The University of Alaska Board of Regents will meet in Anchorage today for the first time since UAA’s teaching program lost accreditation. The main agenda item will be to discuss cost effectiveness of the university system, their fifth strategic goal.
Their goal of operating more cost-effectively means they want to decrease the total cost of education per student, while also increasing the number of full time students who actually graduate.
The board will also approve a charter for a committee, which is designed to make recommendations to the Board of Regents about what board members’ roles should be. The board will also hear updates from chancellors of the university satellites, including University of Alaska Southeast Chancellor Rick Caulfield.
The meeting takes place at the University of Alaska Anchorage from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Interested members of the public can livestream the meeting at https://www.alaska.edu/bor/live/.
The university’s budget has shrunk in recent years (the subject of cost-cutting efforts by the Alaska Legislature). Lawmakers approved a $10 million funding increase in 2017, the first such rise since 2014.
Regents and other university officials have said that increase was helpful but insufficient to keep the University of Alaska competitive with other institutions across the country.
• Contact reporter Mollie Barnes at mbarnes@juneauempire.com or 523-2228.
