2021-22 Annual Report
STUDENTS
Served students age 13 to 69
COURSES
Total of 1,229 sections
DUAL ENROLLMENT STUDENTS
Up 30% from FY21
WHO WE ARE
MESSAGE FROM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
As we pause to reflect on the activities and achievements of this past year, I am reminded of what drew me to UAF in the first place: a growth mindset and an eye towards the future. It’s been a true pleasure serving as interim executive director of eCampus for much of 2022 and working with an exceptionally talented group of professionals who are passionate about what they do. I’m especially proud of the work we’ve done that cultivates a community of innovation in support of student success, advances the scholarship of teaching and learning, and promotes equity and access for all learners. It is my hope that as you read through this report, you are inspired. Our work at eCampus thrives at the intersection of innovation and collaboration and we welcome you to partner with us in the coming year.
MISSION
UAF eCampus partners with UAF academic departments and programs to offer quality education with flexible options, enabling a dispersed, diverse population of students to achieve their educational goals through excellent content connected to contemporary skills and literacies.
OUR STUDENTS
UAF eCampus supports schools and colleges as they serve students worldwide. This year, UAF had active online students in more than 176 communities around the state of Alaska. Nanooks were located in all 50 states (and the district of Washington D.C.) and in 17 countries around the world.
NUMBER OF STUDENT CREDIT HOURS
During the COVID pandemic many UAF courses shifted to eCampus and distance delivery as reflected in our 2020-21 enrollment. Many of these courses have since transitioned back to other delivery methods but eCampus enrollments for 2021-22 are still up almost 25% over 2019-20 student credit hours, reflecting continued student interest in online learning. Interestingly, eCampus distinct headcount is only up 6% over the same period.
INCREASING ACCESS TO HIGHER EDUCATION
ALASKA ADVANTAGE
In Fall 2019, UAF launched the Alaska Advantage Program to provide Alaska’s high-achieving high school students an in-state, high-quality and affordable option for dual enrollment. Within its first year, the program served 208 high school students around the state earning 1,067 credit hours. In Fall 2020, UAF partnered with the University of Alaska Southeast to offer courses through the Alaska Advantage program. In the second year, the program served 509 high school students earning 3,795 credit hours. In academic year 2021-2022, the program served 662 students earning 4,455 credit hours representing 85 high schools in Alaska. The program has grown from 29 school district partners to 41 school districts and three private school partners at the end of the third year.
Spring 2022 enrollments were at a record high: 416 students taking 2972 student credit hours.
CORPORATE PARTNERSHIPS
Our corporate partnership program provides UAF’s great online courses and programs to the Alaska business community and outside organizations offering employee education benefits. We added Sealaska and CIRI to our growing list of partners. Both Alaska Native Corporations have thousands of shareholders and employees across the country. The partnership is mutually beneficial. Seaalaska and CIRI shareholders will receive package pricing and UAF will see an increase in enrollment. In turn, Alaska can be positioned to meet the demand for qualified, diverse employees. We now have corporate partnership agreements with nine corporations.
Current Partners
- Alaska Municipal League
- Foundation Health Partners
- Bisk
- Bright Horizons
- EBG/Beneplace
- CIRI
- Edcor
- ISTS (International Scholarship & Tuition Services)
- Sealaska
TUITION AWARD DOLLARS
eCampus offered needs-based and merit-based student scholarships.
SCHOLARSHIPS
UAF eCampus provided $20,000 in scholarships for summer 2022. Often students’ aid is exhausted during fall and spring, making paying tuition in summer particularly challenging. Our summer awards helped 35 students take classes and continue making progress in their degree programs. We provided an additional $8,000 in scholarships specifically for degree completion throughout the year. These scholarships are awarded to students who are just a few courses away from finishing their bachelors degree but don’t have enough financial aid to pay their tuition. Lastly, eCampus also provided $13,500 in scholarships for UAF students who participated in the Learner Experience Advocacy Program (LEAP).
NO or LOW-COST COURSES
A no or low-cost (NoLo) course is one that may utilize open education resources (OER) and freely available resources in order to reduce textbook and material costs for students to under $40 per course. This amount only pertains to required course textbooks, workbooks, online homework platforms or other publisher-provided tools and materials. This amount does not include equipment (like art supplies, calculators or physical lab materials), regular course fees, lab fees, proctoring fees, or tuition.
OER have been shown to impact student performance and retention, especially for low-income and first-generation students. Implementing OER in a course or program requires imagination, creativity, and innovation but can significantly reduce the costs of their courses for students, especially when the effort brings the course to NoLo status.
This student-centric approach has an immediate impact. Based on enrollments and a $100 average textbook cost per course—a standard established by the Open Textbook Network and currently used at many institutions across the country to estimate savings—UAF students saved an $297,400 total in fall 2021, spring 2022 and summer 2022.
Teaching Tip: Why should we care about OER?
Around 65% of students may not purchase a textbook due to cost. Using free and open education resources can help make education more equitable. Read More.
