Despite cutting $5.3 million from its budget, the new school year at University of Alaska Southeast is off to a good start, said chancellor Rick Caulfield.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re excited as always to have our new freshmen on the campus here in Juneau and then, of course, we have a significant number of students in our Sitka and Ketchikan campuses, and also online,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The number of full-time equivalent students won\u2019t be confirmed until October, but Caulfield said so far it\u2019s down about five percent from last year\u2019s figure of 1,772 students.<\/p>\n
He said a number of factors contribute to the lower enrollment. One is the declining number of high school graduates in Alaska in recent years.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll three of our universities \u2014 Fairbanks, Anchorage, Southeast \u2014 have seen declines in those 18-year-old freshman students, the more traditional age,\u201d Caulfield said.<\/p>\n
Another factor is the rising cost of tuition and fees. While UAS is affordable for a baccalaureate degree, Caulfield said the same is not true at the community college level. Most states have separate community college systems. UAS used to have that but the community college merged with the university in the mid-1980s.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs tuition has gone up for the baccalaureate student, it\u2019s gone up for the community college student. The net effect \u2014 the price of a one-year certificate or a two-year associate degree here in Alaska is about as high as you\u2019ll find in the country,\u201d Caulfield said.<\/p>\n
He said University of Alaska System President Jim Johnsen is interested in finding ways to reduce the cost of these certificates and degrees, which are predominantly career and technical education.<\/p>\n
Uncertainty could be another reason enrollment is down.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs people read about the changes that are inevitably taking place in the university system and in the state\u2019s economy, that has an impact on students\u2019 choice,\u201d Caulfield said.<\/p>\n
UAS\u2019s general fund budget this year is $24 million, which is about 10 percent lower than it was last year.<\/p>\n
Accommodating that gap \u201cwas not easy as you can expect,\u201d Caulfield said.<\/p>\n
UAS reduced its work force across all three campuses by 32 positions \u2014 22 through attrition, six layoffs and four term positions coming to an end.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe made a major emphasis on trying to minimize the impact on the instructional side of our mission, in our classrooms and our labs, so we focused especially on reducing administrative overhead and reducing our fixed costs,\u201d Caulfield said.<\/p>\n
The school recently sold the Schaible House on Mendenhall Loop Road and it\u2019s still looking to lease the Administrative Services Building, which houses the former bookstore.<\/p>\n
UAS is constantly reviewing its academic programs and sometimes cuts programs that have lower enrollments, which can mean future savings. Caulfield said the school is moving toward eliminating its certificate in automotive technology and its associate of applied science in apprenticeship technology.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd then we are continuing to look at other degree offerings as well for possible reduction or elimination,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Caulfield added, \u201cEven as we are making these cuts, we\u2019re reallocating resources into programs that we continue to believe are critical to Southeast Alaska.\u201d<\/p>\n
Like the Bachelor of Science in fisheries. It\u2019s long been a program offered at University of Alaska Fairbanks, but he said a proposal to the Board of Regents is in the works to have UAS and UAF jointly offer the degree. To that end, UAS has already hired a new fisheries faculty member. UAS also added another new professor as it shifts from a general arts program to a greater focus on Northwest Coast art.<\/p>\n
Board of Regents<\/strong><\/p>\n UAS\u2019s Juneau campus is hosting next week\u2019s Board of Regents\u2019 meeting<\/a> Sept. 15-16 at the UAS Recreation Center.<\/p>\n Caulfield said major topics include a discussion on a single accreditation versus the current three separately accredited universities, and Strategic Pathways, which is a method and framework to reduce redundancy, cost costs and improve quality.<\/p>\n