Talk:Alaska Pacific University

NPOV Dispute

This page seems to be written with an "administrative" slant- that is, it seems to almost be taken from a brochure or similar advertising material. Tim Wochomurka (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 22:30, 16 February 2013 (UTC)

Updates/Improving NPOV - Help?

I've made a couple of edits to the page, but before I go any further, I wanted to request that someone else review what I've done and make sure that it's staying within the guidelines of NPOV. Full disclosure - I do work for Alaska Pacific University.
I am a new editor, and I just found out about the Request Edit feature, so I'll use that in the future for other edits to the page to avoid a conflict of interest. The Campus and Student Life sections in particular need some revision to make it sound less like a brochure. Aryncoltzien (talk) 16:21, 2 April 2018 (UTC)

Campus Edits

To add to the page lead, to begin to flush it out as per the template request at the top of the page
APU's main campus is located in the University-Medical district of Anchorage, AK, adjacent to the Alaska Native Medical Center and the University of Alaska Anchorage, with which it shares the UAA/APU Consortium Library.

Adding a lead section to Campus.
The main campus includes academic facilities, residence halls, community gathering spaces, recreational facilities, and winter and summer recreational trails. Other buildings on the main campus are offices for the US Geological Survey and Alaska Public Media.
APU has an extension of its campus in Palmer, AK known as the Kellogg Campus. It functions as a 900-acre working farm for students of the sustainability program, as well as an environmental learning center for home-schooled students.

The Residences section is fine, I think, but under Academic Buildings... I've tried to revise it so it's less promotional and more factual.
Grant Hall is the oldest academic building and is home to the Environmental Science, Liberal Studies, Marine Biology, and Outdoor Studies programs. This is also where administrative offices (such as Information Technology and Accounting and Finance) are located.

Carr Gottstein is the most recent academic building, and is home to the Psychology department and the Office of Advancement. This is also the location for Student Financial Aid and the Registrar's Office.

The Moseley Sports Center is where the pool and gym are found.

The Atwood Center, named for Robert Atwood, is located directly in between the dormitories of North and South Atwood. It includes a cafeteria, the student center, a chapel, fitness/recreational facilities, and assorted university offices. The Atwood Center is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the location (along with North and South Atwood) of a major conference of Alaska Natives at the time of the passage of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act in 1971.

Other buildings on the campus include Gould Hall, Grace Hall and a new office building, buildings that are all occupied by the USGS. A medical building is also located on the APU campus, the Alaska Spine Institute. The President's house is located directly behind the Mosley Sports Center.

Thanks, all. Aryncoltzien (talk) 16:59, 2 April 2018 (UTC)

Edit request reply 03-APR-2018

 Unable to implement. Please include with your request any references which could help in the implementation of the edits you've requested. I've placed a search box at the top of this talk page which contains preformatted links which can be used to assist you in finding references which can then be used in the article. For simple information such as the locations of certain buildings, this can come from the University itself. Please note that while references may be found for this information, that would not automatically make it suitable for inclusion in Wikipedia. Articles should not become a complete exposition of all possible details, but rather, a summary of accepted knowledge regarding their subjects. Detailed descriptions of the University's physical environment, including the precise locations of offices and buildings located therein, is not the purpose of Wikipedia. This type of information should be posted elsewhere, or if placed on Wikipedia, then summarized as much as possible. If you need any assistance with this search, or have any other questions, don't hesitate to ask me on my talk page, or by placing a new edit request template on this talk page to draw the assistance of editors. Thank you!  Spintendo      14:55, 3 April 2018 (UTC)

References

Thank you for the super informative help, Spintendo! Aryncoltzien (talk) 00:02, 6 April 2018 (UTC)

Campus Edits

To add to the page lead, to begin to flush it out as per the template request at the top of the page - haven't added a source as it's just echoing what's said on the UAA page lead.
APU's main campus is located in the University-Medical district of Anchorage, AK, adjacent to the Alaska Native Medical Center and the University of Alaska Anchorage, with which it shares the UAA/APU Consortium Library.

