I am very disheartened by the announcement of proposed cuts to University of Alaska Anchorage programs. Chancellor Cathy Sandeen and the Board of Regents evidently think that Alaska’s workforce does not need hospitality administrators, clinical psychologists and welders, among other professions. Isn’t tourism a growth industry in our state? Do we not desperately need more health care professionals?
Perhaps UAA should stop considering itself to be a university if liberal arts degrees in sociology and the arts are not integral to its mission. Perhaps UAA should return to being a community college.
UAA says its enrollment has declined 9.3% from fall of 2018 to fall of 2018. It is not a stretch to assume the decline in enrollment is directly related to program cuts. Why would any student want to enroll when even more cuts are looming? If UAA’s less-than-stellar hockey program was eliminated, the university would save hundreds of thousands of dollars per year.
Furthermore, under the current leadership UAA’s education program list its accreditation. The administration turned a blind eye to repeated warnings that it would lose its accreditation. We are in dire need of more educators rather than less.
This is not to negate the root cause of Gov. Mike Dunleavy and Republican legislators demanding our university cut $70 million out of its budget.
It’s time to recall Gov. Dunleavy, and for the Board of Regents and current chancellor and president to be replaced by people who know the true meaning of a university.
None of these cuts would be necessary if the state would institute an income tax, cut the dividend to a sustainable level and increase taxes on the oil industry. Apparently, the “Old Bastards Club” is alive and well in Juneau!
— Glenn Olson
Anchorage
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