A collection of inspirations from the USM Community

Grab one, test it, talk about it, wrestle with it, and if it makes some sense, maybe we'll make it happen. If you would like an introduction to the owner of some of these ideas, please contact one of the "Twirly Things" collaborators Sharoo Wengland or Lori Arsenault.

In addition to starting a new thread of your own, you might consider submitting a "Twirly Thing" that responds to one of the items below. Where in the USM community are some of these ideas already happening? With this information, we can start to make connections.

Adult Students:

• Create new and exciting 4 week intensives for the winter break

Art

• Statewide High School Art Competition
• High School Art Portfolio Days

Celebrations:

• Flash mobs

Centralization:

• University forum to study proven best practices, and practices that don't work well.

Communication:

• Independent communication clearing house office at USM
• Caution about speaking in acronymns and terminologies that cannot be understood outside of individual disciplines.

Community Collaborations

• Collaborations with external community groups in each field.

Development

• A dedicated position for cross-systems strategic development and grantwriting for each college as the position's primary focus.
• Partner with, get support or advice from departments that do grantwriting

Events

• University events department to coordinate events
• Partner with, get support or advice from departments that do events

Frequently asked questions

• Are twirly things confidential? Yes, within reason. Someone has to read them, but they will only be published in a way that is useful to the USM community.
• Why isn't my whole idea published? So that we can sift through the whole pile more clearly. As ideas are gathered, they can be bundled together in creative ways, nurturing each of them until they might take root. We can always go back to the origin for more details.

Going Green

• Transition to a 4-day work/school week to reduce energy costs and USM's carbon footprint, and to increase employee satisfaction.

Gratitude

• Thanks for sharing

High school student engagement:

• Statewide High School Art Competition
• High School Art Portfolio Days

Language

• Caution about speaking in acronymns and terminologies that cannot be understood outside of individual disciplines.
• Offer 2 years of Mandarin

Marketing:

• Engage disciplines for artistic advice
• Advertise to veterans

Recreation:

• Swimming Pool, Portland campus
• Campus retirement community

Recruitment

• Utilize the group of USM alumni who work at USM to participate in recruiting, as part of their workload--Accepted Students Day, USM Open House, College Fairs.

Go to the form to submit an idea, a response to an idea, or to continue a particular thread.