November 2010

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

For the last 33 years, basketball and Thanksgiving have been a November tradition in Alaska. UAA Athletics staff and volunteers worked around the clock, despite the challenges of ice and snow, and made the 2010 Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout one we'll all remember. Thank you!

UAA women's and men's basketball teams were terrific.

UAA women, ranked 11th in the nation among Division II teams, made it to the final match for the fifth year in a row against Division I opponents. Women Seawolves were denied their fifth title by Kent State. UAA men had what the Anchorage Daily News called "one of their greatest showings in tournament history." The Seawolves beat Ball State 62-44 and took fourth place in the men's tournament.

November has been a great month for Athletics at UAA: For the first time in UAA and the Great Northwest Athletic Conference history, one school won both Cross Country Championships -- UAA's men and women are GNAC Champions!

We are thrilled by passage of Proposition B with nearly 60 percent of the vote on Nov. 2. We look forward to serving our students and community for many years with the new community arena and athletic facility!

The success of UAA Athletics is tremendous and due to many, many years of dedicated work by our Athletics staff, volunteers, donors, supporters and athletes. I was greatly honored (and very surprised) to be inducted into the Seawolf Hall of Fame last week and am very proud of all that has been accomplished. It is a great day to be a Seawolf!

Oxfam American Hunger Banquet gave over 70 students, staff and faculty an opportunity to experience food discrepancies in the world.

The International Student Association hosted the Hunger Banquet which raised over $250 for the UN World Food Program and Oxfam America. Some people ate a meal of rice and water on floor mats while others enjoyed a luxurious two-course meal at with linens and china. Guest speakers included Dr. Dewain L. Lee, Dean of Students and Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Development; Dr. Kimberly Pace, Assistant Professor and Director of Women's Studies; Stephanie Whaley, Residence Coordinator; and Bejek Deng, a member of the Southern Sudanese Association.

No Big Heads celebrates 25 years

I hope you stopped by the Student Union Gallery to see the more than 40 pieces selected by juror Argentinean artist Alicia Candiani to be in our annual "No Big Heads" exhibit. The show drew more than 1,000 visitors and was featured in the Sunday Arts section of the Anchorage Daily News.

Just a few days left to see "Singing in the Rain," which ends Dec. 5. It's a terrific show that shouldn't be missed!

UAA's Martin Luther King Student Appreciation Luncheon won the Luis Sedana Award for Outstanding Multicultural Program at the National Association of Campus Activities West Region Conference in California.

Congratulations and thank you to all who help organize and participate in this wonderful event each year. Visit www.uaa.alaska.edu/SLL for more information about this year's MLK Student Appreciation Luncheon and keynote speaker, activist and humanitarian Lisa Shannon.

Did you know:

Mat-Su College Professor Ping-Tung "PT" Chang received a Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) U.S. Professor of the Year award. I was delighted to be present at the award ceremony in Washington, D.C. along with Mat-Su College Director Talis Colberg and Senior Director of Alumni Relations and Annual Giving Julia Martinez when Professor Chang received the award.

College of Education accreditation was continued with special congratulations because no areas of improvement were cited by the Unit Accreditation Board of the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE).

UAA's Dietetic B.S. Program received approval for accreditation by the Commission on Accreditation for Dietetics Education (CADE) and will begin to accept students in Fall 2011.

UAA Southcentral Paramedic Program Preceptor Patricia Vincent was awarded Alaska's "EMS Instructor of the Year" at the annual EMS Symposium awards dinner Nov. 13 in Anchorage. Congratulations and thank you for serving as a preceptor at KPC and teaching EMT classes at UAA.

Kodiak College is working with the Kodiak Island Borough School District and the Kodiak Electric Association to create a certification program in Wind Turbine Technology. The program would train wind turbine technicians to work on Kodiak's three wind turbines.

The UAA Phonathon passed the $100,000 mark on the last day of November -- thank you to our student callers and alumni donors!

Throughout November we celebrated Alaska Native/American Indian Heritage Month.

UA President Gamble sent a memo last week indicating that the search for a new chancellor for UAA has begun. Click here to read the President's letter and his request for input into this search.

As always, thank you for all that you do to make UAA a great university!