cell

cell

UAA helps students succeed in college during COVID

Our faculty, staff and administrators have never worked harder to prepare for an academic year.

  • Claudia Lampman
  • Monday, September 7, 2020 9:59pm
  • Opinion

The beginning of the fall 2020 semester at UAA was a pretty calm one. Unlike many college campuses around the country, UAA was prepared to help our students and faculty succeed at what we are calling “College during COVID.” Chancellor Cathy Sandeen made a bold decision in May that most courses at UAA would be delivered remotely in the fall — a decision that allowed our faculty and staff the time they needed to prepare.

The decision also allowed our students to know what to expect and make thoughtful decisions about what was best for them. Rather than wishful thinking that we would return to “normal,” UAA embraced college during COVID, projecting strength, ingenuity and resilience as the path to success for our community.

That’s not to say that the last five months at UAA have been quiet, calm, or easy ones. Anything but. I have been a faculty member at UAA for nearly 30 years and an administrator for the last 10. Our faculty, staff and administrators have never worked harder to prepare for an academic year.

We wisely invested our CARES Act funding and financial support from our donors, allocating $3.5 million to help provide more than 3,000 students with scholarships, financial assistance and emergency funding. UAA also supported hundreds of faculty members with specialized training so they could prepare the highest-quality remote instruction possible. We prepared our facilities, implementing rigorous cleaning protocols, for courses where face-to-face delivery is the only way to meet the student learning outcomes, and we shifted our bookstore to a fully online system.

UAA also embraced technology to help our students connect in the virtual world. In May, we launched Seawolf Mentor, a tech-based peer mentoring program that already has 450 pairs of matched mentors and mentees. This August we experienced a 170% increase in downloads of our Seawolf Tracks mobile app that helps students find study partners in their classes. We are also piloting a new mobile app this fall to increase peer-to-peer remote studying. In the first two weeks of the semester students have interacted more than 60,000 times to study, engage and collaborate with their classmates online.

Economic recession often leads people back into higher education, and we are ready. UAA launched its first annual renewable scholarship called 49th Finishers to help Alaskans with some college but no degree return to UAA to finish their studies. We awarded over 100 of these scholarships this fall. Additionally, UAA began offering Fast Track Career certificates in high demand job areas that can be completed in three semesters or less. These have proven popular among those hoping to better position themselves in Alaska’s job markets.

In addition to 49th Finishers, UAA introduced an enrollment incentive award to encourage students who normally might not qualify for financial aid aside from student loans to consider taking an additional course. Nearly 100 students took advantage of this award, with close to half of those students transitioning to full-time status. The award helps offset tuition costs for the extra course, but it also allows students to work toward graduation faster and more efficiently. A faster path to graduation means students can enter the workforce sooner with greater earning potential. We are proud of these options that make going back to school and pursuing a degree more attainable for members of our community.

Although college enrollments across the nation are down, some in double digits, UAA’s enrollment decline was small. On the first day of the fall semester, the number of students enrolled at the Anchorage campus was about 5% lower than the same time last year. Across Anchorage and all our community campuses, it was roughly 9%. Our graduation rate held steady in the spring.

In spite of shake-ups occurring across the country in higher education, UAA continues to deliver relevant and excellent open access higher education in Alaska. Given the unprecedented drama the University of Alaska system has endured over the past few years, including historic budget cuts and program eliminations, a calm start to this fall semester was a welcome one. College during COVID? Yes indeed.

Claudia Lampman, Ph.D. is the vice provost for student success and professor of psychology at UAA.


Claudia Lampman, Ph.D., vice provost for student success and professor of psychology at UAA.:


More in Opinion

U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, speaks to Anchor Point residents during a community meeting held at the Virl “Pa” Haga VFW Post 10221 on Friday, May 30, 2025, in Anchor Point, Alaska. (Delcenia Cosman/Homer News)
Opinion: Big beautiful wins for Alaska in the Big Beautiful Bill

The legislation contains numerous provisions to unleash Alaska’s extraordinary resource economy.

Children are photographed outside their now shuttered school, Pearl Creek Elementary, in August 2024 in Fairbanks, Alaska. (Photo provided by Morgan Dulian)
My Turn: Reform doesn’t start with cuts

Legislators must hold the line for Alaska’s students

Deena Bishop, commissioner of the Department of Education and Early Development, discusses the status of school districts’ finances during a press conference with Gov. Mike Dunleavy at the Alaska State Capitol on Thursday, April 17, 2025. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire)
Opinion: The fight to improve public education has just begun

We owe our children more than what the system is currently offering

President Donald Trump and President Vladimir Putin of Russia at a joint news conference in Helsinki, Finland, July 16, 2018. (Doug Mills/The New York Times file photo)
Opinion: Mistaking flattery for respect

Flattery played a role in Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill.

(Juneau Empire file photo)
Opinion: Life is harder when you outlive your support group

Long-time friends are more important than ever to help us cope, to remind us we are not alone and that others feel the same way.

Deven Mitchell is the executive director and chief executive officer of the Alaska Permanent Fund Corp. (Photo courtesy of the Alaska Permanent Fund Corp.)
Opinion: The key to a stronger fund: Diversification

Diversification is a means of stabilizing returns and mitigating risk.

A silver salmon is weighed at Three Bears in Kenai, Alaska. Evelyn McCoy, customer service PIC at Three Bears, looks on. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)
Opinion: Will coho salmon be the next to disappear in the Kenai River?

Did we not learn anything from the disappearance of the kings from the Kenai River?

Jonathan Flora is a lifelong commercial fisherman and dockworker from Homer, Alaska.
Point of View: Not fishing for favors — Alaskans need basic health care access

We ask our elected officials to oppose this bill that puts our health and livelihoods in danger.

Alex Koplin. (courtesy photo)
Opinion: Public schools do much more than just teach the three Rs

Isn’t it worth spending the money to provide a quality education for each student that enters our schools?

Gov. Mike Dunleavy speaks to reporters at the Alaska State Capitol on Thursday, April 17, 2025. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire file photo)
Letter to the Editor: Law enforcement officers helped ensure smooth, secure energy conference

Their visible commitment to public safety allowed attendees to focus fully on collaboration, learning, and the important conversations shaping our path forward.

Laurie Craig / Juneau Empire file photo
The present-day KTOO public broadcasting building, built in 1959 for the U.S. Army’s Alaska Communications System Signal Corps, is located on filled tidelands near Juneau’s subport. Today vehicles on Egan Drive pass by the concrete structure with satellite dishes on the roof that receive signals from NPR, PBS and other sources.
My Turn: Stand for the community radio, not culture war optics

Alaskans are different and we pride ourselves on that. If my vehicle… Continue reading

U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) delivers his annual speech to the Alaska Legislature on Thursday, March 20, 2025. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire file photo)
Opinion: Sullivan, Trump and the rule of lawlessness

In September 2023, U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan established his own Alaska Federal… Continue reading