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2014 Academic Affairs Annual Report

University of Maine Office of the Executive

Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost

5703 Alumni Hall, Room 201Orono, ME 04469-5703

umaine.edu

Iam extremely proud to have the honor of leading the Division ofAcademic Affairs at the University of Maine. While 2013–14 wasmy first year as Provost, it was my 28th at UMaine. e growth ofthis institution as a research university over the past three decades

has been remarkable. But equally important is that, as UMaine hasgrown, we have not lost the student-centeredness that is at the heart ofeverything we do. is report summarizes and samples highlights of thepast year, and concludes with a discussion of the challenges we havefaced, the steps we have taken to meet those challenges, and the planswe are developing to meet the challenges and opportunities that lieahead. is report is intended to complement e University of Maine’s2014 Annual Report: Blue Sky Highlights.

e accomplishments summarized in this report speak volumes aboutthe quality and work ethic of the faculty, administrators, staff andstudents comprising the Division of Academic Affairs. It is with distinctpleasure and great pride that I share this report with you.

Jeffrey E. HeckerExecutive Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost

July 1, 2014

Academic Affairs Annual Report

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Overview

e 2013–14 year was remarkably productive for UMaine’s faculty, with well over 1,000 journal articles,books and other scholarly works published. ere were 571 proposals submitted and 363 grants awardedin fiscal year 2014, with over $43 million in total research awards, and over $95 million in total researchexpenditures. Teaching productivity was also significant, with over 255,000 student credit hours taughtand 1,957 degrees granted.

We took important next steps in implementing the Blue Sky strategic plan in 2013–14. One of thosesteps was the identification of UMaine’s Signature and Emerging Areas of Excellence. e transparentand inclusive process we engaged in as a university community was successful and laid the groundworkfor strategic decision making in the years ahead. rough the open forums, online postings, conceptpapers, full proposal submissions and review teams, well over 300 UMaine community membersengaged in the process. e Signature and Emerging Areas we identified together are:

Nonetheless, I am convinced that with somerealignment of existing resources and strategicnew investments, we can achieve the Blue Skygoal of increasing retention by 5 percent andgraduation rates by 10 percent. Toward that end,we have developed a three-year action plan that Iwill share with the UMaine community in thefall semester.

II. Serving Maine

e University of Maine continues to be a vitalpublic resource for the state of Maine. In 2013–14, the people and programs in the Division ofAcademic Affairs served the state and the regionthrough community engagement, economicdevelopment and workforce development.Highlights include:

Community Engagement:

• e Associate Dean for CommunityEngagement in the College of Liberal Arts andSciences partnered with Faculty Senate tosecure the renewal of UMaine’s CarnegieCommunity Engagement designation.

• CLAS faculty played leading roles in hostingand organizing the statewide National HistoryDay, World Languages Day, Maine ScienceOlympiad and the Bangor Humanities Day.

• e Art Education program continued toengage with K–12 students and teachersthrough ArtWorks! and related service-learning projects.

• Eighty-five Social Work students invested over36,900 hours in service to 70+ agencies, andeight Master of Social Work studentsconducted community-based research projectson topics such as child abuse, substance-affected infants, and teen pregnancy.

• e Conley Center provided services to theuniversity community and the surroundingpublic while collaborating with off-campusprofessionals in 18 schools and health caresettings to serve people with speech, languageor hearing disorders.

• Earth Science and Climate Change Institutefaculty collaborated with the Maine Center forDisease Control to develop regional-scaleclimate models for exploring local climatechange and airborne disease vectors in Maine.

