DHSS Commissioner keynotes at College of Health 2015 All-College meeting

2015 COH All-College Meeting at Lucy Cuddy Hall.

L to r: COH Dean Bill Hogan and
DHSS Commissioner Valerie Davidson.

Alaska Department of Health and Social Services Commissioner Valerie Davidson gave the keynote presentation  at the COH All-College meeting on August 19. She discussed Medicaid expansion and redesign of the Alaska system, and the important role the College of Health plays in supporting the delivery of health services in the state.

Commissioner Davidson noted, "We count on the work of the College of Health. You are making a difference - improving the health and lives of Alaskans."

 Dean Bill Hogan presented information on the COH programs and budget, outlined some of the major accreditation efforts over the past and coming academic year, welcomed new COH units, and recognized new faculty and staff.

Dr. Bart Quimby, UAA Academic
Planning.

Dr. Bart Quimby from UAA Academic Planning, spoke briefly about the steps the Anchorage campus is taking to look at alignment of unit missions, state priorities, and student needs in this time of budget constraints. The meeting closed with a round-robin presentation by the COH Leadership Team highlighting the challenges and opportunities facing us this academic year. Dr. André Rosay was unable to attend the meeting; Barbara Armstrong, editor of the Alaska Justice Forum, and Charlotte Titus, Office Manager, presented Justice Center program and budget information.

Barbara Armstrong, Justice Center.

Charlotte Titus, Justice Center.

Barbara highlighted the Alaska Justice Information Center (AJIC) and the director, Dr. Brad Myrstol. She described AJIC's first project with the Pew-MacArthur Results First Initiative which focuses on examining specific cost-benefit ratios of justice system programs and helping policy makers make better decisions about investing general fund money in programs with evidence-based impact. AJIC will be expanding its work to other areas that impact offending and recidivism, including physical and behavioral health care.

 

2014 Justice Center Bike to Work Team pedals in the sunshine

L to r: Dr. Troy Payne, Tuyet Tran, Amy Perkins, Charlotte Titus.

Anchorage's 10th Annual Bike to Work Day was held on Wednesday, June 4. This year's Justice Center Bike to Work Team basked in the sun as they pedaled to work.  Riders for 2014 included Dr. Troy Payne, Tuyet Tran, Amy Perkins, and Charlotte Titus.

The UAA Office of Sustainability and UAA Student Activities hosted a free BBQ for all the UAA riders.

Fall 2012/Winter 2013 issue of the Alaska Justice Forum

The Fall 2012/Winter 2013 issue of the Alaska Justice Forum features articles on an integrated approach to mediation, Alaska correctional populations and trends in 2011, U.S. correctional populations in 2011, and a progress update on the Alaska Prisoner Reentry Task Force and the Alaska Five-Year Prisoner Reentry Strategic Plan.

Articles:

"Moving Beyond Brands: Integrating Approaches to Mediation" by Brian Jarrett

Mediation has become a competition among brands vying for distinction based more on market concerns than genuine difference. This is not a positive development for a professional field of endeavor. Mediation has much more to offer than competing claims of superiority that attempt to deride and disparage the competition. This article, which is written from a sociological viewpoint, challenges these claims and suggests that the mediation community should develop instead a broader integrated approach to mediation that is pragmatic, flexible, open-source, and based on a robust theoretical foundation.

"Alaska Correctional Populations 2011"

This article provides a description of Alaska correctional populations in 2011 based upon the Alaska Department of Corrections 2011 offender profile. At the end of 2011, there was a total of 5,727 offenders in prisons, jails, community residential centers, treatment centers, or offsite monitoring programs, and an additonal 5,951 offenders on probation or parole.

"Trends in Alaska Offender Demographics"

An aging offender population, a change in the proportion of offenders sentenced for violent versus non-violent crimes, an increase in offenders in community residential caenters and offiste programs, and an increase in average length of stay for felony and misdemeanor convictions are among the trends in Alaska offender demographics as described in the Alaska Department of Corrections 2011 offender profile.

"U.S. Correctional Populations 2011"

At year-end 2011, 1,504,150 offenders were incarcerated in the U.S. under federal or state jurisdiction, and an additional 735,601 individuals were in custody under local jurisdiction, for a total of 2,239,751 incarcerated individuals in the U.S., according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS). The U.S. corrections population in 2011 declined for the third consecutive year, but the U.S. continues to lead all other nations in both the rate of incarceration and the actual number of incarcerated persons.

"Alaska Prisoner Reentry Task Force Update"

The Alaska Prisoner Reentry Task Force, a sub-committee of the Criminal Justice Working Group (CJWG), focuses on promoting the goal that individuals released from incarceration do not return to custody. This article presents an update on progress on the The Alaska Five-Year Prisoner Reentry Strategic Plan, 2011–2016, which was released by Task Force in February 2011.

"Staff Changes"

Charlotte Titus has joined the Justice Center staff as office manager.

Charlotte Titus joins Justice Center as office manager

Charlotte Titus joined the Justice Center as Office Manager on January 2, 2013. She was most recently the Administrative Coordinator in the Office of the Dean, UAA College of Education.  Prior to that, Charlotte was the Fiscal Technician for Parking Services and Catering & Conferencing at UAA. Before moving back to Alaska, she also worked for the University of West Florida Department of Computer Science as administrative support for the department chair.

We look forward to working with Charlotte as we start this new chapter and new year.