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6 Dec 2023

UMS Early College Update: Listserv – New Position – Contact Info – Semester Grades – Calendar

Sent on September 14, 2023

If you have questions about this information or how to join either listserv, please contact Early College Advising & Success Coordinator, Christy Alley, by email at christy.alley@maine.edu.

Message to High School Counselors

Hello and thank you for reading our very first University of Maine System (UMS) Early College (EC) listserv email. We are building resources based on your survey feedback to improve communication and support for our students, parents, and high school stakeholders. 

New Listserv for High School Stakeholders 

  • We have chosen to use a listserv instead of a regular email for our updates going forward for the following reasons:
    • Differentiate from other UMS Campus-Specific Emails: The subject line for listserv identifies the emails as a listserv email. We are hoping this will keep important updates from UMS EC from getting lost in your inbox.
    • Cross-Communication: Everyone uses the same email address, which then distributes the messages to each person within the list. People can start conversations around a shared topic, with each comment visible to all. We think it will be particularly helpful for you to read the questions and answers asked by others. 
    • Knowledge Archives: Participants can review the listserv archives to review past announcements and previous emails.
  • Please be sure to not share identifiable student information via the Listserv.

New UMS EC Advising and Success Coordinator

  • We have created a new system-level position in our Early College program with the title of Early College Advising and Success Coordinator. Christy Kilton Alley has taken on this role and can be reached at ecadvising@maine.edu or 207-814-8567 (text & phone). Christy has extensive advising experience at both the high school and college level and she will provide resources for school counselors, students, and parents and work to improve our communication and messaging. 

Contact Information

Below you will find information about who to contact when you or your students have questions. We have noticed an increased number of students, parents, and school administrators sending the same questions to multiple EC staff members. Our teams are in frequent contact with each other so if the person you have reached out to isn’t the best point of contact, rest assured they will connect you with the person who is.

  • UMS EC Contact Information
  • Maine Community College System (MCCS) EC Contact Information– UMS staff cannot assist with MCCS EC issues or questions.
  • Contact Campus EC offices for questions about:
    • Campus-Specific Information/Issues/Concerns
      • Course and Pathway Information
      • Course Content/Syllabi
      • Faculty Members
      • Registration Status Clarification
      • Student Advising
      • Billing Questions
      • Concurrent Enrollment Courses (Courses offered at the high school in partnership with a campus.)
  • UMS EC Staff:
    • Contact Christy Alley, Advising and Success Coordinator, for:
      • ExplorEC Assistance
        • Training for Students, Parents, High School Staff
        • General ExplorEC Questions and Procedures
        • How to Create an Account
        • How to Search for Courses
        • How to Check Course Status
        • How to Drop a Class
      • General Student Advising for New Students and Multi-campus Students
        • Course Selection
        • Career Pathways
        • Course Transfer/Equivalency Questions
      • General EC Questions
      • Success Planning for Students with D, F, L, I Grades
  • Contact Jamie Whittemore, AP4ME & EC Coordinator, for:
  • Contact Amy Hubbard, Executive Director, for:
    • Questions related to the DOE Aspirations Statute
    • System-wide EC policies and procedures
    • NACEP Accreditation process at all UMS institutions 

New Process for Providing Grades

  • All UMS grades will soon be available in ExplorEC as one (PDF) spreadsheet, per high school! An example of the spreadsheet that will be uploaded to ExplorEC can be found here: Maine High School Grades – Summer 2023 
  • We will no longer be uploading individual unofficial transcripts by campus. Your students will still have the ability to obtain a transcript (unofficial or official) if you need it sooner. Transcript request options can be found here.
  • Grade lists will be available for each semester in the following timeframes:
    • Summer: Third Week in September
    • Fall: Third Week in January
    • Spring: Last Week in May
  • This new process allows our System to provide grades for all campuses at once, and will guide students to more frequently access their transcripts as they will be required to do in future college/university experiences.