Signature AreasForestry and the Environment• Sustainable Forests and Forest-Based Economy• Forests, Wildlife and the Environment

Marine Sciences• School of Marine Sciences• Marine Research Solutions

STEM Education• STEM Education Research• Advancing STEM Education

Climate Change• Climate Change Institute• Changing Ecosystems and Climate: Impact on

Animal and Human Health

Advance Materials for Infrastructureand Energy

College of Engineering

Honors College

Emerging AreasGraduate School of Biomedical Science

and Engineering

Northeastern Americas: Humanities Researchand Education

Data Science and Engineering

Sustainability Solutions and Technologies

Aging Research

Finance Education

Another important step in implementing theBlue Sky vision was developing an action plan toimprove retention and graduation rates. A groupof faculty and administrators worked together tounderstand the factors that impact studentretention and persistence, as well as best practicesfor supporting students, from recruitmentthrough graduation. Among the things I learnedon this journey was that UMaine students stay inschool and progress to graduation at rates similarto our peer institutions, and that there arealready a wide variety of initiatives aroundcampus that exemplify the best of best practices.

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• e Department of Electrical and ComputerEngineering offered $10,000 in scholarshipsand helped organize the 11th Maine LearningTechnology Initiative conference, attended by1,200 teachers and students.

• UMaine’s NSF-EPSCoR Track III StormWater Project sponsored 60 high schoolstudents and 15 teachers from Bangor,Portland, Auburn and tribal communities for aweek of learning and training in STEM fields.

• e College of Education and HumanDevelopment partnered with 19 public schooldistricts to improve student learning throughthe Penobscot River Partnership.

• e Maine Business School and Net Impact, astudent group, partnered with severalbusinesses and nonprofits on sustainability-related projects and initiatives.

• e Honors College spearheaded theSustainable Food Systems ResearchCollaborative, bringing together faculty,students and community partners to identifyand address problems in the food system.

• UMaine’s graduate students served thecommunity through charitable works,donations, outreach, service and teaching. e

annual GradExpo showcased cutting-edgestudent research and creative achievement forthe campus and the public.

• UMaine Cooperative Extension hosted thefirst Maine Food Summit, bringing togetherfood producers and processors, NGOs,business owners and other communitymembers interested in Maine’s dynamic foodsystem. ese partners are influencing theMaine Food Strategy, a collaborative planningeffort to make Maine more food independentand reduce food insecurity.

• Cooperative Extension’s 4-H Engaging Youth,Serving Community Program continued tocreate youth-adult partnerships throughcommunity projects. is year, five teams of224 young people and 97 adults devoted acombined 8,669 hours toward solvingcommunity problems.

• rough UMaine’s Senior CompanionProgram, 121 volunteers helped 469 isolatedor homebound seniors remain independentand in their homes. A recent study by theSchool of Economics showed that the programproduces a minimum cost savings of $4.6million annually.

• Fogler Library Special Collections staff workedwith representatives of the Passamaquoddyand Penobscot tribes to develop collaborativeplans for preserving tribal histories.

• Partnering with staff in the College ofEducation and Human Development, FoglerLibrary received a $43,000 IMLS grant for aLiteracy to Go project to help local librariesand schools encourage early childhood literacy.

Economic Development:

• e Department of Communication andJournalism is working with the MaineDevelopment Foundation, the New EnglandSustainability Consortium and the SeafoodLinks Project in a grant-supported effort toprovide local, sustainable seafood for inlandMaine.

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• e Laboratory for Surface Science andTechnology has partnered with MegaIndustries, Environetix Technologies, Mt.Washington Railway, and Cerahelix onprojects for local and state businesses.

• e School of Computing and InformationScience has contracted with Magellan GlobalTechnologies in Portland to develop indoorvisualization on mobile devices.

• e School of Economics conducted 20+economic or industry development projects inthe past year, including outreach partnerships,impact studies and gap analyses.

• School of Food and Agriculture faculty andstaff operate the Analytical and Soil TestingLab, the Animal Health Lab, the ChemicalFood Safety Lab, the Dr. Matthew HighlandsFood Pilot Plant, the Process and ProductReview testing facility, and the SensoryEvaluation Center, providing an array ofeconomic services to Maine citizens andbusinesses.

• e College of Engineering completed 50+external manufacturing development projectswith companies statewide to add new productsand processes to their manufacturingcapabilities.

• Maine Business School faculty participated asmentors in the Top Gun program, acollaboration of the Maine TechnologyInstitute, the Maine Angels organization, theMaine Center for Enterprise Development,and the university to provide training,resources and mentoring to innovation-focused entrepreneurs.

