Spring 2011: Shift in Health Programs Coordination Statewide

For nearly a decade, health policy, planning and program development functions have been shared by the University of Alaska's Statewide Office and the University of Alaska Anchorage. The existence of a strong collaborative approach among leaders of health programs in colleges and campuses of the three accredited universities in the system, and with health care providers and government agencies, has been very important to providing more and better-educated health care workers across the state. The need for a larger, well-educated health workforce for Alaska will dramatically accelerate in future years, making this high-demand job area critically important for Alaska and its University.

The University of Alaska Anchorage is the lead university for health academic programs for the statewide system and, as such, has a responsibility to ensure collaborative system-wide efforts continue. As a natural evolution of this role, University of Alaska President Gamble and Vice President for Academic Affairs Daniel Julius have asked that coordination for statewide health program planning and delivery be the responsibility of the UAA's Office of Health Programs Development under Vice Provost Jan Harris. Recognizing the importance of maintaining close internal and external relationships across the state, the Vice Provost will continue to work with individuals throughout the UA system and its many partners. She will be responsible for managing all health-related policy, planning, development, and advocacy activities, will coordinate with stakeholders around the system, and will maintain a liaison to the Office of the President. The Statewide Office and UAA are in the process of moving the function to UAA as discussed in this announcement.