Consolidating campus section into a summary rather than a full breakdown of each building on campus - the current text under the Campus heading can all be deleted, to be replaced with this. Reference 6 is already listed as reference 4 on the main article page. Picture can stay.
The main campus includes academic facilities, residence halls, community gathering spaces, recreational facilities, and winter and summer recreational trails. The campus is comprised of eight major buildings, with five of them currently utilized directly by the university. The three other buildings on the main campus are offices for the US Geological Survey, Alaska Public Media, and the Alaska Spine Institute.
The Atwood Campus Center is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the location (along with North and South Atwood) of a major conference of Alaska Natives at the time of the passage of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act in 1971.
APU has an extension of its campus in Palmer, AK known as the Kellogg Campus. It functions as a 700-acre working farm for students of the sustainability program, as well as an environmental learning center for home-schooled students.
There are multiple housing accommodations on the main campus, divided up by class year designations. All incoming freshman under 21 years of age are required to live on campus for their first two years.

References

Reply 05-APR-2018

Approved.  Spintendo      02:01, 6 April 2018 (UTC)

Student Life Edits

Athletics

To replace the current athletics section, which is too promotional and has outdated/irrelevant information. I wasn't sure if the section about Kikkan was too promotional, but it definitely meets Wikipedia standards for notability and it was a huge deal in Alaska and for APU when she won - if I need to pull more sources, let me know.
Alaska Pacific University is known for its Nordic Ski Team. The APU Nordic Ski Center (APUNSC) was established in the late 1990’s as a regional Olympic training center for cross-country skiers. According to the center’s “About” page, the mission of APUNSC is “to promote the development of cross-country skiing in Anchorage through community based athletic programs and education”. APUNSC offers year round training programs for junior, senior and masters level skiers who aspire to competitive success at the regional, national and international levels.
Alaska Methodist University's Nordic Ski Center sent four skiers to the 1972 Olympics in Sapporo; AMU/APU has sent at least one skier to every winter Olympics since, including Kikkan Randall, gold medalist in the cross-country skiing event at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang.

Clubs/Associations

To replace the current Clubs/Associations section – lots of outdated information or information irrelevant to the wiki reader at large (doesn’t need to be a list of all the clubs available at APU).
Associated Students of Alaska Pacific University (ASAPU) is the elected body for student government. ASAPU members represent student interests and oversee student clubs and organizations. APU has a typical assortment of student clubs and organizations with which students can affiliate themselves.

In the Residence Halls, the Resident Activity Programming Board hosts events for students who live on campus.

References

Aryncoltzien (talk) 22:24, 17 April 2018 (UTC)

Reply 17-APR-2018

Partially implemented

1. Text from your proposal (under Athletics) has been found to be insufficiently paraphrased from the source material. A listing of the text may be found here. Text added to the article must be phrased in your own words, per WP:CLOSEPARAPHRASE.
2. Additional text located in the article was also found to be insufficiently paraphrased, and has been removed. A listing of that text may be found here.
3. The text under Clubs/Associations was approved and inserted into the article.

Regards,  Spintendo      03:12, 18 April 2018 (UTC)

Thanks for your diligence - I'll rework the phrasing. Aryncoltzien (talk) 17:22, 18 April 2018 (UTC)

Athletics

Rephrased to better comply with paraphrasing guidelines; additional source added to clarify start date of APUNSC.
Alaska Pacific University is known for its Nordic Ski Team. The APU Nordic Ski Center (APUNSC) was established in 1999 as a regional Olympic training center for cross-country skiers. According to the center’s “About” page, the mission of APUNSC is to encourage involvement in cross-country skiing programs in Anchorage. APUNSC offers year round training programs for all levels of skiers who wish to compete professionally.
Alaska Methodist University's ski team sent four skiers to the 1972 Winter Olympics; AMU/APU has sent at minimum one skier to every winter Olympics after 1972, including Kikkan Randall who became a gold medalist in the cross-country skiing event at the 2018 Winter Olympics.

References

Aryncoltzien (talk) 23:51, 20 April 2018 (UTC)

Reply

 Implemented Thank you for re-writing this.  Spintendo          01:14, 21 April 2018 (UTC)

Page Lead/History/Academics

A bigger update, because some sections are necessarily entwined.

Page Lead

To replace the current page lead; I’ve modelled it off of UAA’s and King's University College's page leads. The first because of proximity/shared locations and the second because it’s a very similar type of university and is an Education “Good” article nominee.

