Head of the Class

As the student regent, Palmer's David Parks is helping shape the University of Alaska

By CASEY RESSLER-Valley Life editor

As a member of the University of Alaska Board of Regents, David Parks makes decisions that affect the 37,000 students of the UA system. The big difference between himself and the other Board of Regents members is that he is part of that student base.

Parks, a 2000 graduate of Palmer High School, is the first Valley student to be appointed to the UA Board of Regents. As the student regent, he is serving a two-year term and shaping the policy of the university.

"Certainly, the student regent has a different perspective than the other regents, but we are all working toward the common goal of providing a first-class, affordable education to Alaskans," Parks said. "As the student regent, I'm there to ensure the students' voice gets heard and to ensure that what's best for the university is also what's best for the students."

On Wednesday and Thursday, Parks and the other 10 regents met at Mat-Su College for one of the quarterly board meetings. Helping shape university policy is a big responsibility for a 22-year-old, but Parks is more than welcome to the challenge.

"Coming from the Valley and going to college in Anchorage, I obviously would like to see some more projects for Mat-Su College and UAA," Parks said. "I think of the last round of projects we approved, 20 were in Fairbanks and three were in Anchorage. I'd like to see that change."

From the average UA student's perspective, the bottom line is the thing that matters most. The cost of tuition is rising, and that is perhaps the biggest issue facing Parks -- both as a student, and as a regent.

"With the state financial situation the way it is and the university growing so much, tuition is going up," Parks explained. "Last year, we raised tuition 10 percent, and in all likelihood, that's what it's going to go up again this year and again next year.

"That's 30 percent in three years. At some point, there's a breaking point where we start to lose students, and we can't do that. That trend can't continue," Parks said. "Students are not in favor of, nor can they afford, tuition increases so big every year."

Parks said that the University of Alaska "is alive and prosperous" right now, and he considers it an amazing time to be part of the university system. There's a new $48 million library project close to completion, new facilities for science and engineering students and a "more technologically advanced campus than you'd find at nearly every other state university," Parks said.

Unlike those other state universities, however, the University of Alaska does not have the college-town feel to it. That's slowly changing, Parks said.

"We have so many nontraditional commuter students who haven't checked out all the clubs, the Greek lifestyle that is up and coming and all the activities the university offers," Parks said. "In the last five or 10 years, that has dramatically improved, however. We are getting more and more graduates getting involved with the business world and reaching out to the community and talking about their experiences with the university. That helps."

Parks is a senior political science major at UAA. After his 2000 graduation from Palmer High School, he worked as an intern in then-U.S. Sen. Frank Murkowski's Washington, D.C., office. After his freshman year at UAA, he was elected the student body vice president.

Following his sophomore year, he was elected student body president and also worked as the summer intern coordinator for Murkowski. At the end of last year, he was appointed by now Gov. Murkowski to join the UA Board of Regents. The governor appoints people to the 11-member board. Regents serve eight-year terms, except for the student regent, who serves a two -year term.

"I plan on staying involved with public policy and politics I guess," Parks said. "I'll start my graduate work while I'm still on the board. I'm so fortunate to have found something I really enjoy, and I've been blessed to work with all the people I've worked with."