March 28, 2024
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Strategic plan on UMS held back Baldacci wants statewide K-16 vision

FARMINGTON – The University of Maine System is delaying release of its strategic plan for the system until September in order to work with public schools and community colleges to develop a statewide vision for K-16 education.

According to Chancellor Joseph Westphal, Gov. John Baldacci requested linking the university system’s strategic plan with a broader statewide vision for education.

“[The governor] asked us to develop a vision and have it out there for people to view before the strategic plan,” Westphal said Monday at a board of trustees meeting at the University of Maine at Farmington.

The request “gives us a good opportunity to ensure that our plan fits efficiently and effectively with the rest of public education in Maine. The governor’s interest in a K-16 plan is consistent with the board’s vision for the university’s system,” he said.

The system has been working for months on a strategic plan to enhance the quality, cost effectiveness and efficiency of the system’s academic and administrative functions and to define more clearly the missions of the seven campuses. Initially the plan was to be issued in April and considered by the board in May.

Westphal said Monday he and the trustees had been anxious to release the much-anticipated document that has inspired rumors. “We were all worried about getting this out,” he said, “but we came to the consensus that it makes more sense and that we could use the extra time anyway.”

However, the chancellor laid to rest some of the rumors. The plan doesn’t call for closing any of the seven universities, although “merging campuses is a possibility,” he said. Nor will he be running any of the campuses. While the plan aims to find budget savings through greater efficiency, “it’s not the only reason we’re doing this.” The system will continue to fight for increased spending for higher education, he said.

“I can’t do much about the rumors,” he said. “I can only say that this is an effort that will do something positive for the university system and its students.”

The strategic plan would change dramatically the way UMS does business, he said. “We are aiming to have a strong, nationally recognized institution and to … invest strategically in the system and to really improve the ability to do research and to support faculty’s development.”

After the trustees’ decision Monday, the draft will be presented in September to students, faculty, staff and administrators. Their feedback will be gathered, and the board will consider the draft plan in November.

Meanwhile, faculty and student representatives may be able to learn some of the components of the plan. Elsa Nunez, vice chancellor for Academic and Student Affairs, said she would ask the chancellor for permission to brief the representatives after hearing their concerns about the contents of the document as well as the possible delay in its release.

“You were real clear asking for comments on the front end,” said Carol Kontos, faculty representative from the University of Maine at Augusta. “Now when you should be putting out a draft, we’ve had to ask and ask about what’s going on.”

Faculty “desperately would like to be … part of the process. There’s a lot of experience here,” said Dana Humphrey, faculty representative from the University of Maine, who was lukewarm about the idea of delaying the release of the plan.

“From the faculty’s point of view, we’d like to see components of the plan so we’re not working on rumors, but on real information,” he said.

Sherrie Sprangers, faculty representative from the University of Maine at Machias, said the strategic plan is causing “an amazing amount of anxiety and turmoil” on campus. “The sense of uncertainty is palpable,” she said. People will doubtless spend the summer worrying about it, she added.

Nunez said that if her request to share some of the draft were approved, any information given to faculty and student representatives likely would have to remain confidential given the governor’s request.

The system will release today an open letter from Westphal and Charles Johnson III, chair of the board of trustees, explaining the reason for the delay and noting the importance of holding off.

“The resulting K-16 vision would serve as a broad framework for not only our strategic plan but for Maine’s entire network of educational offerings,” the letter states. “This is a unique and exciting opportunity to gain broad public support for a strong university system as an essential and valuable partner in defining the future for Maine and its people.”

Westphal said the broad K-16 vision would include how to get more high school students to go on to college and how to prepare them better academically.


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