UPDATE From: President Richard L. Pattenaude
Number 8, April 2004
> Final 'Transforming USM' Forum in
Gorham
> Grand Opening of Glickman Library
Scheduled
> LAC's MOT Program Gets Top Marks
> Thinking Matters Expands Student Research
Displays
> Student Champions Biodiesel
Initiative at USM
The final 'Transforming USM' Forum will take place from 3
to 4 p.m. this Friday, April 9, at the Husky Hut in Gorham.
Previous Forums on the Portland and Lewiston campuses have
yielded rich discussions among faculty, staff and administration,
with input that is indeed shaping our new blueprint for growth.
I realize there may be some concern that the Chancellor's
proposed new Strategic Plan supplants some of the work on
Transforming USM that has been done to date. While it may
impact the way we accomplish our transformation, it does not
fundamentally alter our five identified areas of change: student
body; programs; organizational and financial effectiveness;
employer of choice; and facilities. These are issues which
we all must shape together. If you have not yet attended one
of the Forums, I encourage you to participate this week. Our
goal is to finalize the document in late April.
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I hope you'll join me for the Grand Opening of the Glickman
Family Library in Portland on Friday, April 16. This is truly
a momentous day, with tours, food, celebrations, and events
marking the opening of what will be a community treasure for
years to come. From the sweeping city views atop the seventh
floor's Dorothy Suzi Osher Pavilion, to the innovative e-classroom
on the fifth floor, the completed Glickman Library offers
a lovely, innovative space for learning and gathering.
The day-long celebration includes tours from 9 a.m. to noon
and from 1 to 4 p.m. The official Grand Opening takes place
at noon in the UnumProvident Great Reading Room on the seventh
floor.
^top
LAC's Master's in Occupational Therapy (MOT) program has
announced an incredible 100 percent success rate for members
of its 2003 graduating class who have taken the National Certification
Exam. And the stats don't stop there. According to Professor
Roxie Black, who directs the MOT program, 100 percent of our
graduates have successfully found employment as occupational
therapists. Successfully concluding their recent reaccreditation
review, the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy
noted that the LAC program boasts one of the strongest curricula
and some of the best-prepared students it had encountered.
This is exactly the caliber of program that is helping us
to build a 21st century university of real impact. FMI, visit:
www.usm.maine.edu/lac/info/news/reaccreditation.html
^top
Our annual conference of student research and scholarship,
Thinking Matters, has bloomed into a two-day event this year,
with a reception, poster sessions, roundtable discussion,
oral sessions, and a keynote address. Events take place April
22-23 throughout the Portland campus, with the Oral and Poster
Sessions scattered throughout the day on Friday. More than
200 USM students will participate.
While past conferences have been strongly represented by
students of the sciences, this year's conference integrates
our humanities students more widely -- particularly in the
oral sessions. Students will present original papers on subjects
including the formation of national identity; women in science;
and graffiti as an aesthetic of globalization. I am particularly
pleased to welcome Ms. Alex Wilson for Friday night's Keynote
Address on Canadian research methodologies, which use principles
of respect and empowerment to enhance our relationship with
the environment. For a full schedule of events, visit: http://research.usm.maine.edu/thinkingmatters/index.stm
Now and then I meet someone at our university who reminds
me just how much one person can do. I crossed paths with one
such person this term: USM senior Sarah Ferriter, an Environmental
Science and Policy major. Sarah has been working since the
fall to develop a plan to bring biodiesel fuel to USM's VIP
shuttle busses to reduce the amount of toxic air emissions
from fossil fuels. Biodiesel is refined diesel fuel blended
with recycled vegetable oil, a cleaner-burning alternative
to traditional diesel fuel.
Sarah established the 2004 USM Biodiesel Initiative after
garnering fellowships for the project from the National Wildlife
Federation and the Center for Environmental Citizenship. She
submitted a successful referendum proposal to the USM Student
Body to establish a USM Sustainability Fund, with students
contributing one dollar each to cover the increased costs
associated with the fuel. It will next go to vote with the
Board of Trustees in May.
Sarah put together an excellent Web site on the topic, which
includes her inspiring philosophy of student involvement:
"... an education implies taking responsibility for ourselves,
our actions and our decisions. It's very important that we
take a stand and live each day with the goal of making tomorrow
a better place." You may visit Sarah's biodiesel Web
site at:
http://students.usm.maine.edu/sarah.ferriter/
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