Region Calls for Stronger USM for 21st Century

The futures of southern Maine and USM are so integrally linked, a just-out report from the Board of Visitors emphasizes, that USM must become one of the top-ranked comprehensive universities in the U.S.
“A Southern Maine Imperative: Meeting the Region’s Higher Education Needs in the 21st Century” was unveiled by the USM Board of Visitors this month and will be presented to on-campus and external groups throughout October. The board, with Davis Family Foundation funding, interviewed a dozen community leaders and 180 focus group participants to assess the region’s needs and expectations.

The report makes the point that in a knowledge-based economy, economically competitive and culturally vital regions will rely on dynamic universities for programs linked to emerging industrial sectors. In addition, the report reiterates the need for “strong liberal arts that ...serve as a foundation for lifelong learning and economic prosperity.”

According to the report, southern Maine citizens also told the board that they are pleased with USM's recent accomplishments and expect USM to increasingly become a first-choice institution for students. But they also indicated that the region will continue to look to USM to offer educational opportunities for the area’s many place-bound residents. The survey also indicated that the public believes that in the 21st century, Maine must have two university centers offering undergraduate and graduate academic programs, each critically important to the economic and cultural vitality of the state.

Community stakeholders, however, noted important gaps between what the region requires and USM’s current capacity.
The shortfalls include limited programs, especially in science and technology; too few graduate professional and research programs targeted to the growing requirements of our regional economy and expanding knowledge-based businesses; and a need for continual communication on community needs and expectations.

The 15-page report outlines six recommendations to help shape USM for the 21st century: 1. aggressively pursue the goal of becoming, by 2010, a top-ranked comprehensive university; 2. expand science/technology programs, including graduate and professional offerings, and target some for excellence on a national level; 3. enhance a broad range of liberal arts and humanities programs; 4. place the needs of lifelong learners at the core of the design and delivery of programs; 5. assure affordability, and; 6. gain more financial support from the state and the external community.

The board report offers a series of steps to help achieve those goals. Faculty, for example, must play a critical role in positioning USM as a vehicle for lifelong higher education opportunities. USM should avoid a false dichotomy between science/technology and the liberal arts: “A top-ranked...university must do both and do them well,” the report states. In considering funding issues, the report advocates that by fiscal year 2007, USM's share of the appropriation should match our share of FTE students, and that the formula used to allocate proceeds from bond referenda be based on the needs of individual campuses.

“This region cares deeply about USM”, the report concludes, “recognizes its centrality to the economic and social fabric of the region, and is profoundly concerned about its development.” Achieving the report’s goals will require shifts in attitude on the part of Maine's policy leaders and shifts in resource allocations within USM and within the University of Maine System, the report states, adding, “to which this Board of Visitors is fully committed.” Further, the report reads, “We expect this report to provide...the information and the logic necessary to move forward with dispatch and purpose in a dialogue that will achieve this goal.”

Members of the community will receive a full copy of the report. For additional copies, call 780-4480.

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