Legislature(1993 - 1994)
04/23/1993 02:05 PM Senate HES
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
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= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
SENATE HEALTH, EDUCATION AND SOCIAL SERVICES COMMITTEE
April 23, 1993
2:05 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Steve Rieger, Chairman
Senator Bert Sharp, Vice-Chairman
Senator Johnny Ellis
Senator Judy Salo
MEMBERS ABSENT
Senator Loren Leman
Senator Mike Miller
Senator Jim Duncan
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
-- CONFIRMATION HEARING - Mary Jane Fate & R. Danforth
Ogg to University of Alaska Board
of Regents
ACTION NARRATIVE
TAPE 93-39, SIDE A
Number 001
CHAIRMAN RIEGER called the Senate Health, Education and Social
Services (HESS) Committee to order at 2:05 p.m. He stated the
only order of business would a confirmation hearing on
Governor appointees Mary Jane Fate and Dan Ogg to the
University of Alaska Board of Regents.
Number 020
MARY JANE FATE informed the committee she was born in Rampart,
Alaska, she is an Athabaskan Indian, and she attended Mt.
Edgecumbe High School in Sitka when it was operated by the
Bureau of Indian Affairs. She is presently co-chairing the
Federal-State Commission which is reviewing all policies and
programs affecting Alaska Natives. She is also involved with
her village corporation which was formed pursuant to the
Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act.
Number 050
SENATOR SALO noted that controversy on the Fairbanks campus
has been whether or not the rural education preparation has
had high enough standards, and she asked Ms. Fate if she had
any comments on that issue. Ms. Fate responded that she is
very concerned, and she believes that the State of Alaska has
not done its job in delivering quality education to the rural
areas. She added that there have been some steps taken to
address this situation, such as certification of community
health aides to help deal with alcohol and drug problems in
the rural areas.
Number 112
SENATOR ELLIS said at the time of consolidation, one of the
commitments made was that the university would attempt, over
time, to coordinate degree programs among the campuses in
order to have good quality professional programs at the
different campuses. He asked if Ms. Fate thought it was the
university's responsibility to offer a little bit of
everything at each campus, or to have campuses specialize in
degree programs. Ms. Fate answered that each campus should
have the same to begin with. If the student demand is there
and if it is needed for that degree, those degree programs
should be available.
Number 162
CHAIRMAN RIEGER asked Ms. Fate if she had an opinion on what
emphasis of the university should be between upper division,
lower division, and graduate courses. Ms. Fate answered she
is for the best university Alaska can have, and she thinks
that can be achieved without that much expense by being
innovative and generating other revenues. She stressed the
importance of having undergraduate programs, postgraduate
programs and doctorate programs.
Chairman Rieger also asked if Ms. Fate had on opinion on
tenure for university professors. Ms. Fate responded that her
feelings on tenure are mixed. She said a lot of the good
people in the university are really stretched and we don't
want to lose these people, but she would hate to see the
university stuck with tenure with somebody who is excess
baggage.
Number 250
CHAIRMAN RIEGER thanked Ms. Fate for her participation in the
hearing and then invited Dan Ogg to address the committee.
DAN OGG said he has lived in Kodiak since 1973, working in the
fishing industry and the construction industry. He has served
on the local assembly, served as borough mayor, and served on
the local planning commission. He has attended law school and
now practices law in the winter months and continues to be a
commercial fisherman.
Number 262
SENATOR ELLIS noted that in his Letter of Interest to Governor
Hickel, Mr. Ogg had indicated that postsecondary education is
very important to the economic development of the state,
especially in the seafood industry. He asked if he had any
specific kinds of improvements that he would like to see in
the university degree programs that have a direct relationship
to the seafood industry of the state. Mr. Ogg said the
president of the university has set up a working committee
with the fishing industry, which will be meeting shortly in
Kodiak, and he has asked that he be able to participate. He
believes that they will be exploring what directions the
university can work in and provide something that is of
interest to the industry to further the economics of the
fishery to the state.
Number 338
SENATOR SHARP said one of his concerns for the past several
years has been that when the legislature responds to specific
requests by the university and the money is appropriated, the
money sometimes gets moved around a little. He said he hopes
the new regents will be committed to tightening up the reigns
to better control capital appropriations.
Number 368
CHAIRMAN RIEGER asked Mr. Ogg for his comments on emphasis
between lower division and upper division and graduate
courses. Mr. Ogg responded that he thinks all three have a
position in the university and in the secondary education
level. He thinks the community college program and the
bachelor degree program are the most important and there
should be less emphasis in the graduate program.
Chairman Rieger said there has been a perception that the
regents have had a policy that the post graduate education
should be concentrated at the Fairbanks campus, and he asked
Mr. Ogg if had comments on that issue. Mr. Ogg answered that
Fairbanks has traditionally a lot of graduate degree programs
and they are very good, but there are probably other areas,
such as Anchorage, where a graduate degree would be better
suited to be located there.
Chairman Rieger asked Mr. Ogg for his comments on university
professor tenure. Mr. Ogg said in order to attract professors
of good quality, they want tenure, but he thinks it is an area
that needs to be looked at carefully because there has to be
some mechanism where they can go in and get the people who
have taken advantage of it and actually have become a burden
to the education system.
Number 412
Chairman Rieger commented that in working on the university
budget in the Finance Committee, he gets the impression that
there is no room to try to do anything new because we are so
busy trying to keep up with what we are doing now. He said
he thinks the regents are going to have to get above all that
and take a look at what we really have to be doing and make
some hard decisions and reprioritize, even in a time when
there is not enough to go around for what is there now. He
said these are things that he hopes the regents will take a
forceful role in.
Senator Sharp added that when one examines the history of the
expansion of the university, it's clear that a lot of the
expansion was done on a political justification and not on
recommendations of efficiency on delivery of the education.
He said the regents are going to have to make some real hard
decisions on where the priorities are and how to best deliver
the upper education resources around the state.
Number 500
CHAIRMAN RIEGER thanked Ms. Fate and Mr. Ogg for their
participation in the confirmation hearing and then adjourned
the meeting at 2:42 p.m.
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