• School of Marine Sciences graduate studentJocelyn Runnebaum helped develop and writea recently funded project for studying Atlanticcod and cusk bycatch in the economicallycritical Maine lobster fishery.

• UMaine Extension and Experiment Stationresearchers have secured over $1.6 millionsince 2010 for comprehensive applied researchto increase farmers’ capacity to produce high-quality food grains and organic feed grains forlocal markets.

• UMaine Extension’s Animal HealthLaboratory and the UMaine AquacultureResearch Institute partnered with CookeAquaculture USA in an effort to establishalternative practices increasing aquacultureproductivity and sustainability.

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• Annette deCharon (SMS/DMC) received aNASA Group Achievement Award.

• Benildo de los Reyes (SBE) received theInternational Collaborative Research Awardfrom the National Institute of Genetics,Mishima, Japan.

• Kathleen Bell (SOE) received the OutstandingService Award from Northeastern Agriculturaland Resource Economics Association.

• Robert Wagner (SFR) received the AbbyHolman Public Service Award, Maine ForestProducts Council.

• Lee Karp-Boss (SMS), Robert Lilieholm(SFR), Kathleen Bell (SOE), Denise Skonberg(SFA), Richard Wahle (SMS), Jasmine Saros(SBE/CCI), Gayle Zydlewski (SMS), AaronWeiskittel (SFR) and Jessica Leahy (SFR) wereselected for the UMaine Blue Sky FacultyFellows Program.

• Balu Nayak (SFA), Mary Shea (SON), FarenWolter (WFCB), Karl Kreutz (ERS) and TimBowden (SFA) were named CUGR ResearchFellows in recognition of their work withundergraduates in their research programs.

• Robert Seymour (SFR) won the 2014 CarlAlwin Schenck Award from the Society ofAmerican Foresters.

• Rob Lilieholm (SFR) and Spencer Meyer(Ph.D. student in SFR) received thePresident’s Research Impact Award.

Maine Business School

• John Mahon delivered the 2014 CorporatePublic Affairs Oration at the Corporate PublicAffairs Centre, Melbourne, Australia (June2014).

• Terry Porter spent the spring 2014 semester atthe University of Cardiff (U.K.) as a FulbrightScholar, researching business approaches tosustainability (Spring 2014).

• Robert Strong is Chair of the Board ofDirectors of Bangor Savings Bank. is $2billion, 750-employee bank is the eighthlargest mutual bank in the United States andwas recently named by J.D. Power as the bestbank for customer service in New England.He serves also on the board of directors for theBangor Savings Bank Foundation.

• Niclas Erhardt is an Advisory Board Memberfor Double-Blue Sports Analytics, a startupcompany.

• Harold Daniel consulted for the FourDirections Development Corp., for a survey ofthe general population in the U.S. and Canada

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• e Foster Center has continued to helpMaine companies — including HR Foster,Androscoggin Bank and Howard Tool —commercialize innovations and implementinnovation systems in their businesses.

Workforce Development:

• e College of Liberal Arts and Sciences hasexpanded its pool of internship opportunities,with students interning as close to campus asMilford, Maine, and as far away as Chile,Costa Rica, Belize, Argentina and United ArabEmirates.

• UMaine continues training K–12 teachers inan array of fields, including the M.A.T.programs in French and Spanish, the ArtEducation program, the Music Educationprogram, STEM Education programs,Canadian-American Center programs, and theDOE-funded Project Reach.

• Molecular and Biomedical Sciences, and theGraduate School for Biomedical Science andEngineering faculty taught an appliedbioinformatics course at Mount Desert IslandBiological Laboratory to graduate students andfaculty statewide, with applications in researchand classroom settings.

• Innovation and Economic Developmentoffered one-day workshops in Portland,Augusta and Freeport for 69 public andprivate sector participants to introduce themto Innovation Engineering.

• e Target Technology Incubator providedcounseling sessions reaching over 90 uniqueentrepreneurs and companies, and offered anumber of workshops and seminars on topicssuch as social media and project management.

