Board of Regents responds to legislative intent language and compact with governor; sets meeting and public testimony dates

President Jim Johnsen

 

Dec. 3, 2019

Dear UA Community –

The university Board of Regents has transmitted its response to legislative intent that it consider a plan to transition the university from three separately accredited institutions into a single accredited institution. The response can be found at https://www.alaska.edu/files/bor/2019/2019-11-22-Buretta-to-Ms.-Sanders-Response-to-the-Legislative-Intent-Language.pdf. The intent language was included as part of UA’s operating budget and a response was due to the legislature by Dec. 1, 2019.  

On October 7, 2019, after considering a single accreditation through multiple means, and in light of concerns raised by UA’s institutional accreditor NWCCU, the BOR decided to cease consideration of a single accreditation until such time as the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) secures its NWCCU accreditation renewal in 2021.

Additionally, the board has reported to Gov. Mike Dunleavy on the university’s progress toward meeting the terms of its Aug. 13, 2019 compact, which reduced the university’s budget cut from $136 million in one fiscal year to $70 million over three fiscal years. The report is due to the governor and legislature by Dec. 4, 2019 and can be found at https://www.alaska.edu/bor/compact-agreement-governo/.

The board continues to pursue means to reduce costs and increase efficiency, including consolidation of administrative functions across the system, clarifying roles and responsibilities between the BOR and the universities, and expedited academic program reviews at each university. These expedited reviews, expected to be complete in spring 2020, will assist the BOR in decisions regarding program reduction, consolidation, and program elimination.

Important Upcoming BOR Dates:

• Governance Committee Meeting: On Monday, December 9, 2019, the Board of Regents’ Governance Committee will hold a special meeting to discuss the process for the policy audit and to review its 2020 work plan. During a Nov. 7, 2019 workshop, the board agreed to conduct an audit of existing policies to determine what changes may be necessary to further define the roles and responsibilities of the board, president and individual chancellors, and to review areas of policy that may need to be updated, clarified or modernized. The meeting to lay out the review process will be held 12:30 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. via video. Live streaming will be available at www.alaska.edu/bor/live and the meeting will be recorded. The agenda is at https://www.alaska.edu/bor/agendas/2019/dec-9/.

Public Testimony: On Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2020, the board will hold audio public testimony from 4:00 – 5:00 p.m. Anyone interested in talking with the regents can call 1-866-726-0757 to join the queue. Comments are limited to two minutes per individual or as determined by the chair. Written testimony can be emailed at any time to ua-bor@alaska.edu.