June 1, 2007
UA Regents to honor polar researchers, retiring ÐÓ°ÉÔ°æ provost
For Immediate Release
Friday, June 1, 2007
The University of ÐÓ°ÉÔ°æ Board of Regents will meet at the University of ÐÓ°ÉÔ°æ Fairbanks
campus June 6-7, 2007.
The meeting includes a community reception from 6:30-8 p.m. Wednesday, June 6, at
the Museum of the North for 11 recently hired International Polar Year postdoctoral
researchers.» The public is invited to the reception.
Regents also will attend a naming and dedication ceremony of the Natural Sciences
Building at 2 p.m. Thursday, June 7, in honor of Paul Reichardt, ÐÓ°ÉÔ°æ's retiring provost
who worked for the campus in teaching and administrative positions for 35 years.
The public is welcome to testify to the board at 11 a.m. both days during the two-day
meeting.» The fairly light agenda includes the following:
* An update on the International Polar Year, a two-year, multinational effort that
focuses on scientific research affecting Earth's polar regions. The university recently
hired 11 postdoctoral researchers throughout the system to focus largely on global
climate change issues;
* Total project cost increases for two ongoing projects--the Arctic Health Research
Building on the ÐÓ°ÉÔ°æ campus and the Lena Point fisheries facility in Juneau, part of
ÐÓ°ÉÔ°æ's School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences;
* And budget distribution for the fiscal year starting July 1. The ÐÓ°ÉÔ°æ Legislature
recently approved a total of $292.5 million in state general funds for the university,
up $10 million compared to the current fiscal year but still $1.6 million shy of meeting
the fixed-cost need in required retirement payments and $16.3 million below the regents'
request.» Federal funding, private donations, university receipts and other funding
brings the total UA system budget to $798.8 million for the new fiscal year, compared
to $774.1 million for the current year.
This meeting also will be the first for recently appointed regents Erik Drygas of
Fairbanks and William Andrews of Juneau.
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For more information, call Kate Ripley at 907/450-8102 or 907/388-3506. For a complete
agenda, go to http://www.alaska.edu/bor/agendas/agendas.xml.
NR11-07
»