Message from Chancellor Malloy

From the Office of the Chancellor

Keeping You Informed

As Chancellor my aim will be to keep the community updated and engaged in our planning and decision making. To that end I will be continuing with the tradition of communicating on System initiatives and actions from the Board of Trustees in the days following our bimonthly meetings.

I will visit each of our seven campuses by the end of the month. I would like to begin with my thanks to all who have or will be participating in our meetings and facilities tours. I am enjoying the chance to meet new colleagues and learn more about the role and needs of our institutions.

Building On Our One University Progress

At our July Board meeting at University of Maine this past Monday, Board Chair Jim Erwin emphasized the need to develop significantly more collaborative multi-campus academic programs while recognizing that we have had difficulty getting approval from NECHE, our accrediting body, to do so. The Board therefore directed me to report back at the September Board meeting about different accreditation options that we might pursue to allow us to make more programs like this available to our students no matter where they are.

As I begin that work, I want you to know that I will be very open and transparent with our campus presidents and every faculty, staff, and student who cares about improving our universities and System in this way. The idea of pursuing a One University “single” or “unified” accreditation is not new — my predecessor, the Board, and our accreditor have discussed it for a number of years already, and our presidents, both past and present, have been informed of these discussions. But we’ve never discussed it with you, and I’m going to start that process now. I’ve also asked Jim Thelen, my Chief of Staff and our General Counsel, to organize all of our accreditation reports and related documents that have considered a “single” or “unified” accreditation over the last several years and make them publicly accessible so you can learn about the issue and see what’s been done so far.

Whatever accreditation option the Trustees choose, we will pursue it openly, and we will hear from you about how we can improve our universities and better serve our students and the State of Maine.

The Future Direction of Maine Law

The University of Maine School of Law is a strategic state asset and collaborator in the University of Maine Graduate and Professional Center. The Board received an update from the Committee to Advise on the Future Direction of the Law School. We are grateful for their work and will be posting the committee’s report to the Board’s website by the end of the week.

As Chair James Erwin shared,  the Trustees are committed to strengthening the law school’s fiscal and strategic position to support the state’s need for legal services and education. I will be working with Trustee Lisa Marchese Eames and Vice Chancellor Ryan Low to review the committee’s work and make recommendations on next steps before the September meeting.

Economic Development and Academic Program Evaluation

Our public universities are helping develop Governor Mills’ Economic Development Plan update with University of Maine President Ferrini-Mundy serving as the System’s representative on the Strategic Work Team. President Ferrini-Mundy, DECD Commissioner Heather Johnson, and Finance Authority of Maine CEO Bruce Wagner led the Board in a discussion on what will become an economic roadmap for the state.

The team is on pace to deliver a report to the governor by the middle of November and I encourage you to visit the Board materials (select July 2019) to view the presentation.

Enrollment and student enrichment have to be objectives for each of the 386 programs in the System’s academic portfolio. Vice Chancellor Neely and academic leaders from the University of Maine, University of Maine at Machias, University of Maine at Presque Isle, and University of Southern Maine spoke with the Board about how the first year of the Program for Examination Process presented an opportunity for campus-led program evaluation and innovation. The Board and I appreciate the engagement with this annual look at where we stand and how we can improve.

Please visit the Board website to view the July meeting agenda and report on Board actions. I would also encourage students, faculty and staff to engage with campus leaders and the student and faculty representatives to the Board with questions or ideas.

The Board’s next meeting is September 15 and 16, 2019, at the University of Maine at Fort Kent.

Sincerely,

Dannel Malloy
Chancellor