To grasp the entire scope of health care is nearly impossible, but the Joint Health Care Committee (JHCC) and Staff Health Care Committee (SHCC) are two groups within the university working hard to make progressive moves regarding health care and overall cost reduction MORE...

The statewide offices in the Butrovich building have opened a private lactation room.

The room, located near the entrance of suite 206, complies with a federal mandate signed as part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010. The mandate specifies that employers are required to provide a break time and a private, designated area for women to express milk for up to a year after a child’s birth. The regulation also requires employers to provide a dedicated lactation area in buildings with more than 50 employees.

Space was arranged after several parties expressed interest in a lactation room, including the Statewide Administration Assembly (SAA) and building staff. Vice President of Finance and Administration Dr. Ashok Roy and UA President Pat Gamble both voiced full support of the room, and the project gained speed.

Multiple rooms in Butrovich were evaluated to determine which space would best meet the needs. The completed room was chosen for its privacy, size and close proximity to restrooms and a sink.

Several offices worked together to remove contents from the room and store them elsewhere. Those offices include: the Office of Public Affairs, UA Foundation and UA Statewide Office of Human Resources. UA Scholars had some space available that was used for the storage of contents. The UA President’s Office donated furniture for the room.

The new room features a variety of amenities while creating a place of comfort, relaxation and security. Amenities include: two comfortable chairs, bulletin board, full-length mirror, coffee table, clock radio, bookshelf, sanitation supplies and a refrigerator for milk storage. The room became available to all employees for lactation purposes on Aug. 24.

In order to help with scheduling, a Google calendar has been set up for users to reserve the room. � Individuals requiring use of the room on a sporadic or limited basis can contact Jennifer Young (jlyoung@alaska.edu or x8026) or Elaine Main at (emain@alaska.edu or x8025). �Individuals who want to use the room on a long-term basis can request a key issue from Jennifer Young.

As of Friday, Aug. 24, students will have the option to set a preferred email account at UAOnline. Students will have the opportunity to choose what email account they receive university correspondence from instead of having to use the assigned email account from the university. �

All university correspondence previously went through the university generated email accounts. This system ensured that the student was receiving all emails securely. Many students were not checking their university email accounts. In many cases students already had an established email and the university email address was more a burden than a benefit. As a result, many important messages from the university to the student were not being received. �

This change of policy allows students to go to UAOnline and choose which email address they want to receive university correspondence at. This new system will take time since it involves a variety of processes and forms, many which have to be manually adjusted.

The first system to use the new preferred email accounts is the wait listing system. A student signs up for wait listing when a class is full, but they still want to take the course. If the course opens, an email will be sent to the first student on the wait list about enrollment.

Eventually, all university communications will be directed toward the new preferred email accounts, no later than Dec. 2012. An awareness campaign about the preferred email accounts will be launched later this fall as additional email communications and process are ready to move to the new preferred address. �

Ketchikan, Alaska’s oldest, and currently fourth-largest city, is home to all of the industries targeted by the University of Alaska’s Fisheries, Seafood and Maritime Initiative (FSMI.) One of the major goals of the initiative is to�align and coordinate classes taught throughout the university system into targeted workforce development programs for specific occupations within seafood, maritime and fishing industries. To do this, the university is seeking out input from business and governmental partners on exactly what kind of training is needed for their industries.�MORE...

The UA Strategic Direction Initiative is in its early stages. Across the system, leaders are discussing the themes that arose during a recent UA Statewide Planning Meeting with UA governance groups. The themes identified were MORE...