September 22, 2000
UAS SITKA AWARDED GRANT WORTH $1.8 MILLION OVER FIVE YEARS

The University of Alaska Southeast Sitka campus has received a federal grant worth more than $1.8 million over five years to help Native Alaska students be more successful in college.

The UAS Sitka grant, "Enhancing Access and Success for Southeast Alaska Native Students" was funded for $292,000 for the first year. Pending congressional authorization, the campus will receive $395,000 annually for four additional years.

"I'm excited about this grant," Dr. John Carnegie, UAS Sitka campus director, said. "This provides us a wonderful opportunity to put more money into student success as well as enhancing distance delivery courses."

Carnegie said the U.S. Department of Education Title III grant would be used in several ways to help Native students:

1. Improving Student Success. Increased services will be offered on-campus to help students by providing more tutoring, mentoring, as well as teaching study and life skills. In addition outreach specialists will be hired in local communities to help students taking distance delivered classes with tutoring, mentoring and study skills.

2. Enhancing Distance Education. Some of the grant money will provide support to faculty to enhance their distance delivered courses.

3. Developing Programs. New faculty will be hired to develop two new programs.

4. Improving Facilities. The grant will help fund the remodeling of the top floor of the Sitka campus building that will include an enhanced learning center.

The UAS Sitka grant is one of five awarded to University of Alaska campuses serving a high percentage of Native students. The grant to five University of Alaska campuses totals $9.4 million over five years. The other campuses, part of the University of Alaska Fairbanks College of Rural Alaska, are Bristol Bay Campus in Dillingham, Chukchi Campus in Kotzebue, Northwest Campus in Nome, and Kuskokwim Campus in Bethel.