Legislature honors UAS Chancellor Rick Caulfield

The Alaska Legislature passed a citation honoring University of Alaska Southeast Chancellor Rick Caulfield for his many years of leadership and service to the University of Alaska. 

“I have dedicated my career to the University of Alaska, and I have especially appreciated the opportunity to provide leadership at the University of Alaska Southeast over these past 10 years,” Caulfield said in the press release announcing his retirement.

Caulfield was selected by former UA President Pat Gamble to serve as UAS Chancellor in May 2015. Prior to serving as Chancellor, he served as Provost for UAS. During his tenure as UAS Provost, student retention increased 14 percent. Before taking leadership roles at UAS, Caulfield served UAF as an associate professor of Alaska Native Studies and Rural Development, Dean of the UAF Community and Technical College and Associate Dean of Academic Programs.

As academic program head for the Department of Alaska Native and Rural Development at the Fairbanks campus, Caulfield developed the distance programs offered by UAF and worked to create the master’s degree in rural development. His dedication to full inclusion of Alaska Native ways of knowing in academia led to his receiving the Dennis Demmert Award for Excellence in serving Alaska Native Students in both 1996 and 2001. 

“During Rick’s time as chancellor, the Alaska College of Education was created at UAS, consolidating leadership of education programs across the University system and ensuring UAS remains a leader in training the next generation of Alaska teachers,” said the citation. “In 2019, UAS’ accreditation was reaffirmed by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities, which praised the University’s inclusion of Alaska Native culture, commitment to student retention, and successful integration of three distinct campuses into one cohesive university.”