FORT KENT, Maine — The Board of Trustees for the University of Maine System (UMS) will hold their regular May meeting at the University of Maine at Fort Kent (UMFK) starting this Sunday, May 19.
The public meeting will begin at 4 p.m. on Sunday in the Nadeau Conference Room with a presentation about UMFK led by its President Deb Hedeen, followed by a tour of the university’s new interactive nursing simulation center (External Site).
The state-of-the-art training center is enabling UMFK — which delivers its in-demand nursing program in Fort Kent, at the University of Maine at Presque Isle and online — to expand enrollment in support of state workforce needs and ensure graduates have the skills to deliver safe, effective patient care. It was funded in part by the Maine Jobs and Recovery Plan (External Site) proposed by Gov. Janet Mills and approved by the 130th Maine Legislature.
UMS is the state’s largest producer of professional nurses and health care workers, awarding 4,501 degrees and certificates in health care-related fields over the past five years.
The Trustees will reconvene on Monday, May 20 with public comment opening the meeting at 8:30 a.m., also in the Nadeau Conference Room.
On the agenda is the recommended approval of the System’s Fiscal Year 2025 operating budget — the first since 2014 that has been balanced without the use of stabilization funds thanks to steady enrollment estimates, cost containment measures and new revenue generation. The proposed budget includes a 3% in-state undergraduate tuition increase, though Maine’s public universities remain the most affordable in New England and inflation-adjusted tuition and fees costs have actually fallen over the past five years.
Meeting materials are available at maine.edu/board-of-trustees/. As part of the Board’s commitment to transparency and accessibility, Monday’s public meeting will also be livestreamed here (External Site).
Contact: Samantha Warren, University of Maine System Director of External Affairs, 207-632-0389, samantha.warren@maine.edu
About the University of Maine System
Established in 1968, the University of Maine System (UMS) unites seven Maine’s distinctive public universities, comprising 10 campuses and numerous centers, in the common purpose of providing quality higher education while delivering on its traditional tripartite mission of teaching, research, and public service.
In 2020 UMS became the first and only statewide enterprise of public higher education in the country to transition to a unified accreditation for the system. Much different than a merger or consolidation, unified accreditation is a new operating model for the University of Maine System that removes the primary barrier to inter-institutional collaboration.
A comprehensive public institution of higher education, UMS serves more than 30,000 students annually and is supported by the efforts of more than 2,000 full-time and part-time faculty, more than 3,000 regular full-time and part-time staff, and a complement of part-time temporary (adjunct) faculty.
Reaching more than 500,000 people annually through educational and cultural offerings, the University of Maine System also benefits from more than two-thirds of its alumni population residing within the state; more than 123,000 individuals.
The System consists of seven main campuses: The University of Maine (UMaine), including its regional campus the University of Maine at Machias (UMaine Machias); the University of Maine at Augusta (UMA); the University of Maine at Farmington (UMF); the University of Maine at Fort Kent (UMFK), the University of Maine at Presque Isle (UMPI); and the University of Southern Maine (USM). The System also includes a UMA campus in Bangor, USM campuses in Gorham and Lewiston-Auburn, the University of Maine School of Law, and the University of Maine Graduate and Professional Center.