As of late October, we have shared updates on summer and early fall 2022 Unified Catalog work with the University of Maine System (UMS) Faculty Governance Council, the UMS Chief Academic Officers Council (CAOC), the Unified Catalog Project Team, and six of the eight university and Law School faculty senates/assemblies. (The remaining two faculty governance bodies— at the University of Maine at Presque Isle and at the University of Maine at Machias– will receive those same updates in November.) Conversations to date with faculty, provosts, and professional staff about current and projected Unified Catalog efforts have been consistently positive.
To move projects forward as efficiently as possible, we are now populating a small Working Group— drawn principally from Project Team members— with representation from faculty, the provosts, and the registrars. That group will meet monthly throughout the academic year and will share regular updates with the senate/assembly presidents and their faculty colleagues to ensure open and transparent communication in all facets of this important work.