UA Board of Regents holds first in person meeting in two years at UAA, members of faculty union show up to demonstrate

Coming out of the pandemic, the University of Alaska Board of Regents returns to normalcy by holding their first in-person meeting in two years on June 2-3 in UAA’s Gorsuch Commons.

UAA Chancellor Sean Parnell said that the UAA Women’s Gymnastics team had reached their pledge goal to be reinstated though they would still seek additional donations.

In a presentation, Director of State Relations Chad Hutchison said legislation passed the house and senate this year to protect the Higher Education Investment Fund from being swept into the state’s coffers. Also, he said legislation was passed that would recapitalize the fund, which had been drained last year when the legislature had failed to approve a reverse sweep.

Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Bruce Schultz, who is retiring this year, was recognized by the board with the passage of an appreciation resolution recognizing his three decades of service to the university.

“Your career has been exemplary,” Regent Mary Hughes told Schultz at the meeting.

Parnell said that the Alaska State Legislature had also passed a citation recognizing Schultz for his service.

Regent Karen Purdue said Schultz is a straight shooter, who “tells it like it is, but in a kind and diplomatic way.”

Reaching out to UA President Pat Pitney for a comment on the importance of the meeting, she said the big item coming out of the meeting was the acceptance and distribution of the budget for the university coming from this year’s state legislature.

She went on to say that the budget is the university moving forward and important for getting external stability for the university.

Though the budget still needs to be signed by the governor, she said that she expects it to pass as they had worked with the administration and included specific funding agendas that were aligned with the state.

Perdue asked if the specific spending on programs for drones, mariculture, and heavy oil recovery – among other things – were in response to an ask by Governor Dunleavy for the university to focus on economic developments for Alaska. Pitney said they were.

UAA specifically will be getting a drone pilot training program, funds for building repair and money to study the economic impact of various new industries for the state.

Also coming out of the meeting was approval for new degree programs and the process of expanding WWAMI to 30 participants.

Showing up were members of the union representing full-time faculty, United Academics, wearing red t-shirts and carrying signs, to demonstrate before the board of regents.

The union has been negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement with UA over the past 9 months. The talks stalled and the university moved forward with implementation of their own offer without the approval from United Academics.

The offer was sent to the state legislature, but they did not take it up, so the union will continue to work under the CBA that was negotiated in 2017. Talks for a new agreement remain ongoing. 

In response to a submitted question, Lead Negotiator for United Academics Tony Rickard, who was present at the meeting with demonstrating members, said “We’re here to remind them they need to negotiate with United Academics for a fair and competitive contract.”

Union members quietly stood and sat in the same room with the board of regents while they held their meeting. The union also showed up to the Consortium Library to wave signs at the university leadership when they arrived for a planned event at the library in the afternoon of the second.

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