University Of Alaska Anchorage: VC For Student Affairs Bruce Schultz To Retire From UAA

Press release from the University of Alaska Anchorage:

August 12, 2021

Dear UAA Community,

I am writing to let you know Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Bruce Schultz has
shared with me that he will be retiring from UAA at the conclusion of this academic
year. In the short time I have known Bruce, his commitment to UAA and its students
was immediately evident. Even in sharing his retirement plans with me, Bruce’s chief
concern was providing ample time to plan a meaningful transition for Student Affairs.
I also wish to express my gratitude to Bruce for his tremendous leadership in bridging
the transition between chancellors and providing cohesion and stability to UAA amidst
the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Bruce’s career at UAA spans nearly 30 years and began as a graduate intern in the
early ’90s. During his time here he has made significant contributions to improving
the student experience — building a robust student life program and promoting student
development. He’s worked tirelessly with campus leadership to develop and advance
enrollment services at a critical time in UAA’s history.

Underpinning this work is his desire to support student life and engagement while
fostering a sense of belonging and an inclusive campus culture. His contributions
include creating the Student Clubs and Greek Life office (renamed Student Organization
Services), which serves over 100 student clubs and organizations. He created the Military
and Veteran Student Services office in response to an increasing number of veterans
attending UAA. He also established the Care Team to support at-risk students and has
coordinated the university’s response to critical student incidents for much of his
time at UAA.

Bruce was also instrumental in developing UAA’s Residential Community, planning the
residence halls and implementing living-learning communities where students in similar
programs of study could live and learn together. In 2005, the Residential Community
opened the award-winning Cama-i Room — a space he helped create that hosts programs
focused on Alaska Native, Native American and Alaska culture. The Cama-i Room received
an award in 2010 from the American College Personnel Association.

Bruce has always believed in empowering and supporting students, investing in staff
development and building operational capacity. Over the last 25 years, he has attended
every student government meeting his schedule would allow. He regularly attends student
events on campus and personally takes time to meet with students. It is impossible
to measure the impact of his many contributions at UAA. He has shared that it has
been an absolute joy to build Student Affairs and work with a talented team of highly
trained professionals to maximize the student experience at UAA.

In the coming weeks, I will meet with the Student Affairs Executive Team as well as
leadership of our governance groups to discuss the future of UAA Student Affairs.
As we proceed, my hope is that we honor Bruce’s work by providing the same thoughtfulness
and intentionality to shaping the future of Student Affairs as Bruce has demonstrated
throughout his career, for our students and higher education in Alaska.

Please join me in expressing your gratitude and support for Bruce and his work.

Sincerely,Sean Parnell,UAA Chancellor

This press release was produced by the University of Alaska Anchorage. The views expressed here are the author’s own.