PORTLAND, Maine — The Board of Trustees for the University of Maine System (UMS) will meet in Portland on Monday, Jan. 13 to advance partnerships and programming responsive to the needs of the state.
The Trustees’ regular public meeting will be held from 8 a.m. to 1:40 p.m. in the McGoldrick Center on the University of Southern Maine’s (USM) growing Portland campus and livestreamed here (External Site) as part of the Board’s commitment to transparency.
Faculty from across UMS will demonstrate how they are working together across the System and state through the multi-university Tourism, Hospitality and Outdoor Recreation (THOR) Institute to prepare students for meaningful careers in Maine’s largest economic sector. The institute supports place-based courses that educate students about THOR-related challenges and opportunities in different regions of the state and fellowships through which students apply their learning by doing hands-on research and service projects that benefit industry and community partners.
Starting this month, an 18-credit THOR minor is offered within the System, with courses provided through all UMS undergraduate universities and accessible to all students. Leveraging funding provided to UMS through the Maine Jobs & Recovery Plan proposed by Gov. Janet Mills and approved by the 130th Maine Legislature, $1,000 scholarships are available to the first 25 students who enroll.
Consistent with the meeting’s focus on collaborations that grow the size and skill of the state’s workforce and support students’ economic mobility, host President Jacqueline Edmondson and university leaders will also give a presentation to Trustees on the USM Career and Employment Hub (External Site). Huskies are connected to campus and community career development opportunities through the hub, including job shadows, paid internships and peer career advising.
Additionally, Trustees will act on new academic degree programs and capital project proposals that address critical state needs and reduce System operating costs and space. This includes improving rural oral health care access and outcomes by expanding the University of Maine at Augusta’s allied dental health education programs to Aroostook County through a partnership with the University of Maine at Presque Isle.
Maine’s public universities are the state’s largest provider of skilled professionals, having conferred 29,734 door-opening degrees over the past five years (External Site), led by those for business, education, health care, and engineering and computing.
The Trustee’s public meeting agenda and materials are available here.
About the University of Maine System
The University of Maine System (UMS) is the state’s largest driver of educational attainment and economic development and its seven public universities and law school are the most affordable in New England. Over the past two decades, UMS has awarded 106,362 degrees and spurred and strengthened thousands of small Maine businesses through its world-class research and development activities. For more information, visit www.maine.edu.
Media Contact:
Samantha Warren
Director of External Affairs, University of Maine System
207-632-0389 / samantha.warren@maine.edu