Alaska Pacific University (APU) is a small liberal arts and sciences college located in Anchorage, Alaska that emphasizes active learning. Originally established as Alaska Methodist University in 1957, it was founded by Peter Gordon Gould who stated an apparent need for “for indigenous leadership reared, educated and trained in Alaska for Alaska”.
The main campus is located adjacent to the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) and the Alaska Native Medical Center; positioned between the two university campuses, APU shares the UAA/APU Consortium Library with UAA.
In 2016, APU entered into a partnership with the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, the largest tribal health organization in the U.S. The partnership supports the development of new academic and cultural programs focused on the needs of Alaska and Alaska Native people.
The university is a member of the Eco League, a group of six small universities and colleges with strong programs in Psychology and Environmental Studies as well as related topics.

History

To replace the existing first two paragraphs of the History section; added information about the founder + sourced to secondary sources that are not the university. Removed and reworded a section about the early history being “unclear” – after reviewing university materials, I don’t think it is? May be a holdover from the page’s deletion days.
Blank source number 8 is because that sentence is sourced in the article to a source that has a ref name, but it's not listed here - should fill in once implemented?

APUs was founded in the late 1950's as Alaska Methodist University by Peter Gordon Gould, an Aleut from Unga, Alaska. Gould attended the Jesse Lee Home (a Methodist boarding school) in his youth. Gould became the first Alaska Native minister in the United Methodist Church later in life, and would use his position to campaign for the development of a Methodist University in Alaska. In 1956, Alaska's territorial police granted permission for the placement of signs to mark the college site for promotional purposes. Alaska Pacific University, chartered as Alaska Methodist University by the Territory of Alaska in 1957, dedicated its campus on June 28, 1959.

In April 1958, Dr. Donald F. Ebright was elected as the university's first administrative president. However, Frederick P. McGinnis served as president to the first class of students at the university; his obituary in the Anchorage Daily News read, "Fred served as President of Alaska Methodist University from 1960-1970, and oversaw the early development of the University. He acquired the 500 acres of Anchorage land that would become the site of AMU." The Grant Hall cornerstone laying ceremony was held on July 12, 1959.

An additional request to delete the last two sentences from the History section, as I’ve incorporated them into the page lead.

Academics

To replace the current Academics section; removed a list of degrees and sourced the other sections.
The Early Honors Program functions as an alternative to the senior year in high school. During both semesters, Early Honors students enroll in a common university-level curriculum intended to satisfy the senior level requirements of the local school districts. Depending on the student's remaining requirements, they will have the opportunity to select courses from the Alaska Pacific course catalog relevant to their academic interests. The fall semester is 15 weeks from August to December - the spring semester is also 15 weeks, with the option of taking the first four weeks as a "study abroad" course. The coursework is supplemented by college planning and participation in on-campus life.

Undergraduates can pursue liberal arts and sciences programs, such as counseling psychology, business administration, marine and environmental sciences, and sustainability studies. APU's course year is split into "block" sessions of four weeks, co-existing alongside the "session" of eleven weeks to form a semester. Students can take classes in both block and session. Alongside classes, students are encouraged to pursue internships, research, or field explorations in their area of interest. All students complete a senior project related to their major area of study.

APU offers nine graduate programs; eight master’s degrees and one doctoral degree. There are also several graduate certificate options.

APU offers their Professional Studies programs for non-traditional students seeking further education in their field of interest. These classes are offered at different times and are often online, as well as having a reduced rate from the standard undergraduate tuition.

References

Thank you for your help. Aryncoltzien (talk) 19:56, 24 April 2018 (UTC)

Reply quotebox with inserted reviewer decisions and feedback 24-APR-2018

Below you will see where text from your request has been quoted with individual advisory messages placed underneath, either accepting, declining or otherwise commenting upon your proposal(s). Please see the enclosed notes for additional information about each request. Also note areas where additional clarification was required. When this is ready to be provided to the reviewer please open a new edit request. Additional changes to the article include the removal of the Lead too short maintenance template. The reasoning behind this removal is that since it is an educational university, any failure to provide additional information in the lead is undoubtedly compensated for by the standard knowledge that readers likely have regarding what the subject of universities in general entails, including their basic functions.   SPINTENDO          01:23, 25 April 2018 (UTC)

Alaska Pacific University (APU) is a small liberal arts and sciences college located in Anchorage, Alaska that emphasizes active learning.[1] Originally established as Alaska Methodist University in 1957, it was founded by Peter Gordon Gould who stated an apparent need for “for indigenous leadership reared, educated and trained in Alaska for Alaska”.[2] The main campus is located adjacent to the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) and the Alaska Native Medical Center; positioned between the two university campuses, APU shares the UAA/APU Consortium Library with UAA.
 Partly approved.
___________

