UPDATE From: President Richard L. Pattenaude

Number 2, Octobber 2005

Exercise Your Right to Vote

I hope you will join me at the polls on Tuesday, November 8. This year, there are several important measures of direct concern to USM and our students on the statewide ballot. Question #4 includes a $2-million bond for an expansion of LAC that would provide space for The Educational Change Center, a project of the community-based initiative College for ME-Androscoggin. Question #6, the Higher Education Bond, includes a $2-million bond for the construction of a new home for USM's Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI).

Do plan to cast your vote. As you know, off-year elections repeatedly suffer from lower voter turnout. On this year's ballot, there are a lot of critically important issues over and above bonds related to capital improvement. It would be unfortunate if these public policies were decided only by a small fraction of Maine's voting citizens.

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2005-07 Gloria S. Duclos Convocation

I hope you will attend this year's Gloria S. Duclos Convocation Keynote Address, "Delivering on the Promise of Liberal Education at USM: What's Your Role?" by Professor Lee Knefelkamp of Teachers College, Columbia University and the American Association of Colleges and Universities. The lecture is scheduled on Friday, October 28, from 10:30 a.m. to 12 noon in Hannaford Lecture Hall, Abromson Community Education Center, Portland campus.

This keynote address is one of several multi-disciplinary events scheduled over the next two years under the 2005-07 convocation theme of "Liberal Education in the 21st Century Academy," designed to create opportunities to learn more about the unique demands of liberal education in the 21st century and its relationship to USM's evolving general education curriculum. Through such dialogue, it is my hope that we can explore how our university culture might better prepare our students for a lifetime of thinking, leadership and citizenship. For a complete listing of fall convocation events, please visit www.usm.maine.edu/prov/convocation/Fall%2005%20Conv%20Flyer.pdf

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Town Meetings on Research, Creative and Scholarly Activity

As you are aware, our community, with the help of consultants E.J. Lovett and Claire Collins of Lovett Collins Associates and USM's Internal Advisory Panel, has been engaged in extensive discussion about the research, scholarly and creative activity we do at USM. In August, the initial results of this hard work was realized with the release of an Assessment Report by Lovett Collins, which provides recommendations for changes to leadership, policies, and infrastructure to enhance support for those current and emerging activities.

Now it's your turn. Next week, the Interim Research Council, a USM advisory group for implementation of the report's recommendations, is hosting a series of town meetings to hear your comments about the report and its recommendations:
- Monday, October 24, 10-11:30 a.m., University Events Room, 7th Floor, Glickman Family Library, Portland campus
- Tuesday, October 25, 10:30 a.m.-noon, Room 170, Lewiston-Auburn College
- Wednesday, October 26, 1-2:30 p.m., Room 217, John Mitchell Center, Gorham campus

This is an important discussion you won't want to miss. Each year, we spend a considerable amount of time and money on the research, creative and scholarly work we conduct. However, to be more effective, we need to shape our efforts better. Your input is critical to this work. Please help shape the next steps for advancing USM's research, creative, and scholarly activity mission by attending one or more of these meetings. A complete copy of the Assessment Report and other materials are available online at http://research.usm.maine.edu/review/.

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Honors Program Celebrates 20 Years

Congratulations to USM's Honors Program, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. In honor of its two decades of educational success, the Program marked this important milestone last month by dedicating over 120 newly bound honors student theses to the circulation collection of University Libraries. A sister library of theses, written to fulfill a requirement of the Program, is on permanent display in the Honors House at 102 Bedford Street. A complete list of catalogued theses volumes is available at www.usm.maine.edu/honors/alumni.htm.

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With Recognition

In addition to USM being named a "Best Northeastern College" in the Northeast Region by The Princeton Review, USM also now carries the distinction of being affiliated with a "Best 159 Law School." This year, the University of Maine School of Law will be included in the 2006 edition of Princeton Review's Best Law Schools publication, titled Best 159 Law Schools.

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In Memoriam

It is with sadness that I share the news of the death of retired USM Dean Loren W. Downey, who passed away on October 4 at the age of 81. Loren served as dean of USM's College of Education and Human Development from 1980 to 1983, and as a professor of education dating back to 1974. In 1983, Loren stepped down from his post as dean to serve as a director, launching USM's Teachers for Secondary Schools Program to recruit talented students into high school teaching careers, and later retired in 1991. Memorial gifts in memory of Loren can be sent to the First Parish Congregational Church Memorial Gift Fund, First Parish Congregational Church, 12 Beach St., Saco ME 04072.

We also are saddened to learn of the death George R. Parks, who passed away on Monday at the age of 70. George came to USM in 1985 to serve as director of University Libraries, a position from which he retired in 1997. In that position, he oversaw the renovation of the now Glickman Family Library. A memorial service celebrating George's life is scheduled at 11 a.m. on Saturday, October 22, at St. Ann's Episcopal Church, River Road, Windham. Memorial gifts in George's memory can be made to St. Ann's Episcopal Church, Box 911, Windham, ME 04062, or to The International Waldenstrom's Macroglobulinemia Foundation (IWMF), 3932D Swift Rd., Sarasota, FL 34231.

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