|
April 29, 2025
UAF faculty and staff,
It is graduation week at UAF! What an awesome week to celebrate UAF students and their
success. These students are our future leaders and they each leave UAF with their
own journey ahead. The work that you did to prepare them for that is awesome! Thank
you.
As I have in all of my messages, I encourage you to continue to look for ways that
you can participate in growing enrollment. It is one way, in a time of uncertainty,
that we have real opportunity for growth, vitality and stability, all at the same
time.
In my message last week, I shared information about the announcement from the National Science
Foundation (NSF) terminating grants that did not comport with the agency鈥檚 new priorities
as well as how the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is amending general terms and
conditions language. I also talked about our work with the (APLU) which informs, advocates, and acts on behalf of the member institutions like
us.
As a reminder from last week鈥檚 message, on April 21, NIH released that the agency is amending its general terms and conditions language to require
that recipients of new, continuation, supplemental, and renewal funding awards accept
a new general term and condition that incorporates DEI, DEIA, discriminatory equity
ideology and certain boycott activities into the prohibited conduct expectations for
recipients of NIH awards. 鈥淧rohibited conduct鈥� language brings in the Federal False
Claims Act through the reference to 31 U.S.C. 搂 372(b)(4). This is a big deal. If you are an NIH researcher, please consult with Vice Chancellor
for Research Laura Conner on any new proposals or to report any contact from the agency
about new terms and conditions so we can ensure that we are not in violation of the
NIH conditions as we understand them.
As for new updates, on Wednesday, April 23, 2025, the administration released multiple
executive orders that will have an impact on our institution related to accreditation,
workforce development and hiring. Significantly, the future of accrediting bodies
and how they function is changing. The executive order on accreditation directed the secretary of education to 鈥渉old accountable,
including through denial, monitoring, suspension, or termination of accreditation
recognition, accreditors who fail to meet the applicable recognition criteria or otherwise
violate Federal law, including by requiring institutions seeking accreditation to
engage in unlawful discrimination in accreditation-related activity under the guise
of 'diversity, equity, and inclusion' initiatives.鈥�
Our accreditor, the (NWCCU) sent out a message to over 160 member institutions sharing that they remain
committed to supporting their members based on their unique mission and the students
they serve. The NWCCU noted that DEI is not part of their eligibility requirements
or standards to gain or maintain accreditation. They do require institutions to disaggregate
their data to identify potential gaps, allowing institutions to support students from
admissions to graduation, and to identify areas where additional support is necessary
to ensure success for every student. It is not entirely clear how the Department of
Education will implement the executive order or in what cases it may deny, monitor, suspend, or terminate accreditation recognition and what that would
mean to UAF and our current accreditation.
Finally, last week the administration issued a new executive order to strengthen enforcement
and provide increased consequences for any failure to comply with existing obligations
for universities to report certain foreign funding they receive.听 Under existing Section
117 reporting requirements (codified at 20 U.S.C. 搂1011f), universities are required
to at least annually report any gift from or contract with any foreign source that
alone, or in aggregate for all such gifts or contracts involving that foreign source,
exceeds $250,000 per year. Section 117 is generally interpreted very broadly and has
resulted in investigations or audits on compliance in the past. If you have any work
that is funded by a foreign government (even Canada or the EU) please ensure that
you are in contact with VCR Conner so that we can ensure we are in compliance with
required reporting.
In all of the change and uncertainty, please take a moment to look outside, look across
the classroom, stop by the Wood Center or whatever way works for you to see students
learning, living and loving their experience at UAF. You make this possible!
Thank you for choosing UAF.
Dan White, chancellor
|
