University of Alaska Anchorage
Encyclopedia
The University of Alaska Anchorage is the largest school of the University of Alaska System
, with about 16,500 students, about 14,000 of whom attend classes at Goose Lake, its main campus in Anchorage.
The University of Alaska Anchorage (locally called UAA) is divided into six teaching units at the Anchorage campus: the colleges of Education, Health and Social Welfare, Arts and Sciences, Business and Public Policy, the Community and Technical College, and the School of Engineering. Included with UAA for administrative purposes are four community campuses: Matanuska-Susitna College
, Kenai Peninsula College
, Kodiak College
, and Prince William Sound Community College
. UAA offers graduate school
degrees, including the master's degree
and the Doctor of Philosophy degree
through its Graduate Division.
The university's history in Anchorage began in 1954, when the Anchorage Community College opened, using the West Anchorage High School
building during evenings. Anchorage Senior College began teaching upper-division classes in 1969, and then it became the four-year University of Alaska Anchorage in 1976. UAA, the community college, and the rural extension units were merged in 1987 to form the present institution.
An associate of applied science degree is also offered in:
UAA Aviation Technology division is part of Center of Excellence for General Aviation (CGAR) which is a collaborative research effort between very prominent universities. The members are:
The Alaska Quarterly Review
is a literary magazine published by UAA.
The student newspaper is The Northern Light
.
Understory is a magazine run by Creative Writing and Literary Arts graduate students, open for submissions from any UAA undergraduate student.
True North is a yearly magazine produced by students in the Department of Journalism and Public Communications.
The Pacific Rim Conference on Literature and Rhetoric is a yearly conference showcasing Literary Scholars and Rhetoricians from around the nation, as well as a venue for graduates from UAA and other universities to share their work.
Division I school for gymnastics
and hockey
, and a member of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association
. UAA is a Division II member of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference
in men's and women's basketball
, volleyball
, men's and women's cross country and men's and women's outdoor track and field
. Other conference affiliations are the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation
(gymnastics) and the Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association
. UAA also hosts the nationally known Great Alaska Shootout
college basketball tournament every Thanksgiving, and the Kendall Hockey Classic in October.
for University of Alaska Anchorage. Each student pays $1 per credit hour for students registered in 3 or more credits. Maximum charge $12 and maximum credit hour is 12.
The President, Vice President and 23 Senators are elected at-large
to serve on the Assembly. Four representatives (Residence Hall Association, Club Council, Greek Council and Graduate Student Association) complete the rest of the board. The President and Vice President are elected in the spring for one year terms.
The union has co-sponsored political debates in Anchorage, including a 2004 debate held at the university between Senatorial candidates Tony Knowles
and Lisa Murkowski
.
is an award winning student newspaper printed every Tuesday with a wide coverage from school news sports to community events and entertainment reviews.
KRUA 88.1FM is the on-campus, non-commercial radio station run by a collective of student staff and a host of volunteers from both the school and greater Anchorage community.
University of Alaska System
The University of Alaska is a land-grant university founded in 1917 in Fairbanks in the State of Alaska. However, its largest campus by number of students was established in the much-more populous Anchorage area....
, with about 16,500 students, about 14,000 of whom attend classes at Goose Lake, its main campus in Anchorage.
The University of Alaska Anchorage (locally called UAA) is divided into six teaching units at the Anchorage campus: the colleges of Education, Health and Social Welfare, Arts and Sciences, Business and Public Policy, the Community and Technical College, and the School of Engineering. Included with UAA for administrative purposes are four community campuses: Matanuska-Susitna College
Matanuska-Susitna College
Matanuska–Susitna College in Palmer, Alaska, north of Anchorage, is part of the University of Alaska Anchorage system. The college began in 1958 as Palmer Community College, changing its name in 1963 to correspond to the Matanuska-Susitna Borough where it is located. It is commonly called Mat-Su...
, Kenai Peninsula College
Kenai Peninsula College
Kenai Peninsula College is a unit of the University of Alaska Anchorage, and is one of four community campuses. The student body comprises almost 2,000 students at 4 locations.-Locations:...
, Kodiak College
Kodiak College
Kodiak College is a public, two-year satellite campus of the University of Alaska Anchorage, with a student body of approximately 1,000. The campus is also home to the Carolyn Floyd Library.-Two-Year Degrees:*Associate of Arts, General Program...
, and Prince William Sound Community College
Prince William Sound Community College
Founded in 1978, Prince William Sound Community College is a community college located in Valdez, a town in south central Alaska....
