A report commissioned by the University of Alaska system has come out with a firm recommendation against pursuing a single accreditation and a de facto merger of the system’s three principal campuses.
The report, dated July 26, was released to the public on Wednesday. Commissioned by the university system’s board of regents as a look into a potential cost-cutting move, the report concluded that “single accreditation is neither necessary nor sufficient to achieve cost savings, enhance the student experience, or improve state higher education performance measures.”
The report was compiled by Dana Thomas, a Fairbanks resident who formerly served as the vice president of academic affairs at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. At the start of July, UA President Jim Johnsen announced that Thomas will become interim chancellor of UAF at an annual salary of $300,000.
If the University of Alaska were to pursue a single accreditation for its campuses in Fairbanks, Anchorage and Juneau, all three likely would be run by a single administration, potentially streamlining the bureaucracy and cutting costs.
Thomas’ report indicates those efficiencies could be done in other ways, and a single accreditation would expose the system to potential problems.
According to the report, those include a loss of local control and the dilution of the distinctive mission at each campus.
Thomas recommends the Board of Regents continue with its “Strategic Pathways” process, which is assessing the consolidation of individual programs across all three campuses.
“Let that process run its course,” the report recommends.
