Founding

Signers' Hall

The University of Alaska Fairbanks was established in 1917 as the Alaska Agricultural College and School of Mines, but its origins lie in the creation of a federal agricultural experiment station in Fairbanks in 1906.^[12] The station set the tone for the strongly research-oriented university that developed later.^[13]

In the spring of 1915, the U.S. Congress approved legislation that reserved about 2,250 acres of land for a campus around the research station. It also allowed the federal government to give the college land that had been surveyed and unclaimed in the Tanana Valley; the proceeds from the sale and development were supposed to help fund the operation of the college. However, because most of the land in Tanana Valley remained unsurveyed for years, the college only received 12,000 acres. In 1929, Congress attempted to remedy the situation by granting the college an additional 100,000 acres anywhere in Alaska, but those rights were extinguished in 1959 when Alaska became a state.^[14]

Four months after Congress approved the legislation for the campus land in 1915, a cornerstone for the college was laid by Territorial Delegate James Wickersham on a bluff overlooking the lower Chena River valley. The ridge, which the indigenous Athabaskan people called Troth Yeddha', soon became known as College Hill. Charles E. Bunnell was appointed the university's chief executive and served the university for 28 years. Classes began at the new institution on September 18, 1922. It offered 16 different courses to a student body of six (at a ratio of one faculty member per student) on opening day. In 1923, the first commencement produced one graduate, John Sexton Shanly.^[15]

In 1935, the Alaska Legislature passed a bill that officially changed the name of the college to the University of Alaska. When William R. Wood became the university's president in 1960, he divided the academic departments of the university into six select colleges: Arts and Letters; Behavioral Sciences and Education; Biological Sciences and Renewable Resources; Business, Economics, and Government; Earth Sciences and Mineral Industry; and Mathematics, Physical Sciences, and Engineering. From that point on, both the university's student population and research mission grew tremendously. With the appointment of Chancellor Howard A. Cutler in 1975, the University of Alaska became the University of Alaska Fairbanks. It was, and still is, the primary research unit of the statewide university system.^[16]

The two other primary UA institutions are the University of Alaska Anchorage and the University of Alaska Southeast in Juneau.

Significant events

The Alaska Constitutional Convention was held in the freshly constructed Student Union Building on the Fairbanks campus from November 1955 to February 1956. While the convention progressed, the building became known as Constitution Hall, where the 55 delegates drafted the legal foundation of the 49th state. The campus' old library and gymnasium was renamed Signers' Hall after the Alaska Constitution was signed there in February 1956.^[17]

Schools and colleges

UAF has nine academic schools and colleges:

• College of Engineering and Mines (CEM)
• College of Liberal Arts (CLA)
• College of Natural Science and Mathematics (CNSM)
• College of Rural and Community Development (CRCD)
• Graduate School
• School of Education
• College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences (CFOS)
• College of Business and Security Management (CBSM)
• School of Natural Resources and Extension (SNRE)

There are 190 different degree and certificate programs available in more than 120 disciplines.

Main Campus

Bristol Bay

Chukchi

Kuskokwim

Northwest

CTC

Location of University of Alaska Fairbanks campuses. Red dots represent community colleges.

Honors College

The UAF Honors College was created in 1983 and provides additional opportunities for students to prepare for professional school admission.^[25] Students complete core curriculum courses for their degrees in the Honors Program, maintain at least a 3.25 grade-point average in all courses, and complete a thesis project.^[26]

Libraries

• Elmer E. Rasmuson Library
  • The Alaska Film Archives, housed in the library's Alaska and Polar Regions Collections and Archives, holds the largest collection of film-related material about Alaska.^[27]
  • BioSciences Library (permanently closed as of June 2014)^[28]
• Keith B. Mather Library (housed in the International Arctic Research Center)

Research units

UAF is Alaska's primary research university, conducting more than 90% of UA system research. Research activities are organized into several institutes and centers:

• the Geophysical Institute, established in 1946 by an act of Congress, specializes in seismology, volcanology and aeronomy, among other fields.
• the International Arctic Research Center researches the circumpolar North and the causes and effects of climate change.
• the Institute of Northern Engineering, an arm of the College of Engineering and Mines, conducts research in many different areas of engineering.
• the Research Computing Systems unit, located within the Geophysical Institute, is the high-performance computing unit of UAF.
• the Alaska Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station conducts research focused on solving problems related to agriculture and forest sciences.
• the Institute of Arctic Biology conducts research focused on high-latitude biological systems.
• the Robert G. White Large Animal Research Station conducts long-term research with muskoxen, reindeer and cattle.^[29]
• the Institute of Marine Science, a branch of the College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, investigates topics in oceanography, marine biology, and fisheries.
• the research vessel Sikuliaq, a 261-foot ice-resistant ship outfitted with modern scientific equipment, is operated by the College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences for the National Science Foundation.

Housing

UAF has several student residence halls on both lower and middle Fairbanks campus. Housing is offered year-round. All halls are smoke-free, as is the entire campus. Each hall has a kitchen, laundry facility, exterior door hall access system and maintenance services. The halls vary from each other slightly to suit different preferences of the student population. Additional housing locations on campus are available to graduates, families, employees and nontraditional students.^[30]

Representation

The Associated Students of the University of Alaska Fairbanks (ASUAF) is the representative group for students attending UAF.

Each student enrolled in three or more in-person credit hours pays a $42 student government fee for the fall and spring semesters; this money funds ASUAF. The income is divided among the student government, KSUA Radio, the concert board and a student-run newspaper called The Sun Star.

ASUAF holds general elections every November and April. As per the ASUAF Constitution, there is a president, a vice president and no more than 16 senators, all of whom must be in good academic standing (2.0+ CGPA). Senators, the president and the vice president have terms of one full academic year.^[31]