On Wednesday, January 13, University President Jim Johnsen hosted a reception for the Anchorage-based UA Statewide employees.� Following the President’s summation of his State of the University address the previous night, he surprised the gathering by awarding his first UA Statewide President’s Spotlight Award to Teri Cothren, Project Manager for Workforce Programs.�

Teri was recommended by Associate Vice President Fred Villa for her significant contributions in career and technical education, and workforce development. According to AVP Villa, “Teri has demonstrated an innate ability to bring people together and work collaborative with faculty, administrators and employers to develop communication tools and processes that assist students develop and attain their career goals.”

Prior to Teri’s current position, she worked as a program/client manager for UA Corporate Programs. Congratulations Teri!

Dear Colleagues:

After a great deal of consideration on how best to organize the university’s public engagement efforts during the tough times ahead, I have decided to restructure the Office of University Relations and have asked Michelle Rizk to lead it. As Vice President of University Relations, Michelle will continue to oversee planning and budget strategy, state relations and institutional research and analysis and will add to her portfolio the engagement activities of Office of Public Affairs/federal relations, community engagement and university development. The land management office now reporting to Michelle will eventually move to Finance and Administration when the CFO position is filled early in the new year.

I am personally and professionally very appreciative of Michelle's acceptance of the role and I am confident she will continue to make a positive difference for our University.

Congratulations, Michelle!
Jim