Welcome, New Faculty!
Congratulations on becoming a faculty member at UAA! We are excited to have you join our community. It can be overwhelming to navigate all of the opportunities and responsibilities of a new faculty position, but we’re here to help you find your path at UAA. Explore the resources below to learn more about your new colleagues, our students, professional support and development, and the diverse range of UAA’s research and creative strengths. Once you're in the system with a UA email address, be sure to watch for our biweekly newsletters. The newsletter includes details on faculty development opportunities and brief, timely pieces highlighting important information and resources.
If you ever need someone to help you along the way, you can contact the Center for Advancing Faculty Excellence (CAFE) through email at uaa_cafe@alaska.edu or by phone at 907-786-4644. If you need support with any academic technologies, including Blackboard, contact uaa_design@alaska.edu and one of our instructional designers will get in contact with you. Our Program Coordinator, Luis Chavez will follow up with information for onboarding and check in with you to see if there's anything else we can support you with. He can be reached at lchavezjr@alaska.edu. Please don't hesitate to contact us with questions. We look forward to meeting you soon!
Meet Our Colleagues
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Nina Ketelsen, Nursing
"I started working with another UAA nursing instructor and discovered I loved teaching. Health care professionals are exhausted right now and we need to teach the next generation to make sure everyone has the support they need. As an experienced bedside nurse, sharing those skills with students lets me contribute to our profession while instilling compassion for themselves and others." -
Juergen Sidgman, Accounting
"UAA has the best stuff I’ve seen for faculty development and support. #Pivot was super useful for designing my online courses, getting into Blackboard, and inclusive teaching. Headwaters, the new faculty group, had interesting conversations and helped me cope with professional pressures." -
Cammie Hsu, Prince William Sound College
"Moving to Prince William Sound College has been a great adventure and learning opportunity! This has been a chance to spend more time with my family and explore Alaska. I like to travel and I’ve visited over 30 states. I am very honored to be part of UAA!" -
Raghu Srinivasan, Mechanical Engineering
"Placed on top of the world, we have unique challenges and opportunities to do many types of research people in the Lower 48 can’t do, so we’re at the forefront of Arctic engineering and climate change issues. I mentor a lot of undergraduate students doing research, who move on to R1 graduate programs. When they get their wings and we see how they fly, that’s really rewarding!" -
Andrew Harnish, Writing
"I’ve worked at three universities since finishing graduate school in 2019. Without a doubt, UAA has been the most welcoming, inclusive, and supportive of the bunch. My students are eager to learn and engaged with their work, and my colleagues are full of insight. One of my great joys as a professor of writing is helping students integrate their voices and community experiences into their writing. Welcome to UAA." -
Vanessa Meade, Social Work
"Our work makes a huge impact in Alaska, where we have a small population and close connections with each other. As a veteran, I appreciate this chance to continue to serve my community at UAA. Alaska has one of the highest percentages of veterans in the country. Working together, we can make big changes!"
Get Started
Visit our New Faculty Resources page for resources and information to organize your first semester (or year!) at UAA. This page can help serve as a checklist for all the accounts, technologies, and processes to learn and set up.
Some of the core resources available to faculty include:
- New employee onboarding (you should receive an email about this from the Center for Advancing Faculty Excellence)
- New Faculty Orientation (we will reach out to you to join this event, recommended for all new faculty)
- Headwaters for new and junior faculty (Fall semester)
- The Buddy Program, which pairs new faculty with each other in a casual setting
- UAA Teaching Academies, which happen before Fall and Spring semesters
- Course design guidance and support (reach out to uaa_design@alaska.edu for course assistance)
- Faculty learning communities (reach out to uaa_cafe@alaska.edu to learn more)
Not UAA faculty yet? Visit our page for prospective faculty to learn more about joining the UAA community.
Meet Our Students
We are proud to be an open-access institution that serves first-time, returning, transfer, dual-enrollment, full-time, and part-time students. Many of our students are the first generation in their family to pursue a degree, English language learners, supporting families, veterans, active service members, low-income, and/or working professionals. 90% of our students come from Alaska, with the rest joining from around the globe. Our faculty benefit from the rich life experiences students bring to UAA!
UAA is:
- Multicultural and committed to Alaska Native success: Multicultural Student Services, Native Student Services, Alaska Native Success Initiative, Alaska Native Science & Engineering Program
- Recognized as a gold-level Military Friendly School
- Home to outstanding extracurricular programs: Seawolf Athletics, Seawolf Debate
- Closely connected to Southcentral Alaska through the community campuses
Research and Outreach
UAA faculty produce meaningful and innovative research, creative projects, and community outreach. Faculty in programs like the Institute of Social and Economic Research and the Institute for Circumpolar Health Studies work on understanding critical issues for Alaska and other Arctic communities, while colleagues across the institution produce new insights on topics ranging from early modern Spain to bees to restorative justice. In addition, many faculty partner with community organizations, contribute to policy initiatives, and conduct educational outreach to the next generation of scholars.
- Office of Research provides grant management and research support, including a faculty research and creative activity working group
- Recent faculty research news
- Faculty learning communities support each other for scholarly writing and Community-Engaged Research
- Community Engagement & Learning helps faculty develop community-engaged projects and service-learning courses
- The UAA public calendar includes events such as performances, lectures, art shows, and more
- Educational events like the Summer Engineering Academies, Real Estate Summer Workshop, Brain Bee, STEM Day, etc.
Assistance
Please contact us for assistance planning your courses, connecting with colleagues, and building your career path! UAA faculty also stay informed on our professional development opportunities, events, trainings, and resources through our monthly newsletter. You should be added to our newsletter by default when you start, but if you are not getting emails from Faculty Development & Instructional Support or the Center for Advancing Faculty Excellence, reach out to us and we will be sure to add you.
Faculty Development & Instructional Support
Center for Advancing Faculty Excellence, Academic Innovations & eLearning, and Center
for Community Engagement and Learning
Library 213 • 907-786-4496 • uaa_cafe@alaska.edu • Monday – Friday, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.