Mat-Su College hosts UAA Board of Regents meeting

WASILLA — It had been eight years since the University of Alaska Board of Regents met on the Mat-Su College campus, but the members braved the snowstorm on the Glenn Highway Thursday morning to get there and are continuing today.

Before taking a tour of the campus and UAF’s Matanuska Experiment Farm, Mat-Su College Director Talis Colberg and students active in various campus clubs and programs made sure the regents were aware of some of the successes happening at the school.

Borrowing from Charles Dickens, Colberg said Mat-Su College represents the university’s past, present and future.

“When I was in high school out here, this campus was half the size it is now,” the former Mat-Su Borough mayor said. “There were only 6,000 people in the borough then and we’re now pushing 100,000. This is the only part of the state that is growing consistently and continuously, and this campus is in the middle of it all.”

Colberg pointed out that 35 years ago, the college only had two graduates. Next month, there will be 116. The campus has grown from one to five buildings and offers a much larger array of courses today for its students, whose average age is 25, he said.

“This is a happening place,” Colberg said.

And on a spring day hit out of the blue by a snowstorm, the Valley also was a happening place for traffic accidents, as a woman from the college’s Emergency Medical Services program pointed out to regents.

She said the Paramedics Association leader was called out to assist with a school bus that rolled over with 10 kids, a four-car accident on the Parks Highway and a gunshot wound to the chest.

As a master of comedic timing to lighten the mood, Colberg piped in, “This illustrates the importance of the paramedic program.”

Colberg added that although there are only five students in the paramedic program this year, there will be 20 next year after this year’s candidates complete their required prerequisites.

With only six full-time paramedics in the Valley, the need for such services is strong. There are a number of volunteer and part-time EMTs who work 20 to 40 hours each week and don’t receive benefits, the Paramedics Association representative said to emphasize the vital need for more funds to support such services.

“It’s like trying to empty the ocean with a teaspoon,” she said.

Mat-Su Carbon Crew leader David Johnson and two crew members gave a short video presentation to the regents on the various activities and accomplishments of the campus’ environmental club, focusing especially on the desire to nurture a long-forgotten and grown-over arboretum planted on the campus in 1986.

Hundreds of trees from all over the world were planted 25 years ago at Mat-Su College and elsewhere and the local site is one of the last ones left, Johnson said.

Student Outreach Representative Amy Stevens told the regents that in the past, high school students waited until the last minute before applying to Mat-Su College because they thought of it more as a “back-up plan.” Today, the college has more respect in the eyes of teens, she said.

“It’s been a pleasure to watch this mentality shift,” Stevens said. “It’s helped shift our way of thinking, too.”

She said now when she goes into the high schools, she sees more collaboration with admission representatives from UAA and UAS. This helps students realize the systems are all connected, which enables them to see they can start at Mat-Su College and easily transfer to one of the four-year programs in the university system.

“We’re giving students more opportunities to feel empowered,” she said, pointing to the college’s “Tech Prep” program, which targets students in 2nd, 5th and 7th grades to help them start thinking about their futures in higher education or other career programs.

Keith Asche, vice president of the Mat-Su College Honors Society, said it was the Tech Prep program that helped him be more prepared for college.

“I came here with 46 tech prep credits from the Career and Technical High School and I’ll graduate this May,” he said proudly, adding the Honors Society started with 20 members and now has 70.

Colberg closed Mat-Su College’s presentation by telling the regents he feels honored to be heading up a college that has come so far in a relatively short span of time.

“There’s a lot of drama on this campus, but it’s great to be part of the drama,” he said with a smile.

The board of regents meeting continues today in room 202 of Machetanz Hall, beginning with an Audit Committee meeting at 7:30 a.m., public testimony at 9 a.m., and a continuation of discussions until 3 p.m.

For the full agenda, visit alaska.edu/bor/ and click on “agendas.” For more information, contact Kate Ripley at 450-8102.

Contact K.T. McKee at kate.mckee@frontiersman.com or 352-2252.