In 2016, APU entered into a partnership with the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, the largest tribal health organization in the U.S.[3] The partnership supports the development of new academic and cultural programs focused on the needs of Alaska and Alaska Native people.[4]
 No change.
___________

The university is a member of the Eco League, a group of six small universities and colleges with strong programs in Psychology and Environmental Studies as well as related topics.
 Unable to implement.
___________

APUs was founded in the late 1950's as Alaska Methodist University by Peter Gordon Gould, an Aleut from Unga, Alaska[5].
Approved.
___________

Gould attended the Jesse Lee Home (a Methodist boarding school) in his youth.[6] Gould became the first Alaska Native minister in the United Methodist Church later in life, and would use his position to campaign for the development of a Methodist University in Alaska.[7]
 Partly approved.
___________

In 1956, Alaska's territorial police granted permission for the placement of signs to mark the college site for promotional purposes.[2]
  Clarification needed.
___________

Alaska Pacific University, chartered as Alaska Methodist University by the Territory of Alaska in 1957, dedicated its campus on June 28, 1959.[8]
Approved.
___________

In April 1958, Dr. Donald F. Ebright was elected as the university's first administrative president.[2] However, Frederick P. McGinnis served as president to the first class of students at the university; his obituary in the Anchorage Daily News read, "Fred served as President of Alaska Methodist University from 1960-1970, and oversaw the early development of the University. He acquired the 500 acres of Anchorage land that would become the site of AMU."[9]
 Partly approved.
___________

The Grant Hall cornerstone laying ceremony was held on July 12, 1959.[2]
Approved.
___________

An additional request to delete the last two sentences from the History section, as I’ve incorporated them into the page lead.
 Not approved.
___________

The Early Honors Program functions as an alternative to the senior year in high school. During both semesters, Early Honors students enroll in a common university-level curriculum intended to satisfy the senior level requirements of the local school districts.[10] Depending on the student's remaining requirements, they will have the opportunity to select courses from the Alaska Pacific course catalog relevant to their academic interests.
 Partly approved.
___________

The fall semester is 15 weeks from August to December - the spring semester is also 15 weeks, with the option of taking the first four weeks as a "study abroad" course.[11]
 Partly approved.
___________

The coursework is supplemented by college planning and participation in on-campus life.
 Not approved.
___________

Undergraduates can pursue liberal arts and sciences programs, such as counseling psychology, business administration, marine and environmental sciences, and sustainability studies.[12]
 Partly approved.
___________

APU's course year is split into "block" sessions of four weeks, co-existing alongside the "session" of eleven weeks to form a semester. Students can take classes in both block and session.[11] Alongside classes, students are encouraged to pursue internships, research, or field explorations in their area of interest. All students complete a senior project related to their major area of study.[13]
 Partly approved.
___________

APU offers nine graduate programs; eight master’s degrees and one doctoral degree.[12] There are also several graduate certificate options.[12]
Approved.
___________

APU offers their Professional Studies programs for non-traditional students seeking further education in their field of interest. These classes are offered at different times and are often online, as well as having a reduced rate from the standard undergraduate tuition.[14]
 Partly approved.
___________

This is marvelously helpful, thank you for your thorough feedback. Aryncoltzien (talk) 16:05, 25 April 2018 (UTC)

History

Altering two sentences in the history section to remove redundancy throughout the section/clarify the role of the first two presidents based on feedback from Spintendo. I split the second sentence in two, and added one additional source to clarify McGinnis' start date. Both of the other sources are already listed in the article. Thanks! Aryncoltzien (talk) 20:14, 1 May 2018 (UTC)

Alaska Methodist University dedicated its campus on June 28, 1959. In April 1958, Dr. Donald F. Ebright was elected as the university's first administrative president. Frederick P. McGinnis was elected in 1960, and he served as acting president to the first class of students to attend the university.

References

 Implemented Thank you for clarifying those passages of text. They read much better now.   SPINTENDO          00:07, 2 May 2018 (UTC)

@Aryncoltzien: Quick question. The dedication of the campus occurred 28 June 1959, and in the next sentence it mentions Dr. Ebright being elected in April 1958. Would you like me to swap these two events so that they are chronologically in order? However, this would place the dedication in between the mentions of the two elections, since chronologically it occurred between them. It's tricky, but I can do it. I'll leave the decision up to you. Just let me know.   SPINTENDO          00:22, 2 May 2018 (UTC)

@Spintendo: Yes, I think chronological would be better - maybe to tie the paragraph together a bit more cohesively (so it's not jumping from topic to topic), it could read:

In April 1958, Dr. Donald F. Ebright was elected as the university's first administrative president. During his tenure, Alaska Methodist University dedicated its campus on June 28, 1959.

