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Early in September, the U.S. Department of Education cut a major grant program for Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian-serving higher education institutions, commonly known as Title III. University of Alaska Fairbanks’ five rural campuses will be impacted by the cut to funding that has historically supported staff, equipment and supplies for programs.
Bryan Uher is UAF’s Interim Vice Chancellor of Rural, Community and Native Education. He oversees UAF’s campuses in Bristol Bay, Dillingham, Bethel, Kotzebue and Nome, along with the Community and Technical College (CTC), in Fairbanks.
“We have our feelers out there in D.C. trying to gather information for us. So we hope that we, you know, have more information in the coming month, and that will better kind of prepare us for what we need to do for the future and how we need to respond to these reductions," Uher said.
UAF’s rural campuses are eligible and utilize the Title III funding because of the demographics they serve. To be eligible, an institution must have a student body that’s at least 20% Alaska Native or Native Hawaiian. But the funding supports every student the campus serves, regardless of race or ethnicity. Uher said the funding cut came as a surprise.
“This funding program in particular, was very important to the campuses and their operations in that it didn't fund student aid or direct support to students. It funded faculty and staff and supports and the development of new programming. So the loss of that funding will kind of set us back in our ability to develop new programs, provide comprehensive services to the students," Uher said.
Uher said some programs will be discontinued because of the cuts, and didn't rule out staff cuts.
The Bristol Bay Campus has a microcredential program funded by Title III. CTC is developing three occupational endorsements programs for pilot ground school, IT support and American Sign Language which Uher said may be discontinued. The funding also supports student advisors, outreach support and student wellness coaches at CTC.
Not all campuses are affected equally. Uher said Nome’s Northwest Campus is at the end of its current Title III Part A discretionary grant, but has applied for an extension. If approved, the grant would fund academic support services for another year.
“There is a potential for the Northwest Campus to apply for a no cost extension year, which would allow us to continue grant activities on that part ‘A’ through the new end date,” Uher said.
Northwest Campus also holds a Title III Part F grant focused on expanding opportunities for Alaska Native language courses. Uher says that funding is considered mandatory, and at this point, according to the September 10th announcement on the Department of Education website, those funds will be paid out.
Uher said a program officer at the Department of Education is working with university staff on options to mitigate the impact of the cuts.
“So there was some glimmer of hope in there. She was going to go back to her office and look at if there was other potential funding that we could get, or, you know, the grants that we currently have that are being discontinued, if we would have the ability to pull down any of the funds into this next year,” Uher said.
Uher said this isn't the first time the university and rural campuses have faced financial struggles.
“We face challenges a lot of them, and we always seem to find our pathway forward around them. I think this is no different. We will find a pathway forward,” Uher said.
He hopes good news comes from the talks in DC. But in the meantime, the university is hard at work on contingency plans for the future.
