Message from Dean Craig

by Debbie Craig  |   

Dean Debbie CraigDear College of Health Students, Alumni, Faculty, and Staff,

What a vibrant start to our Fall 2022 semester! I hope some of you were able to make it out to the Campus Kickoff festivities that took place on a non-rainy, almost sunny afternoon! We had LOTS of great people at the event providing information on many of our UAA programs and groups. What a great way to start the Fall 2022 semester!

I have officially been in the new role of Dean now for 2 months, and I can say that my favorite part of my job so far has been the people. I have had the honor of meeting so many passionate faculty and staff, devoted alumni, and eager students. The first few weeks of school have brought a palpable level of energy to campus as we all return to the most important mission at the UAA – propelling student learning on an upward trajectory! Coffee and food shops are open, faculty are back in their offices, parking lots are getting full, and all are here to support our students.

With our return to a fully functioning campus, we have continued concerns about the trends of COVID-19 on campus and in our community. Predictably, we are at a heightened alert level (orange) with the Omicron variant spreading quickly. We encourage you to continue to stay informed about the risks and spread of this virus and to keep yourself and others informed about UAA’s updated policies and guidelines. As we have experienced in the past, this can disrupt student learning in a multitude of ways. I am thus asking each person in our community to practice whatever level of safety measures you can to protect not only yourself but those in our community around you:

  • Masking: I encourage you to wear a mask indoors on campus if you are not able to socially distance yourself from others. The CDC provides excellent guidance in understanding current COVID-19 levels in your community and recommended precautions.
  • Vaccinations and Boosters: We know that being current with COVID-19 vaccinations and boosters helps, at a minimum, to lessen the severity of symptoms for those who contract COVID-19. For many, these vaccinations protect them from contracting it at all.
  • Respect: Most importantly, I am requesting all people in our COH community to please be respectful of everyone else’s choices in their own COVID-19 protection practices. We are all keenly aware of the unfortunate political focus on this virus, which has often distracted from the health crisis itself. We must respect each human’s choices and avoid negative interactions with those who manage their risk differently than we may choose to. Please be kind.

This fall brings some exciting opportunities for the COH! We have significant legislative support for growing our health care and behavioral health programs to fill some significant workforce needs in the state. Our programs have historically contributed to the health workforce demand, as our graduates are highly sought after. The pandemic has fueled this demand to a degree that we have rarely experienced in our Alaskan communities. Thus, we are keenly focused on producing exceptional health care and behavioral health graduates to address the critical demands we face in Alaska. Additionally, our alumni and corporate sponsors/supporters have continued their amazing support of our programs and students! This is an area that will continue to be a focus of my deanship. I welcome our alumni to reach out to me personally so that I can get to know each of you and talk about the ways our programs and students flourish with your support.

Once again, I wish to welcome College of Health students, faculty, and staff back to campus for the 2022-2023 school year and I hope you all have a great semester!

 

Sincerely,

Debbie Craig, PhD
Dean, UAA College of Health

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