AVÀÇÂÛ̳

Oct. 2, 2020

Dear UAF staff and faculty,

This week UAF hosted a team of evaluators from regional peer institutions as part of our NWCCU accreditation review. Most everyone at UAF contributed in one way or another to our accreditation efforts leading up to this week’s site visit. Some of you were able to participate in the forums that took place virtually on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. As a culmination of the site visit, the visiting team held an open meeting this morning where they read their initial results. These results included five commendations and four recommendations. This was a very positive outcome.

The visiting team congratulated the university for our research, community engagement, COVID-19 response, eCampus, and culture of cooperation. These were high marks and much appreciated. They also provided four recommendations that will be areas we look at closely, focus our energy towards, and use to improve the way we operate. While the commendations are very rewarding, it is the recommendations that will make us better as we seek continuous improvement. The visiting team was highly qualified, and their high marks and expert advice will be taken to heart.

Many thanks to all of you for the work that went into the accreditation visit. Well done. I would like to especially thank Vice Provost and Accreditation Liaison Officer Dr. Alex Fitts. She worked consistently and thoughtfully over the last several years to prepare for our visit. Alex actually prepared for two site visits, last year’s that was postponed, and this year’s that required significant reworking because the NWCCU’s accreditation standards changed in the interim. I also want to thank Accreditation and Assessment Coordinator Michelle Strickland, who worked tirelessly in support of Alex, as did the accreditation team of faculty and staff. Thank you for the heavy lifting as we prepared UAF for our visit. My thanks as well to Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Anupma Prakash. Accreditation is housed in the Provost's office and Anupma did a wonderful job as our fearless leader during and leading up to go-time. THANK YOU!

As its next step, the visiting team will write up its report and send it to me sometime next week. We will then take some time to digest it and think about the recommendations made. I will present to the Commission's board in January at which time the board officially votes on reaffirmation. For now, have a restful weekend and thank you for your many contributions to the positive outcome of our site visit.

Thanks for choosing UAF.

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