• UMaine’s ADVANCE Rising Tide Centerestablished the NSF-funded Maine CareerConnect program, a regional hiringconsortium designed to help partners andprofessionals seeking employment in theregion by connecting them with employersand resources, while supporting transitions fordual-career couples.

III. Culture of Excellence

One of the many strengths that the University ofMaine has to offer is the outstanding quality ofits faculty, staff and students. e followingsection samples the many UMaine communityachievements that perpetuate the culture ofexcellence on our campus. e University ofMaine is proud of the accomplishments of itsfaculty, staff and students, and will continue toprovide an environment to nurture and supportfuture academic endeavors by providing suchvital contributions as matching funds, newfaculty start-up packages, seed funding, releasetime, equipment grants and student support.

Faculty AchievementsCollege of Natural Sciences, Forestry, andAgriculture

• Mary Jane Perry (SMS, DMC) received the2014 Distinguished Maine Professor Award.

• Malcolm Shick (SMS) received the 2014Presidential Outstanding Teaching Award.

• Robert Wagner (SFR) received the NSFAOutstanding Public Service Award.

• Michael Kinnison (SBE) received the NSFAOutstanding Teacher Award.

• Peter Jumars (SMS, DMC) received the NSFAOutstanding Researcher Award

• Lenard Kaye (SSW) received the UMS TrusteeProfessorship for 2014–15.

• Robert Wheeler (MBMS) received aBurroughs Wellcome Fund 2014 Investigatorof Infectious Disease Award.

• Timothy Waring (SOE) was awarded a NSFCareer Award to study the evolution of localfoods organizations.

• Douglas Gardner (SFR) received the Society ofWood Science and Technology DistinguishedService Award.

• Rhian Waller (SMS, DMC) became a Fellowof the Explorers Club and received an awardfrom Women Divers Hall of Fame.

• Allan Smith (CSD) received the Bette AnnHarris Distinguished Alumni Award,Massachusetts General Hospital Institute ofHealth Professions.

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• Scott Dunning (SET) is President-Elect of theAssociation of Energy Engineers.

College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

• Laurie Hicks (ART) was named a National ArtEducation Association Distinguished Fellowfor her lifelong contributions to the field.

• Justin Wolff (ART) received the 2013 HonorBook Award from the New Jersey Council ofthe Humanities for omas Hart Benton: ALife. is is the book’s second award.

• Stephen Hornsby (CAN) received Canada’sPierre Savard Award for Surveyors of Empire.is is the book’s third award.

• Scott See (HTY) was Fulbright VisitingResearch Chair in Society and Culture at theUniversity of Halifax.

• Doug Allen (PHI) delivered the MahatmaGandhi Lecture, the keynote for the IndianIndependence Day celebrations at the GandhiResearch Foundation in India.

• Alan Davenport (PHY) is now President of theMiddle Atlantic Planetarium Society.

• Robert Glover (POS, Honors) received theDonald Harward Award for Service-LearningExcellence.

• Tom Mikotowicz (THE) received the 2013Moss Hart Memorial Award for bestcollege/university production from the NewEngland eatre Conference for SpringAwakening.

Division of Lifelong Learning

• Charles Scontras, an emeritus historian whoworks with the Bureau of Labor Education inan unpaid status, won the 2014 Barbara HikelAward.

Blue Sky Faculty Fellows

• is innovative program, designed to helpfaculty communicate more effectively with thepublic, the legislature and the media, wasdeveloped and launched by Laura Lindenfeld(CMJ, Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center),with funding from the Office of the Presidentand coordination from Innovation andEconomic Development, Academic Affairsand Human Resources.

Research and Scholarship

College of Natural Sciences, Forestry, andAgriculture

• NSFA faculty, staff and students are activescholars who published 388 refereedpublications and 152 other publications, andgave nearly 800 professional presentations.College faculty averaged 2.8 refereedpublications per FTE.

• NSFA faculty also authored numerous reviewsand books. Among them, Len Kaye (SSW)and Edward ompson co-edited A Man’sGuide to Healthy Aging: Staying Smart, Strongand Active, which the Wall Street Journal citedas one of the “Year’s Best Books for the RoadAhead.”

