid-September meeting.  Until then, there are still many unknowns.  Although the Governor recently agreed to a smaller cut to UA funding, and spread it out over 3 years, there is not yet a firm time table for implementation of any plan, nor for specific impacts on various programs at each university.   If you want your concerns to be heard as this  process unfolds, feel free to contact members of the UA Board of Regents to tell your story, and let them know your priorities.

I realize you may have additional questions, so we have created an FAQ to try to answer them.  The demand for graduates from the College of Engineering remains strong, and we have enjoyed an outpouring of support from the engineering community during these uncertain times.  One thing, however, is certain—we are committed to continue to offer quality engineering education here in Anchorage.

Dr. Kenrick Mock
Interim Dean and Professor of Computer Science
UAA College of Engineering
kjmock@alaska.edu