The University of Alaska Business Partners (BP's) at each university and the System Office, partner with the university leadership to understand strategy and objectives to help drive a high-performance culture.

 

• They act as a knowledge base and liaison for all university offices specific to human resources needs.
• They meet regularly with key leadership at the main and extension campuses to help identify successes and areas for improvement.
• They formulate partnerships across all HR functions to deliver value-added service to management and employees that reflects the mission of the university and work with the specialized HR teams to refine processes, standards, and workflows that maximize efficiency.   
• They work closely with the UA HR Labor and Employee Engagement team to ensure positive and strong working relationships with campus leadership. In addition, they collaborate with other UA HR teams: Talent Acquisition, Operations and Employee Transitions and Benefits to bring relevant and up to date information to the campus they represent.
• They serve as a trusted colleague by both university administration and within the HR team, and are a facilitator of connections between university administrators and HR colleagues.
• They can escalate and prioritize HR issues or bottlenecks at the university level and work with UA HR leaders to resolve.
• They partner with university leadership on initiatives that require HR expertise and services.
• They are designated ethics representatives for the university in which they are based (UA Ethics Supervisor Andy Harrington in General Counsel serves the System Office).

This role strengthens human resources service to UA by being proactive in coaching and supporting leaders and colleagues with issues related to work challenges, change management efforts, and managing performance effectiveness with the goal of improving work relationships, building morale, and increasing productivity and retention.

Team Members and Area Representations:

James Yauney,  Senior Business Partner  -  Based in Anchorage and serving UAA
Phone: 907-450-8218 | Email: jayauney@alaska.edu

Kim Washburn, Business Partner - Based in Fairbanks and serving UAF & System Office
Phone: 907-450-8272 | Email: kwalke47@alaska.edu

Now Hiring, Business Partner - Based in Juneau and serving UAS
Phone: 907-796-6263 | Email: tba