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March 22, 2023
Dear UAF staff, faculty and students,
In 2019, six strategic planning teams began the process of laying out a set of strategic
goals for UAF. The teams set about defining not just what the goals meant, but also
how we would get there by 2025. Due to the budget crisis, that timeline slipped to
2027, but the goals and the steps to achieve them remained. Since the good work of
these teams of faculty, staff and students, our six strategic goals have helped guide
decision-making at UAF through some difficult times.
At the recent February Board of Regents meeting in Anchorage I was proud to share
that UAF is in a good place and we are heading in the right direction on all of our
strategic goals. In this period of budget stability and strong enrollment numbers,
the time is now to move more deliberately on our strategic goal of achieving tier
1 (or more aptly, R1) research status. This proposed direction received a great deal
of support from members of the Board of Regents.
As of 2021, there were only 146 R1 research universities in the U.S. UAF is already
producing top tier research, and I am confident that with the right strategic steps,
we will join this ​​prestigious class of universities. Universities recently achieving
R1 status include the University of Maine, Michigan State University and the University
of Nevada-Las Vegas. It is our hope and expectation that by 2027, UAF will reach R1
status by continuing to support high-quality and high-impact research that benefits
Alaska, the nation and the world. It is clear that this move will take investment
and strategic action.
Achieving R1 will advance many of our strategic goals, including strengthening our
position as global leaders in Alaska Native and Indigenous programs and modernizing
the student experience. A key part of our roadmap to R1 is significantly increasing
the number of students graduating from UAF with a Ph.D., specifically in the humanities.
But achieving R1 will not be just on the humanities, the sciences, or any one individual
unit. It will take all of us; students, faculty and critical support staff, to take
UAF to the next level of research excellence. It will be an effort that includes not
just our research arm, but academics, outreach, marketing, communications and facilities.
Achieving R1 will indeed require rehabilitating some facilities and remodeling others.
Securing R1 status will also transform Alaska’s economy. We have the opportunity to
not only increase research revenues, but also to advance intellectual property and
support Alaskan businesses. In 2019, University of Colorado Boulder estimated that
their R1 research activities alone produced for the state.
By achieving R1, UAF will continue to serve our mission to enrich the lives of Alaskans
by attracting new talent to the state, supporting emerging industries such as drones
and mariculture, and increasing the value of a degree from UAF. This is about more
than the University, it is about all of us at UAF, about Fairbanks, and about Alaska.
In the coming weeks we will begin by assembling an R1 external advisory committee,
an internal steering committee, and a small number of working groups. At the same
time, we will be working with President Pitney on an FY25 budget strategy to secure
funding for the effort. Please look out for more communications on how you can be
involved in this process.
Thank you for choosing UAF.
— Dan White, chancellor
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