• NSFA faculty secured more than $21.9million in external grants — approximately 43 percent of UMaine’s total. is included$4.3 million in IDC, accounting for 46percent of the UMaine total.

• NSFA had $786,000 in industrial support

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to assess the commercial potential ofvoluntourism as a product of Maine’s NativeAmerican tribes. He also served on theWabanaki Cultural Tourism Task Force andthe Wabanaki Voluntourism Committee.

Honors College

• Robert Glover received the 2014 MaineStudies Research and Creativity Award.

• Melissa Ladenheim and Jordan Labouffreceived the Distinguished Mentor Awardfrom All Maine Women.

College of Education and Human Development

• Chris Nightingale (Athletic Training) receivedthe John Nash Award for BestMultidisciplinary Abstract from the AmericanChiropractic Board of Sports Physicians.

• Stephen Butterfield (KPE) was appointed tothe associate editors board of Perceptual andMotor Skills.

• Craig Mason (CRE) serves as the Vice Chairfor the Friends for the National Center forBirth Defects and Developmental Disabilities.

• Dan Capps (Science Education) was named tothe editorial board of the Journal of Science

Teaching and was named Co-Chair of theNational Association for Science Education.


• Adriaan van Heiningen (FBRI) was awardedthe Certificate of Distinction from Pulp andPaper Technology Association of Canada andwas honored with Life Time Achievements atthe 63rd Canadian Chemical EngineeringConference in Fredericton, NB, Canada.

• Hemant Pendse (FBRI) was named the 2014–15 Chair of the Transport and EnergyProcesses Division of the American Institute ofChemical Engineers.

• Habib Dagher (CIE, Advanced Structures andComposite Center) received the Best PaperAward at the proceedings of the Texas Sectionof the Society of Naval Architecture andMarine Engineers 19th Offshore Symposium.

• Ali Abedi (ECE) received the IEEE Region 1Enhancing IEEE Industry RelationshipAward.

• Yifeng Zhu (ECE) supervised a high schoolstudent (Isaac Robinson) who won INTELExcellence in Computer Science SpecialAward.


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provided by 50 businesses and relatedorganizations, financial institutions,manufacturers, industry associations,laboratories and pharmaceutical companies.

Maine Business School

• MBS faculty published 18 journal articles andseven book chapters last year, and made 28presentations at research conferences, inaddition to 11 presentations at other venues.is count includes published and acceptedpapers.

• Stephanie Welcomer was a co-PI for aSustainability Solutions initiative for $59,000.

Library

• e Hudson Museum’s Jane Gruver MolasCollections and the Honors College newsletterMinerva were added to the repository.

• Technical Services staff created presentationsabout the Digital Commons for faculty andother potential users.

Honors

• Honors faculty, staff and students published78 papers and gave or made 163 presentations,

16 exhibitions, 16 performances or readings,and one audio recording.

• e faculty advised 10 Honors theses, servedon 52 Honors thesis advisory committees andpublished 10 refereed articles, with 15 moresubmitted or accepted. e group wasresponsible for 33 presentations individuallyand with students. In service to their variousprofessional organizations and journals, theyreviewed 21 articles and books.

• e college received 11 external grants andfour internal grants. e external funding levelwas about $730,000.

• e college is a partner in the Idea Networkfor Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE)consortium grant with Mount Desert IslandBiological Laboratory. e grant has beenrenewed for five years, with $105,000 infunding per year to teach HON 150, 155 and350, and to offer about 12 fellowships per yearfor undergraduate and Honors thesis research.

Cooperative Extension

• Faculty and staff published 36 articles andeight proceedings.

• Extension is realizing significant success indisseminating information in the digital age as


a result of prioritizing technology delivery inrecent years. is year’s statistics include: - Extension’s stable of 60 websites received

2,461,218 total page views. Digitalpublication viewing and downloadsaccounted for 837,707 page views (34percent of total).

- e online catalog now contains more than70 publications, each with embeddededucational videos.

