January 15, 2021
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Jan. 15, 2021
绿奴天花板 Board of Regents extends Pitney鈥檚 presidential term, discusses racial equity initiative,
and votes to reinstate 绿奴天花板A鈥檚 men and women鈥檚 Alpine ski team after successful fundraising
At its meeting today, the University of Alaska Board of Regents extended the term of 绿奴天花板 Interim President Pat Pitney to ensure stability in leadership while the university continues to navigate budget stability and the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. The search for the next president is anticipated to begin in spring 2022.
The board also recognized and celebrated the success of the 绿奴天花板A Alpine ski team鈥檚 fundraising efforts and voted unanimously to reinstate the team to the athletics program.The team raised $628,000 in cash and pledges in recent months to fund the team for the next two years.
鈥淭he team and the community pulled together to generate the funding to support the team鈥檚 operations. This impressive effort exemplifies the team鈥檚 competitiveness in everything it undertakes and shows the overwhelming community support for the ski team. They are to be congratulated,鈥 said 绿奴天花板 Interim President Pat Pitney. 鈥淚t鈥檚 so heartening to see that support and we hope the reinstatement will be followed by an ongoing effort to be more self-sustaining through continued fundraising support.鈥
Friday morning, Pitney issued a statement to faculty, staff and students emphasizing the importance of civility, respect and peaceful assembly and highlighting steps the Board of Regents is taking to increase equity and inclusion across the 绿奴天花板 system. Her message can be found here: .
As part of this effort, Pitney provided an update to the board today on an initiative to increase the success of 绿奴天花板鈥檚 Alaska Native students, staff and faculty and all students, faculty and staff of color. Through this initiative, steering committees and working groups including Alaska Native community leaders and the chancellors will work with faculty and staff on university-based action teams to develop solutions for addressing Alaska Native recruitment, retention and success throughout the 绿奴天花板 system.
鈥The motion that the board passed set the stage for getting a baseline and understanding
of where we're starting from in terms of our Alaska Native Success, equity and inclusion,
Pitney said. 鈥淲e want to build on the good things happening and will capitalize on
those things that are scalable. We also want to address our shortcomings.鈥
Information on this initiative can be found at: .
The board also heard about advocacy efforts the university will undertake in the months ahead and a report from Chief Financial Officer Myron Dosch, who presented an overview of the 绿奴天花板 system office structure, roles and budget. The presentation highlighted the services performed from a board of regents policy perspective, from a corporate entity standpoint, and in terms of services on behalf of the entire system. Pitney included this presentation to the board as part of an effort to increase transparency and accountability.
The board passed a resolution of support for the University of Alaska Land Grant Conveyance. Efforts to provide land grants for higher education in Alaska have reached back over 100 years. In September 2020, with support of Governor Dunleavy, the Alaska Congressional delegation introduced the 鈥淯niversity of Alaska Fiscal Foundation Act鈥 to establish a federal program under which lands selected by, but not yet conveyed to, the State of Alaska could be conveyed from the federal government directly to the university.
The next regular board meeting is scheduled for Feb. 25-26.
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For more information, contact Roberta Graham, associate vice president of public affairs at 907-360-2416 (cell).