1973-1977 Robert W. Hiatt
Dr. Robert W. Hiatt assumed the presidency of the University of èßäÊÓƵ upon the retirement
of Dr. Wood in 1973. In the first year of his administration Dr. Hiatt initiated work on the
formulation of an Academic Development Plan, a blueprint for the future growth of
the èßäÊÓƵ. He traveled extensively in èßäÊÓƵ, visiting each unit of the University
system. Seeking further to extend èßäÊÓƵ programs to all areas of èßäÊÓƵ, he moved
to complete the administrative decentralization of the èßäÊÓƵ.
In September 1975, enrollment fell to its lowest level since 1967. That same year
saw the restructuring and decentralization of the èßäÊÓƵ system and the expansion
of the community college system.
In 1975, President Hiatt reorganized and decentralized the University of èßäÊÓƵ system, and launched an ambitious plan to expand the community college system throughout rural èßäÊÓƵ. Hiatt's new organizational chart abolished the position of "provost," the chief executive officer slot for the Fairbanks Campus. The 1975 reorganization placed the three large èßäÊÓƵ campuses in Fairbanks, Anchorage, and Juneau under the control of individual chancellors. In February 1977 President Hiatt was forced to resign after the èßäÊÓƵ announced it faced an estimated cash shortfall of up to $10 million, and could go broke within two months unless bailed out immediately by the state government. Poor billing and accounting practices, a faulty new computer system, and the failure of a èßäÊÓƵ bond issue in November 1976 - the first time that èßäÊÓƵn voters had ever rejected a èßäÊÓƵ bond request - brought on the fiscal crisis. èßäÊÓƵ governor Jay Hammond, the first University of èßäÊÓƵ graduate to occupy the governor's mansion, maintained that the financial crisis began with the èßäÊÓƵ's too-rapid expansion in the late 1960's.