College of Education and Human Development

• Faculty, staff and students are active scholarswho published 45 articles, 15 books, sevenproceedings, 24 technical reports and fiveabstracts. In addition, faculty presented theirwork at 18 international and 34 nationalconferences, 17 regional and 17 statemeetings, and eight local conferences.

• When compared to 2012–13, facultyscholarship and research grew in 2013–14 inalmost all categories, most notably in refereedarticles.

• e college received 14 new research awardstotaling $3,318,714. Twenty-four proposalsare pending for a total of $27,686,486.


• Faculty, staff and students have been active indisseminating their work, publishing 93refereed journal articles, six books and bookchapters, 49 conference papers and 91conference presentations. In addition, therewere seven patents awarded in this academicyear.

• Total research funding for the College ofEngineering totaled $9.86 million. e totalfunding includes sponsored funding($6,485,331), UMaine cost share($1,463,481) and nonsponsored industrialfunding ($1,906,747). e sponsored indirectcost is $1,349,558.

College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

• Faculty reported 251 refereed publications, 21books, 103 other publications, 159performances and exhibitions, and 346presentations. Twelve faculty served as editorsor assistant editors of scholarly journals, 41 asmembers of editorial boards and 13 as officersor committee members for professionalassociations.

• Faculty reported $21,008,617 in extramuralgrants, a dramatic increase from the$5,917,000 reported in AY12–13.

Division of Lifelong Learning

• e division received $500 from theUniversity of Maine Foundation to provideawards to recognize Maine Studies studentresearch, both graduate and undergraduate.

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Photo by Edwin Remsberg

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• Every graduating Art Education major in theCollege of Liberal Arts and Sciences passed thenational PRAXIS examination.

• In the College of Natural Sciences, Forestry,and Agriculture, the passage rates for nationalboards and exams by graduates in MSW,dietetics, speech-language pathology andnursing were 97 percent, 100 percent, 100percent and 97 percent, respectively.

Retention and Graduation Initiatives

I formed the Advisory Group on Retention andGraduation in fall 2013, and charged it withcollecting data and evaluating best practicesleading to incremental improvement of retentionrates, graduation rates, and student success at theUniversity of Maine. e group completed itswork in May 2014 and we finalized the ActionPlan for Retention and Graduation in August.Key initiatives slated for implementation overthe next two years include:

• e creation of a Student Information Officein the Memorial Union designed to provide awide array of academic and student-liferesources for undergraduates.

• A significant restructuring of the Explorationsand Foundations Programs, aimed atimproving retention and progression rates forour first-year students, while broadening theiracademic options in the sophomore year andbeyond.

• Launching the Engaged Black Bear Initiative,in which students earn e-badges forparticipating in a range of activities inclustered areas of the academic and student-life experience (e.g. Service-Learning andCommunity-Based Research; Leadership &Civic Engagement; Service and Volunteerism),under the direction of the Associate Dean forCommunity Engagement in the College ofLiberal Arts and Sciences, in partnership withthe Bodwell Center for Service andVolunteerism, and related campus resources.

Degrees Granted and Post-GraduateEmploymentUMaine’s five academic (degree-granting)colleges reported the following total degreesconferred (undergraduate and graduate) in2013–14:• Education and Human Development: 372• Engineering: 312• Liberal Arts and Sciences: 621• Maine Business School: 228• Natural Sciences, Forestry, and Agriculture:

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Among these were 82 degree recipients whograduated with the Honors designation awardedby the Honors College. In addition, 14 studentsearned Bachelor of University Studies degrees in2013–14 through the Division of LifelongLearning.

Athletics and Academics

• For the 11th consecutive year, more than 50percent of our student-athletes were honoredfor academic success. A record 195 achieved ormaintained a GPA of 3.0 or higher, and 66new students were named “Rising Stars” forearning a 3.0 or higher in their first semesterof study.

• Soccer, and Men’s and Women’s CrossCountry earned NCAA recognition in thelatest APR (Academic Progress Rate) report forranking in the top 10 percent of all teams intheir respective sports. In addition, Women’sCross Country earned its ninth consecutiveperfect score on this index, while compiling ateam GPA of 3.64 — the top cumulative GPAamong the 141 teams competing in AmericaEast sports.