. UAA offers graduate school
Graduate school
A graduate school is a school that awards advanced academic degrees with the general requirement that students must have earned a previous undergraduate degree...
degrees, including the master's degree
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
and the Doctor of Philosophy degree
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
through its Graduate Division.
The university's history in Anchorage began in 1954, when the Anchorage Community College opened, using the West Anchorage High School
West Anchorage High School
West Anchorage High School is a public high school in Anchorage in the U.S. state of Alaska and part of the Anchorage School District.-History:The school was established as Anchorage High School in 1953, during a boom period in Anchorage...
building during evenings. Anchorage Senior College began teaching upper-division classes in 1969, and then it became the four-year University of Alaska Anchorage in 1976. UAA, the community college, and the rural extension units were merged in 1987 to form the present institution.
Aviation Technology
The Aviation Technology division at UAA has been growing at a high rate over the last several years. During the fall semester of 2006, the program grew by approximately 300%. UAA offers Associate of Applied Science and Bachelor of Science degrees in:- Air Traffic Control
- Aviation Administration
- Professional Piloting
An associate of applied science degree is also offered in:
- Aviation Maintenance
UAA Aviation Technology division is part of Center of Excellence for General Aviation (CGAR) which is a collaborative research effort between very prominent universities. The members are:
- Embry-Riddle Aeronautical UniversityEmbry-Riddle Aeronautical UniversityEmbry-Riddle Aeronautical University is a private university in the US specializing in aviation and aerospace engineering. It teaches the science, practice, and business of aviation and aerospace. Called "The Harvard of the Sky" by Time Magazine in 1979, Embry-Riddle has a history dating back to...
- Florida A&M UniversityFlorida A&M UniversityFlorida Agricultural and Mechanical University, commonly known as Florida A&M or FAMU, is a historically black university located in Tallahassee, Florida, United States, the state capital, and is one of eleven member institutions of the State University System of Florida...
- University of North DakotaUniversity of North DakotaThe University of North Dakota is a public university in Grand Forks, North Dakota, USA. Established by the Dakota Territorial Assembly in 1883, six years before the establishment of the state of North Dakota, UND is the oldest and largest university in the state and enrolls over 14,000 students. ...
- University of Alaska
- Wichita State UniversityWichita State UniversityWichita State University is a NCAA Division I public university in Wichita, Kansas with selective admissions. WSU is one of six state universities governed by the Kansas Board of Regents. The current president is Dr. Donald Beggs....
Colleges and schools
- College of Arts and Sciences
- College of Business and Public Policy
- College of EducationUAA College of EducationThe UAA College of Education, located on the main Goose Lake campus is the largest education college in Alaska and trains more teachers than any other institution within the state of Alaska. It offers a bachelor's program in elementary education and master's programs in secondary education, music...
- College of Health and Social Welfare
- Community and Technical College
- School of Engineering
- School of Nursing
- School of Social Work
- University Honors Program
- Graduate Division
Libraries
- UAA/APU Consortium LibraryUAA/APU Consortium LibraryThe UAA/APU Consortium Library is a joint library serving the University of Alaska Anchorage and Alaska Pacific University, established in 1973. The library has approximately 930,000 volumes.A new addition to the library, that added , was completed in 2005....
- Alvin S. Okeson Library (Matanuska-Susitna campus)
- Carolyn Floyd Library (Kodiak College campus)
Publications
Accolades is the University of Alaska Anchorage Magazine for Alumni and Friends.The Alaska Quarterly Review
The Alaska Quarterly Review
The Alaska Quarterly Review is a biannual literary journal founded in 1980 by Ronald Spatz and James Liszka at the University of Alaska Anchorage. Ronald Spatz serves as editor-in-chief...
is a literary magazine published by UAA.
The student newspaper is The Northern Light
The Northern Light (college newspaper)
The Northern Light is the student produced newspaper at the University of Alaska Anchorage.The Northern Light began publication in September 1988, after the University of Alaska Anchorage and Anchorage Community College merged...
.
Understory is a magazine run by Creative Writing and Literary Arts graduate students, open for submissions from any UAA undergraduate student.
True North is a yearly magazine produced by students in the Department of Journalism and Public Communications.
The Pacific Rim Conference on Literature and Rhetoric is a yearly conference showcasing Literary Scholars and Rhetoricians from around the nation, as well as a venue for graduates from UAA and other universities to share their work.
Athletics
The UAA sports teams are known as the Alaska Anchorage Seawolves and the school colors are green and gold. UAA, which sponsors 11 sports programs, is a NCAANational Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...
