2022-2023 Annual Impact Report
UAF eCampus, now part of the UAF Center for Teaching and Learning, partners with UAF academic departments and programs to offer quality education with flexible options, enabling a dispersed, diverse population of students to achieve their education goals through excellent content connected to contemporary skills and literacies.
Mesage from Executive Director
Jenn Pedersen, Ph.D.
It’s my distinct pleasure to introduce our Annual Impact Report presented in a fresh format that reflects the genuine spirit of eCampus more authentically than ever before. This year, we’ve transformed our approach. We’re focusing on more than just data; we’re sharing inspiring stories from an extraordinary team whose passion, commitment, and tenacity are the true secret to our shared successes. Through the far-reaching impact of over 50 online programs and 600 diverse courses, and the extended global influence of our AlaskaX portfolio, eCampus has provided transformational educational opportunities spanning Alaskan communities to international shores. The creativity and dedication of our team have not only broadened our impact but also enhanced UAF’s educational experience, weaving a narrative of success, innovation, and community. I invite you into this journey with us—discover, celebrate, and look ahead to a future where our collaborative spirit, inclusivity, and commitment to excellence continually fuel UAF’s mission.
Distinct Students
Unique Courses Taught
Courses
New to online
Student Snapshot
Ages 13-81
170 Communities in Alaska
49 States
4 U.S. Territories
23 Countries Around the World
Student Credit Hours
Number of Course Sections
Courses
Transitioned from Blackboard to Canvas
Highlights
We regularly implement new programs and approaches that specifically help to address issues that our university community needs. This video highlights the progress we have made over the past year, and illustrates our commitment to improve access to higher education for all Alaskans.
Student Voices
Values
Community Approach
We are a human-centered support unit serving students, staff and faculty as individuals. We welcome instructors in every rank and position. Through a constant focus on both innovation and equity, our goal is to continue to work on improvement.
Teaching Development
The instructional design team plans and conducts more faculty development than any other unit at UAF.
faculty, staff, post-docs, and grad students supported
hours of 1:1 assistance with instructional designers
long-form programs
(20+ hours of participation)
short-form programs
(at least 1 hour of participation)
LEAP
Month of Writing
SoTL @ UAF
SoTL iTeach
Transdiciplinary iTeach
OER Innovation Quest
Increasing Access to Higher Education
We engage in partnerships across the university to broaden education opportunities in Alaska by offering needs-based and merit-based scholarships. We offer programs designed to attract first-generation students.
Scholarships
eCampus is committed to removing barriers to student educational access and success whenever possible, and one way we do this is by dedicating funding to student scholarships. In the last 6 years, eCampus has awarded over $230,000 and supported more than 300 students through our scholarship programs. This year we expanded our programs to provide scholarships to a greater number of students and prioritized finding creative ways to reach a more diverse group of students. Online students often bring unique life and scheduling challenges and their situations may not translate well into traditional scholarship application metrics. This year our eCampus Scholarship Committee changed our award criteria and application to make it more inclusive and accessible and our review process to be more equitable. Using multiple award periods means our award is available to students admitted after February 15 (the UAF scholarship deadline) and allows us to include Summer semester meaning we reach students who may have exhausted other funding during Fall and Spring. In 2022-23, we almost doubled our scholarship budget and provided over $78,000 in scholarships to 120 students. Here’s the breakdown:
- Spring and Summer eCampus awards: $29,000, 58 students
- Learner Experience Advocacy Program (LEAP): $33,000, 19 students
- Degree Completion program: $8,000, 16 students
- Student art contest: $8,250, 27 students
Alaska Advantage
students
unique high schools
student credit hours
school districts
Lowering Economic Barriers
We advocate for open access to education and encourage the use of open education resources to help provide affordable course materials.
AlaskaX
Through AlaskaX, our partnership with the edX global learning platform, UAF has extended its reach to over 70,000 learners from 210 countries and territories, elevating the visibility of research, enhancing outreach, and driving interest to UAF.
total enrollments
learners that paid to upgrade to the verified track which gives them access to graded assessments and a certificate upon successful completion
programs
published courses
AlaskaX Learner Locations
No or Low-Cost Courses
Student Feedback
approximate savings for students Fall 2022-Summer 2023
total approximate savings since NoLo implementation in Spring 2021
Student Support Focus
Exam Services
As a national test center, eCampus Exam Services administers paper-and-pencil and computer-based exams for UAF students, prospective students, and the community at large. We serve students with class-exam related needs and professionals seeking credentials.
Total | Exam Type |
|---|---|
4,264 | student exams |
2,361 | in-person exams |
1,677 | remote proctored UAF exam requests |
82 | credit by examination |
53 | FE exams for graduating engineers |
579 | community exams for future nurses, CPAs, electricians, firefighters, real estate agents, contractors and more |
Spotlights
Our team’s creativity and dedication shines through every day. Here are just a few things we’re proud of from this year.
Permafrost Tunnel
eCampus has been contributing to the education outreach portion of the Permafrost Discovery Gateway (PDG), led by Woodwell Climate Institute and with collaborators from over fourteen institutions including UAF. The NSF-funded project goal is an online interface that enables researchers to share knowledge and big data supported and expanded through machine learning across disciplines for near-real time permafrost monitoring of the pan-arctic landscape. Through additional NSF funding, a partnership with teachers from two Alaska districts is enabling the creation of a range of standards-based lesson packages that can be used in climate change and permafrost units in middle and high school science curricula. Lesson plans will be posted on the PDG education site and will be openly licensed. Instructional design staff also collaborated with the Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center to create a virtual immersive tour of the CRREL Permafrost Tunnel near Fairbanks, as part of the PDG outreach project. The PDG received the Google Impact Challenge on Climate Innovation award in 2023.
Airtable Pilot
In 2022, the Associate Director of Teaching and Learning at eCampus in collaboration with campus groups and the UAF PIT Crew, piloted Airtable to assess its effectiveness in reducing data silos and promoting data-informed decision-making. Staff at eCampus already used Airtable as a “collaborative data playground” and were excited to help the campus community discover this adaptive, responsive tool. The goal was to simplify faculty and staff access to critical and timely institutional data, connect disparate data sources, to create the ability to share data and to be able to track processes. Leveraging Airtable’s capabilities as a relational database and the ability to create automated Banner feeds, non-expert users could easily access and analyze data without coding skills. Airtable is now utilized across campus for diverse purposes, including resource sharing with students, facilities inventory management, community-based project connections, GER outcomes evaluation, and course catalog management. While Airtable may not be a one-size-fits-all solution, its versatility and ongoing integration efforts offer exciting opportunities for users seeking to uncover insights and connections across UAF’s campus data landscape.
Website Redesign
eCampus launched a new website that is responsive, utilizes the latest design trends, and prioritizes accessibility above everything else. A well-organized website ensures that prospective students can easily access crucial information, such as program offerings, admission requirements, and student support services. As the virtual front door of eCampus, a visually appealing and user-friendly website can immediately capture students’ attention and convey a sense of professionalism and credibility.
Media Team
Staff
UAF eCampus is a tight-knit group of people who are educators, readers, artists, gamers, bakers, writers, knitters, builders, adventurers, runners…we’re adding to this list every day! Meet a few of them by clicking on their picture.
The new CTL encompasses our expanded programs and services to include AlaskaX, our makerspace, faculty-focused events and student-centered learning experiences. As our department continues to evolve, we’ll keep this page updated.