• Four Black Bear squads earned the highest2013–14 American East GPA in theirrespective sports: Women’s Basketball (3.34),Women’s Cross County (3.64), Women’sIndoor Track and Field (3.45), and Women’sOutdoor Track and Field (3.48).

• In 2013–14, 83 student-athletes graduatedfrom UMaine.

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IV. Student Engagement and Success

e development of active, engaged andsuccessful students is central to the academicmission of the university and integral to thegoals of the Blue Sky Plan. Academic Affairs isproud to celebrate our students’ remarkableachievements in 2013–14, even as we build aframework to ensure ongoing excellence.

Enrollment Management

Every college developed targeted enrollmentinitiatives in collaboration with EnrollmentManagement in 2013–14. Some highlightsinclude:

• e Honors College succeeded in reaching itsgoal of 333 incoming students for the Class of2018.

• e Division of Lifelong Learning partneredwith STAMATS to launch a marketingcampaign for four new online graduateofferings: Interprofessional Gerontology,Bioinformatics, Digital Curation, andEngineering and Business.

• e School of Social Work and the School ofEconomics in Natural Sciences, Forestry, andAgriculture were key recruiting andcurriculum-development partners with ourStudy Group International Study Center.

• e College of Education and HumanDevelopment partnered with EnrollmentManagement, Marketing andCommunications, and Black Bear Athletics toboost students’ awareness of its academicprograms and related initiatives.

Student Performance: National Boardsand Exam

UMaine students’ performance oncertification/licensing boards and examscontinues to be outstanding. Some highlights:

• One hundred percent of the College ofEducation and Human Development’selementary and secondary education studentspassed the Praxis II exam in 2013–14, and 90percent of its athletic training students passedthe athletic trainers’ certification exam (thenational average is 50 percent).


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V. Challenges and Planning Ahead

e accomplishments summarized above are allthe more remarkable in that they were achievedin the context of significant and ongoingbudgetary challenges. Clearly, as we planned for2014–15, managing a very significant budget cutwas our most daunting task. e University ofMaine needed to reduce its fiscal year 2015budget by $9,670,093 and the Division ofAcademic Affairs was responsible for identifying$4,958,920 of the total cut (a portion slightlysmaller than the division’s percentage of the totalE&G budget).

Early on, the decision was made to preserve areasof recent and anticipated growth, highproductivity and excellence as much as possibleand, therefore, not to distribute the cut “acrossthe board” (e.g., proportionally to each unit inthe division). e budgets for the College ofEngineering, Honors College, Office of Researchand the Graduate School were held constant,and the cut was distributed across the remainingunits within the division. My office workedclosely with the Deans and Directors tominimize the impact of the cuts on their areas.Not surprising, the primary means of meetingthe budget cut targets was through theelimination of faculty and staff positions thatwere vacant or would become vacant in fiscalyear 2015. In total, 30 faculty lines wereeliminated (25.2 full-time equivalent). e netfaculty loss, however, was not this large, as 10lines were invested into the faculty: Two lineswere professors returning to the ranks of thefaculty after having served in full-timeadministrative positions, two positions weremoved from soft-funding to E&G, and onefaculty position was added through UMaine’spartner accommodation program. e other fivepositions are lectureships invested in areas ofcritical instructional need. Funds for these fivepositions were reallocated from areas outside ofAcademic Affairs as the result of negotiationsbetween the Office of Academic Affairs and theOffice of Administration and Finance. e net

reduction in base-funded full-time equivalentfaculty positions from fiscal year 2014 to fiscalyear 2015, therefore, was 15.2.

