The University of Alaska is asking for your help regarding a bill in the Alaska Legislature that would allow concealed carry of weapons on all of our campuses, including in classrooms and student dorms. If you agree with the university's position against this unnecessary legislation, our legislators need to hear from you!

On Friday, March 21, the Senate Judiciary Committee moved a committee substitute (CS) of Senate Bill 176 (SB 176) out of committee. It next will go to the Senate Finance Committee, perhaps as soon as next week. A companion bill has been introduced in the House, HB 335. There's a very real possibility these bills could pass this session and be signed into law by the governor.

University employees need to weigh in on CSSB 176. MORE...

Bill History/Action
SB 176

UA Opposition to SB 176/HB 335
CSSB 176 (JUD) - Briefing Sheet
UA Position Paper
UA SB 176 Legal Analysis - March 5, 2014
UA students under 21 living on-campus
State Crime Rates Versus Campus Crime Rates

Governance Support of UA Position
Coalition of Student Leaders Resolution - March 7, 2014
UAFT Resolution - March 10, 2014
UNAC Letter of Opposition - March 12, 2014
Staff Alliance Resolution in Support of UA Position - March 18, 2014

Leadership Support of UA Position
Guns on Campus: Aim for the Right Target, UA President Pat Gamble - March 14, 2014
Vice Chancellors' Position Letter - March 18, 2014
UAF Chief of Police Keith Mallard - March 4, 2014
Letter from Director of Kenai Peninsula College Gary Turner - March 5, 2014
Letter from Director of Matanuska-Susitna College Talis Colberg - March 8, 2014
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The University of Alaska Board of Regents will meet on the campus of Kodiak College on April 3-4, 2014.

The packed agenda will include a motion to approve the draft issue and effect statements contained in the Shaping Alaska's Future initiative, as well as a review of metrics to measure success for the overall initiative.

Two proposals that have come from the Shaping Alaska's Future effort, a common calendar across the UA System and a charge to faculty to create common general education requirements for English and math across the system, also will be up before the board. Numerous other matters will be up for consideration as well, including several construction projects and a graduate certificate in marriage and family counseling at UAA.�

Board members will have lunch with members of the Kodiak College Campus Council, tour the college grounds and attend a community reception at the Kodiak Seafood and Marine Science Center Thursday evening.

Public testimony will be taken at approximately 9:30 a.m. both days. Sign-up sheets will be available prior to the meeting. Comments are limited to three minutes per individual or as determined by the chair.

Written comments are accepted and will be distributed to the Board of Regents and President Gamble following the meeting. The meeting also will be available as a live webstream at:

www.alaska.edu/oit/services/video-conferencing/streaming-conferences/

Please note that webstreaming is not available during executive session.

You can find the complete board agenda at:

http://www.alaska.edu/bor/agendas/2014/apr-3-4/

There’s good news for employees enrolling in the UA Choice health plan this year. Employees and their spouses or Financially Interdependent Partners are eligible to earn a $600 rebate each—up to $1,200—just for participating in the Healthyroads wellness program. Employees must act before June 30 to earn the wellness rebate.

To earn the rebate, eligible employees and/or their spouses or FIPs, need to log in to Healthyroads and complete a Personal Health Assessment. In addition, a biometric screening must be entered by June 30, 2014. While it is not required that both partners participate, it’s worth an extra $600 savings if they do—a total savings of $1,200 a year! MORE...

New Wellness FAQ HERE.

Thursday, March 27 is the 50th anniversary of the devastating 1964 Alaska earthquake, and a number of events are planned throughout the state to prepare emergency responders and incident management teams in case such a disaster were to strike again. The University of Alaska will be participating and many campuses have planned events to coincide with Alaska Shield 2014.
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The planned disaster is modeled after the 1964 Alaska earthquake. At 10:10 a.m. on March 27, the scenario—a large and far-reaching 9.2 magnitude earthquake—kicks off the exercise. This mock quake, centered near Anchorage, will last nearly 5 minutes and have caught most of the affected area’s population either at work or school.
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The UA System will be testing our emergency communications notification systems in conjunction with this exercise. We will be reaching out to the entire UA community using multi-modal methods: analog calls, e-mail, text messages, Alertus desktop clients, UAF Gruening speaker system, Facebook push, Twitter push and InformaCast (VoIP) instant text and audio messages. UA has set broad connectivity goals and will be able to determine effectiveness within minutes of the broadcasts.� MORE...

With the move to a 90-day session a lot of action happens every week in Juneau. UA's State Relations Director Chris Christensen provides regular updates on all the latest action in the Capitol. To review all the latest reports please visit: http://www.alaska.edu/state/report/.

Want to stay informed? The SupportUA-L is designed to keep UA advocates informed about the university's budget and other legislative matters. To subscribe to this listserve and receive the Capitol Report in your e-mail, please click HERE!