UAA confers first two doctoral degrees
by Kathleen McCoy |
UAA jointly awarded (with UAF) its first Ph.D.s in Clinical-Community Psychology at this weekend's Commencement and Graduate Hooding ceremonies to Jaymes Gonzales and Cody Chipp.
From left: Larry Duffy, Dean of UAF's Graduate School; Tom Case, Chancellor; Robert Boeckman, Associate Professor of Psychology; Jaymes Gonzales; Cody Chipp; Christiane Brems, Professor of Psychology; Helena Wisniewski, Vice Provost for Research and Dean of the Graduate School; Mike Driscoll, Provost
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Message from UAA Chancellor Tom Case:
Dear UAA Community,
Last week, the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU)-UAA's UAA's accrediting body-informed us that it approved the expansion of UAA's offerings to include doctoral degrees. As a result, at this year's Commencement and Graduate Hooding ceremonies, UAA, for the first time, jointly awarded, with UAF, Ph.D.s in Clinical-Community Psychology. Since 2006, UAA and UAF have jointly administered the Clinical-Community Psychology program, with UAF solely awarding the degree.
Now considered a doctoral granting institution, UAA will be able to better serve the community of Anchorage and the state of Alaska in the future. Though no additional doctoral programs are immediately being offered, UAA can now work with Statewide administration and the Board of Regents to further develop doctoral programs of greatest demand and need in Alaska. UAA's new status will allow for the state's population center to develop additional doctoral degrees in high-demand fields such as nursing and education, among others. The University of Alaska system now has two doctoral granting institutions, UAA and UAF.
This momentous step forward is the result of the hard work and collaboration of many people. The strong collaboration between UAA and UAF in the Joint Ph.D. in Clinical-Community Psychology, led on this campus by Dr. Christiane Brems, was instrumental in achieving this goal. Please join me in thanking Dr. Brems and her colleagues, as well as the Academic Affairs team that worked with her to prepare the doctoral prospectus: Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Mike Driscoll, Assistant Vice Provost Megan Carlson, Interim Vice Provost Bart Quimby, Vice Provost Helena Wisniewski, Associate Dean David Yesner, and the Office of the Vice Provost for Research and Graduate Studies staff. We also recognize the contributions of the leadership team for the accreditation pilot, which prepared UAA to demonstrate the resources and quality necessary to offer doctoral programs: Professor Susan Kalina, Professor Bogdan Hoanca, retired Vice Provost Tom Miller and Assistant Vice Provost Carlson.
Thank you to everyone for your tremendous work! This is an outstanding and transformative milestone.
Best regards,
Tom Case, Chancellor
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