Communication is key for new Provost Denise Runge

It’s an unusual time to be stepping into the role of provost, according to Denise Runge, who officially began her leadership position this past July. The former dean of UAA’s Community and Technical College will be providing leadership and direction for the broad academic mission of the university in her new role. 

On the academic side, Runge will work closely with UAA’s deans, academic leaders and faculty, while on the financial side, she will work on budget and resource issues. While Runge said her new role involves her in many different facets of UAA, this fall she is focusing her efforts on two main things. The first is providing students, new and returning, with the best academic experience possible given the current circumstances. The second is working in consultation with Chancellor Sandeen to create transparency surrounding how the university’s budget for academic programs is communicated to faculty, staff and students.

“What we’re all focused on right now is making fall semester the very best it can be for students,” said Runge. “I really want to highlight the importance of faculty development, and all of the faculty and staff work around instruction, learning design and providing students with what they need, given that most classes are going to be in an alternative format.”

She said that communication between faculty and students this fall semester will be crucial, especially since so much of that communication has moved online — she worries about email and alternate delivery via videoconferencing burnout and is developing strategies for the most effective messaging to students.

“I think it’s vital, particularly for me, as provost, that I over-communicate,” Runge said. “That is my goal — if someone is willing to click on and read the information provided to them — it’s going to be available.” Runge said she has plans to start a blog that will provide accurate and timely information for faculty and students. 

 Additionally, with the changing mandates from the state and local governments, Runge and her office are having to work quickly to re-think the few in-person classes being offered on campus that require hands-on work. One of her main goals for the fall semester is to ease student stress. She and her team have dived deep re-thinking the entire way that students study and receive support services, from testing and placement services to tutoring to using the library. 

It’s been a challenging puzzle to put together, but Runge is feeling confident knowing that students will have the support systems needed to achieve a successful fall semester. She offered the reminder that despite all the chaos, now is a pretty good time to head back to school.

“In one way, it’s a great time for people to start on a degree, because whenever there’s an economic disruption, it’s a good time to think about upskilling,” Runge said. “It’s a good time in that sense, but it’s a challenging time because of COVID-19 and all the other things that it has caused.”

In addition to her focus on providing students a positive academic experience, Runge said an issue that has caused widespread worry and angst among students, faculty and staff is the university’s budget. With unprecedented budget cuts from the State of Alaska and unforeseen financial setbacks due to COVID-19, she hopes to shed some light on the matter. Her goal is to create clear communication channels on budget issues affecting the university’s academic programs and provide greater access to how funding is allocated across the colleges. 

“The project for me then becomes, how can we design a system that is transparent and has rules and values that everybody can see?” Runge said. “To a lot of people, the budget sort of feels like a black box. “A budget number comes out of the black box and you have to cut a whole bunch of stuff to meet the number.” 

Runge is also interested in creating a shared, collaborative vision of how UAA handles what is sometimes referred to as the “student life” cycle. She said efforts to zero in on how the university recruits, encourages students to enroll, ushers them through their first to final year, so they cross the stage at graduation, and how we engage them as alumni, is another system she is going to be analyzing.

“Right now so many of those things happen in ‘different offices,’ but we all share this role,” said Runge. “I’m really interested to see what I can do to pull everybody together to talk about what is our shared vision and plan for how we attract, enroll, support and continue to engage students all the way through. It’s an all hands on deck kind of thing.” 

Runge sees every faculty and staff role at UAA as a vital piece in the student life cycle, from facilities creating a safe and welcoming environment, to students easily being able to sign up for classes, to finding access to opportunities and extracurricular activities, Runge said everyone’s role is important. 

“I’ve worked at a number of different places, and I’ve never seen a group of faculty and staff so committed to making sure that students do well,” Runge said. “That’s what makes me excited for the job and ready to get up each day and sit through seven Zoom meetings. Faculty and staff deserve to have someone who recognizes all the hard work they do.”