University of Alaska Fairbanks
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| Motto | Ad Summun (Latin for "to the top") |
|---|---|
| Established | 1917 |
| Type | Public Sea-grant Space-grant Land-grant Sun-grant |
| Chancellor | Steve Jones |
| Faculty | 835 |
| Students | 9,380 |
| Undergraduates | 8,254 |
| Postgraduates | 1,126 |
| Location | Fairbanks, Alaska, USA |
| Sports | UAF Nanooks |
| Colors | Blue and Gold |
| Website | uaf.edu |
The University of Alaska Fairbanks is the flagship institution of the University of Alaska System, and is abbreviated as UAF. UAF is a land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant institution, as well as participating in the sun-grant program through Oregon State University. It is also the site where the Alaska Constitution was signed in 1956. UAF was established in 1917 as the Alaska Agricultural College and School of Mines, first opening for classes in 1922.
UAF is home to seven major research units: the Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station; the Geophysical Institute, which operates the Poker Flat Research Range; the International Arctic Research Center; the Arctic Region Supercomputing Center; the Institute of Arctic Biology; the Institute of Marine Science; and the Institute of Northern Engineering. Located just 200 miles south of the Arctic Circle, the Fairbanks campus's unique location is situated favorably for arctic and northern research. The campus's several lines of research are renowned worldwide, most notably in arctic biology, arctic engineering, geophysics, supercomputing, and aboriginal studies. The University of Alaska Museum of the North is also on the Fairbanks campus.
In addition to the Fairbanks campus, UAF encompasses seven rural and urban campuses: Bristol Bay Campus in Dillingham; Chukchi Campus in Kotzebue; Interior-Aleutians Campus, which covers both the Aleutian Islands and the Interior; Kuskokwim Campus in Bethel; Northwest Campus in Nome; and the Tanana Valley Campus in Fairbanks, UAF's community college arm. Fairbanks is also the home of the UAF Center for Distance Education, an independent learning and distance delivery program.
In fall 2005, UAF enrolled 9,380 students, of which 59 percent were female and 41 percent male; 88 percent were undergraduates and 12 percent graduate students.
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[edit] History
[edit] Founding
The University of Alaska was established in 1917 as a college, but its origins lie in the creation in 1906 of a federal agricultural experiment station in Fairbanks, the sixth in Alaska. The station set the tone for the university that developed later, which is strongly research-oriented. In 1915, the U.S. Congress approved funds to establish a school of higher education and transferred land from the station for the purpose. The federal land grant was accepted by Territorial Governor John Strong in 1917. The new institution was established as the Alaska Agricultural College and School of Mines in 1922, offering 16 classes to a student body of six (at a ratio of one faculty member per student). In 1923 the first commencement produced one graduate, John Sexton Shanly.
In 1931, the rest of the Alaska Agricultural Experiment Station was transferred to the college, and the Alaska Territorial Legislature changed the name in 1935 to the University of Alaska. As the university began to expand throughout the state, the Fairbanks campus became known as the University of Alaska Fairbanks in 1975; the two other primary UA institutions are the University of Alaska Anchorage and the University of Alaska Southeast in Juneau.
[edit] Academics
[edit] Schools and colleges
UAF has nine academic schools and colleges:
- the College of Engineering and Mines
- the College of Liberal Arts
- the College of Natural Science and Mathematics
- the College of Community and Rural Development
- the School of Education
- the School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences
- the School of Management
- the School of Natural Resources and Agricultural Sciences
- Graduate School
Students can choose from more than 160 degrees and 20 certificates in more than 100 disciplines.
[edit] Libraries
- —The Alaska Film Archives, housed in the Alaska and Polar Regions section of the Rasmuson Library, hold the largest collection of film-related material about Alaska.
- —BioSciences Library (physically housed in the Institute of Arctic Biology, but administratively part of the Rasmuson Library)
- Keith B. Mather Library (housed in the Geophysical Institute)
[edit] Athletics
UAF's sports teams are called the "Alaska Nanooks," derived from the Inupiaq "nanuq," meaning polar bear. The school colors are blue and gold. Alaska Nanooks compete at the NCAA Division I level for hockey and is a member of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association. Alaska Nanooks also have a Division I rifle team which has won eight national championships (1994, 1999-2004, 2006). The men's and women's basketball, cross country running and skiing, and women's volleyball teams are Division II members of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, while the women's swim team is a member of the Pacific Coast Conference. The Alaska Nanooks Hockey team plays at the 4,500 seat Carlson Center located in Downtown Fairbanks. Partly due to their isolation from the lower 48, they do not curently have a football program.
[edit] Publishing
There are several book publishers at UAF, including the University of Alaska Press, the Alaska Native Language Center, Alaska Sea Grant, the University of Alaska Museum of the North, Cooperative Extension Service, and the Alaska Native Knowledge Network. The University of Alaska Foundation also publishes books.
Magazines include Agroborealis[1], a twice-annual produced by the School of Natural Resources and Agricultural Sciences; Ice Box[2], the UAF student literary magazine; and Permafrost[3], the UAF English department's literary magazine. The alumni magazine, a quarterly, is the Alumnus.
The student newspaper is the Sun Star[4], a merger of the Polar Star, an independent student paper, and the Northern Sun, the journalism department's student newspaper.
[edit] Notes
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
| Great Northwest Athletic Conference |
|---|
| Alaska-Anchorage • Alaska • Central Washington • Montana State-Billings (fall 2007) • Northwest Nazarene • Saint Martin's • Seattle • Seattle Pacific • Western Oregon • Western Washington |
