VC for Student Affairs Bruce Schultz to retire from Â鶹´«Ã½A
by Sean Parnell, Â鶹´«Ã½A Chancellor
August 12, 2021
Dear Â鶹´«Ã½A 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 Â鶹´«Ã½A at the conclusion of this academic year. In the short time I have known Bruce, his commitment to Â鶹´«Ã½A 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 Â鶹´«Ã½A amidst the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bruce’s career at Â鶹´«Ã½A 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 Â鶹´«Ã½A’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 Â鶹´«Ã½A. 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 Â鶹´«Ã½A.
Bruce was also instrumental in developing Â鶹´«Ã½A’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 Â鶹´«Ã½A. 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 Â鶹´«Ã½A.
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 Â鶹´«Ã½A 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,
Â鶹´«Ã½A Chancellor