The Leadership Team has selected Gerontology as the strategic focus for the College of Health & Social Welfare. The designation of a strategic focus for the College provides us an opportunity to concentrate our significant expertise and combined efforts in an arena that is central to the needs of our state and nation.

Why Gerontology? Human populations in the state, the nation, and the world are aging rapidly, with the rate in Alaska being one of the fastest in the country. We face the additional challenge of attending to the health and welfare of elders in remote areas and in extreme climates. Fortunately, the skills and resources to meet these needs reside in the units of this College.

The selection of a strategic focus does not mean that we will cease to do well the entire range of activities that we traditionally accomplish or that we will neglect other aspects of our mission. It does mean, however, that we will give special import to Gerontology and make an explicit claim to advance both the theoretical and practical knowledge base in this important arena.

Please join your colleagues within the College as we come together to create critical cross-disciplinary approaches to instruction, research, and service. Please use this forum as a place to explore the possibilities for our collaborative efforts.
-- Dean Easley