Division I school for gymnastics
Gymnastics
Gymnastics is a sport involving performance of exercises requiring physical strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, and balance. Internationally, all of the gymnastic sports are governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique with each country having its own national governing body...
and hockey
Hockey
Hockey is a family of sports in which two teams play against each other by trying to maneuver a ball or a puck into the opponent's goal using a hockey stick.-Etymology:...
, and a member of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association
Western Collegiate Hockey Association
The Western Collegiate Hockey Association is a college athletic conference which operates over a wide area of the Midwestern and Western United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I as an ice hockey-only conference....
. UAA is a Division II member of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference
Great Northwest Athletic Conference
The Great Northwest Athletic Conference is a college athletic conference which has historically operated in the Northwestern United States, but also currently includes four schools in areas not usually considered part of that region—two in Alaska , one in eastern Montana The Great Northwest...
in men's and women's basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
, volleyball
Volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...
, men's and women's cross country and men's and women's outdoor track and field
Track and field
Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...
. Other conference affiliations are the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation
Mountain Pacific Sports Federation
The Mountain Pacific Sports Federation is a college athletic conference whose member teams are located in the western United States. The conference participates at the NCAA Division I level.-History:...
(gymnastics) and the Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association
Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association
The Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association is an National Collegiate Athletic Association skiing-only conference. As the NCAA does not have divisions in collegitate skiing, it is composed of both NCAA Division I and Division II schools.-Current members:*University of Alaska...
. UAA also hosts the nationally known Great Alaska Shootout
Great Alaska Shootout
The Great Alaska Shootout is an annual college basketball tournament in Anchorage, Alaska that features colleges from all over the United States. The University of Alaska Anchorage hosts the tournament every Thanksgiving. Tournament games are played at Sullivan Arena in Anchorage...
college basketball tournament every Thanksgiving, and the Kendall Hockey Classic in October.
Housing
UAA's student housing comprises nearly 1,000 students:- Three co-educational residence hallDormitoryA dormitory, often shortened to dorm, in the United States is a residence hall consisting of sleeping quarters or entire buildings primarily providing sleeping and residential quarters for large numbers of people, often boarding school, college or university students...
s (North, West, and East Halls), completed in 1998. Each holds 230 students, most living in individual bedrooms; rooms are grouped in suites of one, two, or four. - The Main Apartment Complex (MAC), completed in 1984, was once family housing. There are 74 four-bedroom apartments in six buildings, each housing four same-sex students.
- The Templewood Apartments hold 80 students in 20 apartments.
Student government
The Union of Students of the University of Alaska Anchorage or USUAA is the student governing bodyStudents' union
A students' union, student government, student senate, students' association, guild of students or government of student body is a student organization present in many colleges and universities, and has started appearing in some high schools...
for University of Alaska Anchorage. Each student pays $1 per credit hour for students registered in 3 or more credits. Maximum charge $12 and maximum credit hour is 12.
The President, Vice President and 23 Senators are elected at-large
At-Large
At-large is a designation for representative members of a governing body who are elected or appointed to represent the whole membership of the body , rather than a subset of that membership...
to serve on the Assembly. Four representatives (Residence Hall Association, Club Council, Greek Council and Graduate Student Association) complete the rest of the board. The President and Vice President are elected in the spring for one year terms.
The union has co-sponsored political debates in Anchorage, including a 2004 debate held at the university between Senatorial candidates Tony Knowles
Tony Knowles (politician)
Anthony Carroll Knowles is an American Democratic politician and businessman who served as the seventh Governor of Alaska from December 1994 to December 2002. Barred from seeking a third consecutive term as governor in 2002, he ran unsuccessfully for Senate in 2004 and again for governor in...
and Lisa Murkowski
Lisa Murkowski
Lisa Ann Murkowski is the senior U.S. Senator from the State of Alaska and a member of the Republican Party. She was appointed to the Senate in 2002 by her father, Governor Frank Murkowski. After losing a Republican primary in 2010, she became the second person ever to win a U.S...
.
Student Media
UAA has two primary sources of student-run media. The Northern LightThe Northern Light (college newspaper)
The Northern Light is the student produced newspaper at the University of Alaska Anchorage.The Northern Light began publication in September 1988, after the University of Alaska Anchorage and Anchorage Community College merged...
is an award winning student newspaper printed every Tuesday with a wide coverage from school news sports to community events and entertainment reviews.
KRUA 88.1FM is the on-campus, non-commercial radio station run by a collective of student staff and a host of volunteers from both the school and greater Anchorage community.
External links
- University of Alaska Anchorage - official site
- UAA Alumni Association
- UAA Seawolves Athletics
- The Northern Light - student newspaper
- UAA Organizational Chart
- Great Alaska Shootout
- UAKJobs Careers at UAA