Mission
The Vice President for Academics, Students & Research, directs a division of services including Academic Affairs, Research, Workforce Programs, Student Success, and Distance Education. The Vice President works with the UA campuses on academic and research initiatives and collaborations to promote research in Alaska. The University of Alaska is committed to working closely with all federal and state agencies and private enterprise to further develop collaboration and new exposures for future growth in all areas of science and technology.
Dr. Brian Smentkowski
Vice President and Chief Academic Officer
(907) 450-8019
bpsmentkowski@alaska.edu
System-level Coordination
ACEC facilitates inter-university coordination and communication to meet the goals
of UA's Schools of Education
Common Calendar 2018 - 2022
The Faculty Alliance Common Calendar Committee has developed a common calendar, coordinating
start dates and breaks throughout the system, and are further developing coordinated
course starting time alignment to facilitate cross-university instruction.
Information on Accreditation
All three universities, UAA, UAF, and UAS, and their respective Community Colleges
are fully accredited. In addition to institutional accreditation from the Northwest
Commission on Colleges and Universities, UA has more than 60 program/specialized accreditations
across the system.
August 26, 2025
Did You Know UAA Course Takes Students to Crime Lab
August 12, 2025
July 29, 2025
July 08, 2025
The importance of compliance awareness and reporting
August 22, 2025
As members of the University community we each have a responsibility to help promote a safe and ethical campus environment and be part of the compliance solution. If you see anything that doesn't look "right," please say something.
Call for submissions: Did You Know series
August 22, 2025
The University of Alaska's Did You Know series highlights research, programs, and partnerships that shape Alaska's workforce, economy, and future. Each story offers a quick look at UA excellence and impact across the state.
Free statewide webinar on winter vegetable storage by the UAF Cooperative Extension Services
August 22, 2025
Join Fairbanks farmer and author Sam Knapp as he breaks down the process of selecting, harvesting, processing and storing vegetables in a free statewide webinar hosted by the University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service.
Announcing the upcoming launch of automated overtime
August 22, 2025
As part of the University's ongoing UAOnline upgrades, UA HR is pleased to announce the launch of automated overtime processing this fall. This new functionality will eliminate the need for employees to manually calculate their overtime hours on their timesheets, reducing errors and simplifying time entry.
Annual Security Awareness Training Announcement
August 22, 2025
It's Security Awareness Training season again! This year we are pleased to announce that our training will be delivered via our new training platform, KnowBe4.
August 22, 2025
UA Kaltura Admins updated the Zoom integration settings in Kaltura to allow Zoom meeting Alternative Hosts to be given Co-Editor and Co-Publisher permissions automatically upon Zoom recording import. This change took place on Aug. 17. Please note that Zoom to Kaltura Backup is not currently available to UAS Zoom Users.
August 22, 2025
Zoom Clips were enabled for all UA Zoom users on Aug. 17. Clips is a stand-alone recorder (audio, video, desktop/content) that is available when not in a meeting.
New Faculty and Advisor Upgrade Resources Available
August 08, 2025
On July 28, 2025, the Faculty and Advisor menu and pages in UAOnline were upgraded to the newest version. To help with the transition, we have created and posted new resources, including a recording of the live demo, new short 2-4 minute how-to videos, new resource guides, and updated FAQs.