Notable Alumni

I'd like to request that Ned Boulberhane and Brenda Dukart be removed from the notable alumni list. By my institutional records, Ned is not an APU alum; therefore, he definitely can't be a notable alum. Brenda is, but I've been slowly picking away at a massive list of alumni we have internally to try and verify them as being notable by Wikipedia standards, and while she and her role are both important, I don't believe she is Wikipedia-notable. Places that bear her name online are all self-promotion or press-release related; there are no reliable, intellectually independent secondary sources that are also independent of the subject as relates to her.
I realize that criteria is for creating a page about a person, but for the purposes of citing "notable" alumni on this page, I think we should adhere to that criteria just so we don't have multiple conflicting definitions of notability.
I'll be submitting a bit of an overhaul to the alumni section soon, complete with more sources for the existing alumni and adding more - I just wanted to clean up those two names. Thank you! Aryncoltzien (talk) 17:23, 4 October 2018 (UTC)

Y

Aryncoltzien, thank you for this detailed request and it has been easily implemented. Ned Boulberhane, whether I have personal knowledge of his status with your university, has no article and his citation / source is to a self-interest personal blog (non-reliable source). The second, Brenda Dukart, has no article nor any citation at all. Please forgive my mistake that I immediately amended myself. I soon will have ten years tenure on Wikipedia but am fallible. Enjoyed meeting you and I have reset parameter call to answered. Wishing you all the best. Fylbecatulous talk 20:08, 4 October 2018 (UTC)

Notable Alumni - Reference Overhaul + Additions

Below are the previous notable alumni – this list is the same as the one on the page currently, but all of the references have been corrected or updated.

• Sadie Bjornsen, cross-country skier (Olympian in 2014 and 2018)
• Sharon Cissna, member of the Alaska House of Representatives
• Lew Freedman, sports writer and columnist at Anchorage Daily News; author of sports-related books
• Katherine Gottlieb, 2004 MacArthur Fellowship recipient and President & CEO of Southcentral Foundation
• Albert Kookesh, former member of the Alaska Senate and Tlingit community leader
• Katy Lovegreen, Miss Alaska 2011
• Walt Monegan, former police chief of Anchorage and former Alaska Commissioner of Public Safety
• Kikkan Randall, cross-country skier (Olympian in 2006 and 2018; gold medal winner in 2018)
• Scott Stephens, vocalist for Liquid Blue
• Rosita Worl, president of the Sealaska Heritage Institute

Here are notable alumni to be added to the list – it would be great if they could be merged into the list above alphabetically by last name.

• Holly Brooks, former cross-country skier (Olympian in 2010 and 2014] and current sports psychologist
• Julie Kitka, president of the Alaska Federation of Natives
• Harry McDonald, co-founder and CEO of Carlile Transportation Systems
• Katsutaka Tanaka, founder of Tanaka’s Martial Arts Academy in Anchorage
• Sharon Thompson, Executive Director of Arctic Slope Community Foundation
• Wayne Westlake, President and CEO of NANA Corporation

References

Aryncoltzien (talk) 01:03, 8 February 2019 (UTC)

Reply 7-FEB-2019

  Edit request implemented  

• Per WP:ALUMNI, only those meeting the inclusion criteria for WP:LISTBIO were added.

Regards,  Spintendo  02:19, 8 February 2019 (UTC)

Notes

Change requested to president

• Bob Onders is no longer president. Valerie Nurr’araaluk Davidson is now president:
• More information is available at : https://www.alaskapacific.edu/valerie-nurraraaluk-davidson-named-alaska-pacific-university-president/:

209.112.221.91 (talk) 20:58, 24 August 2020 (UTC)

Article updated as requested. TSventon (talk) 11:10, 26 August 2020 (UTC)

Change requested to president

Valerie Davidson has her own Wikipedia page. Her name, listed at the top, can be linked to the following page: https://wiki.riteme.site/wiki/Valerie_Davidson — Preceding unsigned comment added by 209.112.147.214 (talk • contribs) 18:55, 22 September 2020 (UTC)

 Done Altamel (talk) 04:28, 27 September 2020 (UTC)