UPDATE From: President Richard L. Pattenaude
Number 5, January 2004
> Davis Foundation Grant Supports
General Education
> Parking Garage Opens This Month
> Proposed Cuts Require Some Changes
> USM Athletes Recognized for Community
Service
> USM Gene Research Gets NSF Funding
Our work on improving USM's general education curriculum
got a major boost recently with the announcement of a $100,000
grant from the Davis Educational Foundation. It is their second
gift toward helping us achieve sustainable excellence, and
will be used to support the new General Education Council's
work and to build three targeted models of curricula. The
Davis Educational Foundation was established by Stanton and
Elizabeth Davis after his retirement as chairman of Shaw's
Supermarkets, Inc.
I don't have to tell you how importance this vote of confidence
is. General education is the bricks-and-mortar of USM's academic
excellence. I look forward to seeing the new interdisciplinary
approaches that are likely to grow from this important work.
^top
It's been a long haul, with no small inconvenience to everyone,
but I'm happy to report that Portland's long-awaited Bedford
St. parking garage is completed and ready to open. The 1,150-space
facility will be open at the start of the semester, greatly
improving campus access for students, faculty, staff, and
visitors.
It's important to note that all surface lots at the Portland
campus will revert to faculty-staff parking only, with the
exception of the lot between Masterton and Woodbury, which
is reserved exclusively for students. Details on the garage,
fees, and on all parking options are available online at:
www.usm.maine.edu/parking.
I want to personally thank John Rasmussen and the entire DFM
staff for their hard work in bringing this project to completion
on time.
^top
As a result of the proposed state budget cuts, I have made
some immediate changes in USM's guidelines for hiring, purchasing,
and travel. In a nutshell, all of these activities need to
be limited only to those that support essential programmatic
and operational functions. No new positions can be approved
unless they are deemed to be essential to university operations.
Obviously, a number of searches are already underway and we
will respect the search process as much as possible. I have
assembled a committee of my staff who will take a much more
proactive role in evaluating searches. I have asked them to
put all proposals to initiate searches on my desk.
I also ask that everyone reduce purchases and limit travel
to the extent possible. Lastly, I hope the entire university
community will be mindful of the practical, energy conservancy
initiatives that can help us save money. We recently installed
new, efficient lighting fixtures in campus stairwells, removed
lights from 70 campus vending machines, and converted our
motor pool to hybrid vehicles. These changes will save us
thousands of dollars a year in energy costs. I'm hoping to
have more budget specifics later this month, when Gov. Baldacci
formally announces his plans for meeting budget shortfalls.
^top
USM's Department of Athletics is winning off the field as
well as on. The department has just been named a recipient
of a 2003 Community Service Award by The National Association
of Division III Athletic Administrators. This award recognizes
the 150 USM student athletes who organized events to benefit
the Greater Portland community last year. Their work included
a blood drive, a school reading program, and several community
fund-raisers. This is an outstanding example of community
service. Fortunately, it's one of many such stories at USM.
Each year, our 50 student groups donate literally tens of
thousands of hours to help make our campus and our community
better places. They have my gratitude and admiration.
^top
Ken Weber's research on fruit fly wings is taking off, thanks
to a newly awarded $336,780 grant from the National Science
Foundation -- the largest single grant he has received to
date. Ken has spent over a decade at USM studying how genes
control the shape of fruit fly wings in an effort to understand
how cells grow. It's an important aspect of developmental
genetics, he says, that may help scientists better understand
birth defects and cancer. USM's genetics lab is one of only
a few labs internationally working in this specific research
area. As ever, Ken tells me he will be engaging many undergraduate
research assistants in his work, a terrific opportunity for
our students.
^top
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