Alaska Pacific University Is Extending Pandemic Plan to Spring 2021
APU
Alaska Pacific University (APU) announced that most spring 2021 classes will be held via distance delivery to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.
“Cases are climbing in Alaska, and we are still in the early days of winter,” says APU President Valerie Nurr’araaluk Davidson, a former commissioner of the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services. “It has become clear that for the safety of the APU community and communities around the state, we must extend our pandemic response into the spring.”
APU began its fall semester under a Campus Reopening Plan developed with input from public health experts. The same operating plan will be extended to the spring term, which begins January 11, 2021.
Access to campus buildings will require an APU ID, and most courses will be offered through distance delivery. Residence halls will remain open for students who need to live on campus, and the university will work with individual students as needed to ensure they are able to access their online classes.
Details about course delivery will be communicated to APU students prior to the opening of spring-term registration.
Current Issue
June 2021
“Responding to the pandemic has required many adjustments,” Davidson says. “The APU community has been so resilient and adaptable, and I couldn’t be more grateful for their efforts.”
The Campus Reopening Plan includes contact tracing, notification, testing, and isolation procedures to mitigate the virus’ spread, as well as policies requiring wearing masks, physical distancing, and limiting in-person gatherings. APU’s Campus Reopening Plan is available to the public at www.AlaskaPacific.edu/coronavirus.
In This Issue
Alaska Problems Require Alaska Solutions
June 2021
On January 16, a fire destroyed the water plant and washeteria in the southwest Alaska village of Tuluksak. For the village of about 350 people, it was a devastating blow. The water plant was the only source of drinking water in the village, in which the primarily Yup’ik residents lack indoor plumbing and rely on honey buckets, not uncommon in the flat, swampy region.