Rasmuson Fisheries Expansion
Distance Education
A major component of this initiative is to broaden access across Alaska to the educational opportunities offered by the UAF School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences. With five major units across Alaska, SFOS students should be able to take courses available at any of the units. As part of this initiative, SFOS is upgrading its current technology so that students and faculty can communicate via videoconferencing between Fairbanks and Juneau. The fisheries expansion also includes the development of the "Two-plus-Two Program", which is explained below.
Two-plus-Two Program:
The fisheries program will build upon strengths of our existing program by offering undergraduates the option of studying in either Juneau or Fairbanks for a portion of their B.A. or B.S. degree. This "two-plus-two" program provides flexibility to Alaska's students and allows them to take advantage of the diverse opportunities in both communities.
The two-plus-two program allows lower-division students to complete their preparatory work (freshman and sophomore years) at UAA, UAS or UAF and complete their upper-division work in Fairbanks or in Juneau. In Fairbanks, faculty and the fisheries community specialize in interior, freshwater fisheries, while Juneau faculty and the fisheries community focus on marine and coastal fisheries.
We value the two-plus-two model because it allows students the opportunity to fully participate in the scientific communities of both locations. Students can not only take more diverse courses, but will also interact with a greater diversity of faculty members, who in turn represent a broad range of interests. This model is an essential feature of our plan to develop a new B.A. curriculum and to enhance our existing B.S. program.
Most importantly, students have the opportunity to conduct research in two different scientific communities. A vital component of these students' undergraduate careers at SFOS will be their active role as researchers. In the two-plus-two model, students will be able to work in university laboratories at UAF or UAS, while also having an opportunity to work in the laboratories of various fisheries agencies.
The long collaborative relationship between UAS and SFOS Fisheries will only grow with this model. Our fisheries faculty and UAS faculty cross-teach courses, enjoy joint appointments, and regularly join together on collaborative projects. The two-plus-two program will allow us to further expand this relationship and we are confident that it will be highly effective. UAS has entered into formal agreements specifying similar arrangements with other academic programs at other campuses and we expect to be able to execute such an agreement with them as we continue the development of our undergraduate B.S. and B.A. programs. The existing cooperative relationship with SFOS Fisheries, UAS Biology and UAS Fisheries Technology is an example of such a successful partnership. As a model, we will use the UAS agreement with UAA's nursing program that UAS Chancellor John Pugh has provided us as an example. That continuing agreement makes UAS a “Partner Campus” to UAA to facilitate the delivery of the nursing education program.
The planned two-plus-two program will benefit students at both UAF and UAS and can be conceptualized in the table below which is designed to be instructive but not completely inclusive. We will work to make the program as broad as possible to benefit B.A. and B.S. students at both locations and throughout the state via distance learning.
For more information about the Rasmuson Fisheries Expansion, please contact Dr. Trent Sutton, Undergraduate Fisheries Coordinator, e-mail: tsutton@sfos.uaf.edu, (907) 474-7285.
If you are a student interested in studying at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, please contact Katie Murra, Recruitment and Retention Coordinator, e-mail murra@sfos.uaf.edu or 907-474-6786.