OER INNOVATION QUEST
Our Innovation Quest is a three-month, incentive-based program encouraging UAF instructors to transition their courses (online and face-to-face) to a no- or low-cost (NoLo) status through the adoption of open education resources (OER). To earn the “NoLo” designation, course materials and textbooks must not exceed $40. Reducing costs for students is the goal for NoLo courses. Tuition and textbook costs have skyrocketed the last ten years and some students can not afford to purchase expensive materials. Offering NoLo courses with minimal materials cost can increase equitable learning opportunities for all students. The OER Innovation Quest is supported jointly through the UAF Faculty Accelerator and UAF eCampus.
AlaskaX
UAF continues to increase access to courses that feature Arctic research on edX, a leader among platforms that offer massive open online courses (commonly known as MOOCs). All edX courses are four to eight weeks long and are available for free, or learners can choose to pay for a certificate that verifies course completion. During FY21, UAF, known as AlaskaX on the platform, had more than 29,514 enrollments from 193 countries across the globe, elevating the visibility of our world-class faculty.
Hover your mouse over the map to see the number of learners in a specific country.
UAF COURSES ON AlaskaX
UAF started with five courses in 2020 but has grown to 21 courses.
FOSTERING INCLUSIVE PEDAGOGY
DECENTERING WHITENESS IN ANTIRACISM INITIATIVES
UAF eCampus and UAF Faculty Accelerator sponsored a public lecture titled “Decentering Whiteness in Antiracism Initiatives.” Dr. Cana Uluak Itchuaqiyaq, an Iñupiaq technical communication scholar and assistant professor at Virginia Tech, discussed the problematic orientation toward whiteness that pervades many antiracism initiatives in academia. Dr. Itchuaqiyaq spoke with over 300 UAF community members and hosted private sessions with UAF researchers and Indigenous students.
COLLABORATION
LEARNER EXPERIENCE ADVOCACY PROGRAM (LEAP)
The Learner Experience Advocacy Program (LEAP) is a new program where undergraduate students learn about course feedback strategies, and partner with participating instructors to observe and share feedback on course design and delivery. The goals of the program are to meaningfully improve the learner experience at UAF, build community among instructor and student leaders, and provide professional development to students and instructors alike. We’ve modeled LEAP program on success at other universities, where program leaders assert that the “pedagogical partnerships affirm students’ rights and extend their responsibilities.” The program launched in Spring 2022 with 15 student and 10 faculty participants.
The spring 2022 pilot program included a broad swath of disciplines, like Art, Engineering, Biology, and Social Work, with tenured, tenure-track and adjunct faculty.
Student advocates represented many different majors, with experience ranging from first-year freshmen to post-baccalaureate, with students participating from all over Alaska, from Fairbanks, to Juneau, to Nome.
ACADEMIC INCUBATOR
eCampus has put together a dynamic team to improve the course development and funding process as well as to provide relevant data and marketing for programs that are transitioning their programs to online. Our goal is to use a data informed approach to help academic departments strategically develop programs where there is market demand from employers and students. We are also focused on promoting a modern, stackable range of learning opportunities that create multiple pathways to degree completion across the institution.
STUDENT SUPPORT FOCUS
UAF EXAM SERVICES
During AY22, Exam Services provided 726 hours of seat time across 225 certification exams ensuring State journeymen electricians, boiler operators, linemen, plumbers, explosive handlers, and water and pesticide workers remain certified and promotable.
TESTS PROCTORED FOR UAF STUDENTS
TESTS PROCTORED FOR FAIRBANKS COMMUNITY MEMBERS
INQUIRIES ABOUT UAF’S ONLINE PROGRAMS
eCampus fielded 27% fewer eCampus program specific inquiries in AY22 but almost twice as many students were admitted and registered this year over last year. Of the 1,168 inquiries for students who indicated an interest in studying online and specified an eCampus program, Biological Sciences (BS) remains the most popular program for students to inquire about with 11% of total inquiries. Medical Coding (OE), Bachelor’s Degree Completion, Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) and Psychology (BA) round out the top 5. A little over half of our inquiries (55%) don’t specify a program of interest.
NEW ONLINE PROGRAMS
This year, the UAF eCampus team helped academic departments onboard three new online programs: B.S. in Fisheries and Marine Sciences, B.A. in Social Work and B.A. in Anthropology.
UAF’S FULL LIST OF ONLINE PROGRAMS
- Graduate Degrees
- Graduate Certificates
- Post-Bacc Certificates
- Bachelor Degrees
- Associate Degrees
- Undergrad Certificates
- Occupational Endorsements
Arctic and Northern Studies
Justice Administration
MBA (General Management)
MBA (STEM)
Security and Disaster Management
Special Education
Arctic Security
Business Continuity
Cybersecurity Management
Strategic Leadership
Accounting
Special Education
Accounting
Applied Management
Anthropology
Bachelor’s Degree Completion
Biology (B.A. and B.S.)
Business Administration
Communication
Fisheries and Marine Sciences
History
Homeland Security and Emergency Management
Justice
Political Science
Psychology (B.A. and B.S.)
Social Work
Applied Accounting
Applied Business
Associate of Arts
Associate of Science
Early Childhood Education
Information Technology Specialist
Paralegal Studies
Accounting Technician
Applied Business Management
Early Childhood Education
Health Care Reimbursement
Information Technology Specialist
Medical and Dental Reception
Administrative Assistant
Bookkeeping Technician
Content Creation
Financial Services Representative
Medical Billing
Medical Coding
Medical Office Reception
Nanny Caregiving
Supervision and Personnel Management