University of Alaska Board of Regents to consider merger of two Interior campuses

FAIRBANKS, Alaska (KTVF) – COVID-19 pandemic-era digital shifts in postsecondary education are contributing to a new proposal to consolidate two University of Alaska campuses.

The University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) submitted the idea, which would see its Interior Alaska Campus (IAC) fall under the umbrella of the Community Technical College (CTC).

“We think merging the expertise of CTC with the relationships that IAC has and their knowledge of serving rural students is really in the best interest for the students in the Interior region as a whole,” UAF Vice Chancellor for Rural, Community and Native Education Charlene Stern said Tuesday.

The CTC has over 50 certificate and degree programs, with studies ranging from aviation maintenance to nursing, and its main building sits near the outer edge of downtown Fairbanks, along Barnette Street.

The IAC serves dozens of rural communities in the state. It has five subregions — Tok, McGrath, Nenana, Yukon Flats and Yukon-Koyukuk — but the hub is in Fairbanks at the Harper Building on UAF’s campus.

The IAC lists six academic programs on its website, including study areas such as tribal governance and content creation.

Before the pandemic, IAC was often the sole higher-ed provider in rural communities, and did so via on-site teaching and learning, according to Stern.

But the COVID-19 pandemic altered landscape of post-secondary education as many programs moved onto the computer screen, a cultural phenomenon that fast-tracked the evolution of online classes and changed some students’ preferred methods for taking and completing courses.

“What ended up happening with the pandemic is so many other providers put things online, and then students enjoyed, for the most part, that greater access, and didn’t necessarily have to go through some of these campuses anymore for educational opportunity,” Stern said.

A UAF fact sheet shows IAC enrollment dropped almost 25% between 2019 and 2020, from 349 to 264. Enrollment hasn’t recovered in the years since, with 255 in 2021, 259 in 2022 and 264 in 2023.

About 2,300 students made up CTC’s student body in 2023, equating to approximately 31% of UAF’s enrollment. CTC’s enrollment is also lower when compared to 2019 levels but represents a smaller percentage decrease at 9.5%.

Precisely which CTC programs the university would deliver to the IAC communities is yet to be determined. Many of the expanded course and program offerings would be online, but Stern added that traveling instructors could enable some in-person CTC course offerings in the remote communities IAC currently serves.

She said consolidating the campuses under the banner of CTC might result in minor savings but that the budget wasn’t the main driver behind the proposal.

“This move is consistent with our general approach and valuing of serving all of the regions across Alaska and looking individually at the needs of different regions and trying to be responsive to those needs,” Stern said.

UAF says IAC students should not expect disruptions to their current academic programs under the proposal. The university also says IAC employees would transfer to CTC but that no job losses are anticipated.

The UA Board of Regents will take up the proposal at its Nov. 7 and Nov. 8 meeting in Fairbanks, though a UAF spokesperson said the agenda will not be posted until “later this week.”

If passed, the merger would go into effect July 1, 2025.

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