Rasmuson Fisheries Expansion

Broad Geographic Availability:

The Two-Plus-Two Program

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. The fisheries program will build upon strengths of our existing program by offering undergraduates the option of studying at other UA campuses for a portion of the Bachelor of Science in Fisheries Science or Bachelor of Arts in Fisheries. 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 (freshmen and sophomores) to complete all or parts of their preparatory coursework at any UAF, UAS, or UAA campus. However, students will be required to complete their upper-division (juniors and seniors) coursework at UAF in Fairbanks or the UAF Juneau Center.

We value the two-plus-two model because it allows students the opportunity to fully participate in the scientific communities at various locations throughout Alaska. 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 for the success of our undergraduate degree program.

Students will also have the opportunity to conduct research in two different scientific communities. A vital component of the undergraduate experience 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 UAF SFOS Fisheries will continue to grow with this model. Our fisheries faculty and UAS faculty currently cross-teach courses, have joint appointments, and regularly join together on collaborative projects. The two-plus-two program will allow us to further expand this relationship; the existing cooperative relationship with SFOS Fisheries, UAS Biology and UAS Fisheries Technology is an example of such a successful partnership. Improvements and expansion of distance-learning capabilities (e.g., videoconferencing, web-based courses, podcasting) will further expand these collaborative opportunities and allow us to offer our undergraduate degree programs more widely throughout Alaska.

Download the Two-Plus-Two program Flyer (138KB PDF)

Distance Delivery of Courses

In Spring 2009, several undergraduate fisheries courses will be availabe at university locations with videoconferencing capabilities. If you are interested in taking one of these courses, please contact us directly at instruction@sfos.uaf.edu or by calling Katie Murra Straub at 907-474-6786.

Download a PDF with information about the distance-delivered videoconference courses here (25KB PDF).

Visit the SFOS courses database here.

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 Straub, Recruitment and Retention Coordinator, e-mail kmstraub@alaska.edu or 907-474-6786.