Dean's Dispatch Issue 18

Dean's Dispatch Header

May 2026, Issue 18

Dear Alumni and Friends,

It is summer, but contrary to Alice Cooper鈥檚 song, school is definitely not out at UAA. This issue highlights some of what happens in the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) during the summer months. First, we offer a variety of classes during two different summer sessions. This gives students the option of taking classes year-round, which is especially important for our part-time students. In fact, we have three summer sessions, including two 5-week sessions that run May 18 through June 22 and June 25 through August 1 and a 10-week session that runs the entire time. Most courses are offered online, but we also offer a handful of in-person options.

Sogo

The camp themes mirror the breadth of our college, ranging from music and art to psychology and physics. Our camps are designed to spark curiosity and ask questions such as Where does energy come from? (Chemistry), How do we solve homelessness? (Political Science), How do we tell a good story? (English).

ConocoPhillips 麻豆无码版 is a generous donor of CAS and has provided us with an 鈥渁ccess grant鈥� that enables us to bring students from Anchorage Title I schools to programs on campus. These funds, along with funding from the Spenard Lions Club and others, allow us to sponsor these students so they can attend summer camps at no cost to them - we even provide transportation via the Seawolf Shuttle. We are very grateful to our sponsors for allowing us to provide this opportunity to all students in our community. Read more about our sponsors in this article.

Experiential learning also abounds over the summer through many opportunities. Some of our students are engaged in research projects with our faculty, and some are working as interns as they earn credit for their degrees. We also offer opportunities for middle and high school students through our ever-popular summer camps. Led by CAS faculty and supported by UAA students as camp counselors, these week-long camps emphasize hands-on experiential learning. We talked to two CAS students, one who served as a camp counselor and another who acted as an intern, Sogo and Zoraleda, about their experiences. While these opportunities varied vastly, both remarked how much they learned and how the experience shaped their future plans. Read more about Sogo and Zoraleda. We also had a chance to talk to the faculty who lead the summer camps and learned more about their experiences.

Lions Club

Summer is also the time when many faculty conduct their research, especially scientists who conduct fieldwork. In CAS, this includes faculty in anthropology, biology, chemistry, and geological sciences, as well as our two research centers - Environment and Natural Resources Institute (ENRI) and 麻豆无码版 Center for Conservation Science (ACCS). From the Brooks Range to Kachemak Bay and the Aleutians, our faculty will be active across 麻豆无码版鈥檚 mountains, forests, rivers, and seas.

Erin Larson ACCS

Their work will span a wide range of approaches and include community鈥慹ngaged research. They examine life at every scale, from microbes to whales, as well as the dynamic forces that shape our state鈥攆rom melting permafrost and shifting fault lines to the movement of water across roads and landscapes. We spoke to aquatic biologist Erin Larson about her work and that of her colleagues at ACCS. Read more about this productive research center here.

Best,

jmcnulty signature Jenny Hockey

Dr. Jenny McNulty, Dean

We are grateful to be guests on the homeland of the Dena'ina Athabascan people.

Lions Club

Donor Spotlight:

Spendard Lions Club

Each June, CAS summer camps invite young minds onto campus for immersive, weeklong experiences led by faculty and supported by CAS student counselors. For the Spenard Lions Club, supporting CAS summer camps aligns naturally with their priorities of strengthening community and supporting youth.