BANGOR – Updates on the University of Maine System’s strategic planning initiative are among the agenda items when the University System’s Board of Trustees meets September 25 and 26 in Farmington.
Specific aspects of the System’s strategic plan, adopted in September 2004, include a presentation on the integration of the plan with the University of Maine at Fort Kent’s (UMFK) own long-term planning. Formal Board action on that item will occur in November.
The Board meeting will also feature a panel discussion of the University of Maine at Farmington’s (UMF) plan to convert its academic program to a four-credit curriculum from its current three-credit offerings. The discussion will be led by four members of the UMF faculty.
Also on the Board’s agenda:
- Trustees will be asked to approve the establishment of a commercial park at the University of Maine’s (UMaine) Center for Cooperative Aquaculture Research, located in the Hancock County town of Franklin on Taunton Bay. The purpose of the park is to allow and encourage marine-related businesses that could be “spun off” from research and partnerships conducted by, or involving, UMaine researchers and students. The commercial park is viewed by UMaine officials as a logical “next step” in using university-based research for economic development and to create new jobs, new products, and new businesses.
- Trustees will be asked to approve the appointments of several individuals nominated for campus-based administrative positions: William H. Foster as interim dean of the university of Southern Maine’s (USM) Muskie School of Public Service; Judith S. Ryan as USM’s vice president for Human Resources and University Planning; Blake A. James as UMaine’s interim Athletic Director; Evelyn S. Silver as senior advisor to UMaine President Robert A. Kennedy; and Robert C. White as UMaine’s associate provost and dean of Lifelong Learning.
Established in 1968, the University of Maine System is the state's largest educational entity, with more than 34,000 students enrolled. It features seven universities -- some with multiple campuses -- located across the state, as well as 11 University College outreach centers and more than 100 interactive distance education sites. For more information, log onto www.maine.edu.
All Board meetings are open to the public. Persons with disabilities, who need accommodations to attend, should call David Wilson, director of the University System Facilities Office, at 973-3335 (voice) or 973-3300 (TDD) or by e-mail at dwilson@maine.edu.