New Early College Calendar

We have created an important dates calendar to assist you in keeping track of early college deadlines and semester information. You can view the calendar here. This is a live document and will be updated periodically as new information becomes available.

Sent to Home Educating Families on September 14, 2023

You are receiving this email as the parent of a homeschooled student who is currently taking or previously took early college (EC) courses with the University of Maine System (UMS).  If you no longer have a high school aged student or do not wish to receive updates from the UMS EC program then you can click to unsubscribe below. 

Hello and thank you for reading our very first UMS EC listserv email for Home Educating Families! We are building resources based on your survey feedback to improve communication and support for you and your students.

New Listserv for Home Educating Stakeholders 

  • We have chosen to use a listserv instead of a regular email for our updates going forward for the following reasons:
    • Differentiate from other UMS Campus-Specific Emails: The subject line for listserv identifies the emails as a listserv email. We are hoping this will keep important updates from UMS EC from getting lost in your inbox.
    • Cross-Communication: Everyone uses the same email address, which then distributes the messages to each person within the list. People can start conversations around a shared topic, with each comment visible to all. We think it will be particularly helpful for you to read the questions and answers asked by others. 
    • Knowledge Archives: Participants can review the listserv archives to review past announcements and previous emails.
  • Please be sure to not share identifiable student information via the Listserv.

New UMS EC Advising and Success Coordinator/Homeschool Liaison

  • Christy Kilton Alley has taken on a new system-level position in our EC program with the title of Early College Advising and Success Coordinator. She will also be the primary point of contact for all home educating families. Families should still contact the primary campus for specific questions, but Christy can help with general questions and career-related advising.  She can be reached at ecadvising@maine.edu or 207-814-8567 (text & phone). Christy has extensive advising experience at both the high school and college level and she will provide resources for students and parents and work to improve our communication and messaging.  

Contact Information

Below you will find information about who to contact when you or your students have questions. We have noticed an increased number of students and parents sending the same questions to multiple EC staff members. Our teams are in frequent contact with each other so if the person you have reached out to isn’t the best point of contact, rest assured they will connect you with the person who is.

  • UMS EC Contact Information
  • Maine Community College System (MCCS) EC Contact Information
    • UMS staff cannot assist with MCCS EC issues or questions.
  • Contact Campus EC offices for questions about:
    • Campus-Specific Information/Issues/Concerns
      • Course and Pathway Information
      • Course Content/Syllabi
      • Faculty Members
      • Registration Status Clarification
      • Student Advising
      • Billing Questions
      • Concurrent Enrollment Courses (Courses offered at the high school in partnership with a campus.)
  • UMS EC Staff:
    • Contact Christy Alley, Advising and Success Coordinator, for:
      • ExplorEC Assistance
        • Training for Students and Parents 
        • General ExplorEC Questions and Procedures
        • How to Create an Account
        • How to Search for Courses
        • How to Check Course Status
        • How to Drop a Class
      • General Student Advising for New Students and Multi-Campus Students
        • Course Selection
        • Career Pathways
        • Course Transfer/Equivalency Questions
      • General EC Questions
      • Success Planning for Students with D, F, L, I Grades
  • Contact Jamie Whittemore, AP4ME & EC Coordinator, for:
  • Contact Amy Hubbard, Executive Director, for:
    • Questions related to the DOE Aspirations Statute
    • System-wide EC policies and procedures
    • NACEP Accreditation process at all UMS institutions

New Early College Calendar/Grades

We have created an important dates calendar to assist you in keeping track of early college deadlines and semester information. You can view the calendar here: UMS EC Important Dates_Deadlines.docx.  This is a live document and will be updated periodically as new information becomes available.  

Please keep in mind that this calendar is for both high school counselors and home educating families. We reference in the calendar a date that grades will be uploaded to the ExplorEC portal.  However, UMS EC staff are unable to upload home educating student grades to the ExplorEC Portal in a secure manner.  Your students can download their own unofficial transcripts using the directions found here. Grades are typically available 2 weeks after the end of a semester.