University of Alaska Fairbanks

The University of Alaska Fairbanks is a public research university in Fairbanks, Alaska, United States. It is a flagship campus of the University of Alaska System. UAF is a land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant institution, and it also participates in the sun-grant program through Oregon State University. UAF was established in 1917 and opened for classes in 1922. UAF was originally named Alaska Agricultural College and School of Mines and later as the University of Alaska from 1925 to 1975.UAF is home to seven major research units: the Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station; the Geophysical Institute, which operates the Poker Flat Research Range; the International Arctic Research Center; the Arctic Region Super computing Center; the Institute of Arctic Biology; the Institute of Marine Science; and the Institute of Northern Engineering. Located just 200 miles south of the Arctic Circle, the Fairbanks campus' unique location is situated favorably for arctic and northern research. The campus' several lines of research are renowned worldwide, most notably arctic biology, arctic engineering, geophysics, super computing and aboriginal studies. The University of Alaska Museum of the North is also on the Fairbanks campus.In addition to the Fairbanks campus, UAF encompasses seven rural and urban campuses: Bristol Bay Campus in Dillinger; Chukchi Campus in Zebulon; Interior-Aleutians Campus, which covers both the Aleutian Islands and the Interior; Kosciusko Campus in Bethe; Northwest Campus in Nome; and the UAF Community and Technical College in Fairbanks, UAF's community college arm. Fairbanks is also the home of the e Learning and Distance Education, an independent learning and distance delivery program.In fall 2013, UAF enrolled 10,214 students. Of those students, 59.3 percent were female and 40.7 percent were male; 88 percent were undergraduates, and 12 percent were graduate students. As of May 2013, 1,288 students had graduated during the immediately preceding summer, fall and spring semesters.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. The station set the tone for the strongly research-oriented university that developed later.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 Manana 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 Manana Valley remained surveyed 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.Four months after Congress approved the legislation for the campus land in 1915, a cornerstone for the college was laid by Territorial Delegate James Wicker sham on a bluff overlooking the lower Cheney River valley. The ridge, which the indigenous Athabaskan people called Troth Buddha', soon became known as College Hill. Charles E. Bunuel was appointed the university’s chief executive and served the university for 28 years. The new institution had its first opening day on September 18, 1922 and offered 16 different courses to a student body of six (at a ratio of one faculty member per student). In 1923, the first commencement produced one graduate, John Sexton Stanly.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, the both the university’s student population and research mission grew tremendously. Then, 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.The two other primary UA institutions are the University of Alaska Anchorage and the University of Alaska Southeast in Juneau.

University of Alaska Fairbanks sports teams are the Alaska Nanook, with the word Nanook derived from the Pinup word for polar bear Though often known as UAF within the state, the university prefers to be called simply Alaska for athletics purposes. The school colors are blue and gold.The Alaska Nanook compete at the NCAA Division I level in hockey as a member of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association. The Nanook play home games at the 4,500-seat Carlson Center, located in downtown Fairbanks. The Alaska Nanook also have a Division I rifle team which has won 10 NCAA National Rifle Championships (1994, 1999–2004, 2006–2008). The rifle team is a member of the Patriot Rifle Conference. The men's and women's basketball, cross country running, and women's volleyball teams are Division II members of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, while the women's swim team is a member of the Pacific Collegiate Swimming Conference  and the men's and women's Nordic skiing teams are members of the Central Collegiate Ski Association .The men's basketball team, women's basketball team, and women's volleyball team play home games in the 1,622-seat Patty Center. Due to its isolation from the Lower 48 and the lack of a dome to protect against the harsh elements, Alaska does not have a football program, as is true for all three branches of the University of Alaska.The Nanook hockey team has gained fame with the increased popularity of their introduction videos, which feature a mascot known nationally as Hockey bear, who engages in over-the-top antics such as destroying planets, moons, galaxies and even rival cities such as Anchorage or Columbus, OH. Hockey bear then ends his destruction when he arrives at the Carlson Center, usually entering through the roof after tearing off a large section. Kenny Noggins' Danger Zone is featured prominently.Since the UAF athletics program was operating at a financial deficit, a new student fee was initiated in 2008. This fee charges UAF students $8 per credit hour they are enrolled in, up to a maximum of $96 per semester. The fee grants students free admission to select UAF athletic events. Effective 2014, the fee increased to $10 per credit hour, up to a maximum of $120 per semester.The Fine Arts Complex hosts the Charles Davis Concert Hall, the Lee H. Salisbury Theater and the Eva McGowan Music Room. The building is also home to the UAF Art Gallery, which is used for student art shows, thesis shows and faculty shows. The Art Department offers MFA, BFA, and BA degree programs in painting, photography, Native art and a variety of other artistic disciplines.