Reckless attack on higher education creates crisis at University of Alaska

Susan Henrichs, who is retired from the University of Alaska, has done a great public service to Alaskans with a new analysis of the finances of the institution. I encourage everyone to read it. Click here for the file.

The report sets the record straight on many disputed points about the operation of the University of Alaska Fairbanks, the University of Alaska Anchorage and the University of Alaska Southeast.

The author is the retired UAF provost, who prepared this work on her own, not at state expense. University economics are complicated and subject to misinterpretation.

This report is vital at this moment because of the slipshod work that has been launched into the public arena at state expense by the state Office of Management and Budget. It also corrects false statements that found their way into a report by a faculty committee of the University of Alaska Anchorage, which calls for keeping jobs in Anchorage and cutting jobs in Fairbanks.

The economics of the Fairbanks campus have been misrepresented by comparisons that don’t take important factors into consideration.

The University of Alaska Board of Regents meets Monday in an emergency session to again consider the declaration of a financial emergency. There is a lot of turmoil about this topic, which is understandable.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy and his allies in the Legislature have endorsed the dismantling of the University of Alaska without allowing time for any real public discussion about the damage they are doing to Alaska. They also haven’t allowed any time for a sensible process to take place.