UMaine’s strategic plan calls for enrollmentgrowth and we have been making significantprogress toward that goal in the past two years.e fall 2013 first-year class was the largest onrecord and the fall 2014 class promises to bealmost as large. Enrollment growth is essentialfor UMaine to achieve financial sustainability.Enrollment growth, however, presentschallenges, particularly in the face of a shrinkingfaculty. Meeting the instructional needs of ourgrowing student body was a key consideration aswe planned the fiscal year 2015 budget. Twelveadditional faculty lines, 10 additional graduateteaching assistantships and additional funds foradjunct faculty hiring were included in thebudget plan. Funds for these positions are notbase-budgeted (i.e. they are not replenishedannually), but rather are one-time funds (i.e.,once they are used, they are gone). Eight of thesenew faculty lines are visiting assistant professorpositions with two-year appointments and fourare one-year positions at the lecturer rank. Withthese investments, we are confident that we canmeet students’ instructional needs.

e fiscal landscape for the next few yearspromises to continue to be a challenging one.at fact accentuates the importance of planningand vision. In the words of George Harrison, “Ifyou don’t know where you’re going, any road willtake you there.” Let me highlight three areas that

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AlumniCurrent data on recent UMaine graduates revealstrong success in job placement. Sixty-eightpercent of those responding to the latest LifeAfter UMaine survey are employed full-time andanother 17 percent are employed part-time.Eighty-four percent of those employed full-timeare working in a job related to the degree theyearned at UMaine.

ree out of every four respondents with roots inMaine have stayed and found work in the state,as have almost 20 percent of out-of-state grads.Whether graduates stay close or find jobselsewhere, the overall placement rates in severalfields of study are very strong. For example, 91

percent of recent engineering graduates havesecured full-time employment. In fact, nearlytwo of every 10 recent grads are employed in anengineering- or architecture-related field, whilemore than a quarter work in either an education-or health care-related field (all fields broadlydefined). Another 25 percent of respondents arenow attending graduate school.

A critical measure of UMaine’s success indelivering a high-quality education is found inour students’ perceptions of their time at theuniversity. In response to the question “Howwell did your UMaine experience prepare youfor your job?” 91 percent reported that itprepared them “very well” or “moderately” well.


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will play important roles in our planning processin the coming year: Strategic Visioning,Enrollment Management and Collaboration.

Strategic Visioning: We completed the exerciseto identify our Signature and Emerging Areasthis past year. e areas we have designated willinfluence our decision making around resourceallocation and procurement in the coming year.Consideration of the health of our Signature andEmerging Areas will impact decisions aboutfaculty hiring, allocation of discretionary fundsand support for new initiatives. e areas willfeature in our discourse with the state legislature,as well as our federal delegation. And theSignature and Emerging Areas will inform ourfundraising goals and strategies.

Strategic thinking about the academic andresearch programs included in the UMaineportfolio will continue in the coming year. As wedid with the Signature and Emerging programs,we’ll engage in a campuswide dialogue, this timefocused on “foundational areas.” e broadquestion that will guide this discussion: “Whatareas are essential to the educational and researchmission of a land grant university in the 21stcentury?”

Enrollment Management: Strategicallymanaging UMaine’s enrollment is essential tothe financial sustainability of the institution. eDivision of Academic Affairs will partner withthe Division of Enrollment Management to

continue enrollment growth. Four target areashave been identified: graduate education, onlineprograms, international students and studentretention. Plans for each of these areas are invarious stages of development and will appear inthe coming academic year.

Collaboration: e health and well-being of theUniversity of Maine is inextricably tied to thehealth and well-being of the University of MaineSystem. UMS has launched an initiative toreorganize academic programs across the Systemin order to achieve three goals: increased access(i.e., increase enrollment), improved quality andreduced costs. UMaine will be an activeparticipant in this work; the goals for ourinstitution are the same as those of the System. I will be working closely with the leadership ofthe Faculty Senate to ensure that the UMainefaculty voice plays a prominent role in thesediscussions.

In closing, 2013–14 was a productive year inAcademic Affairs during which we madeimportant strategic advances and managedsignificant challenges. e coming yearundoubtedly will present its own challenges andopportunities. I look forward to working withthe outstanding faculty, administrators, staff,students and external stakeholders who make upthe UMaine community as we face thechallenges, and take advantage of theopportunities we encounter.

The University of Maine does not discriminate on the grounds of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, including transgender status andgender expression, national origin, citizenship status, age, disability, genetic information or veteran status in employment, education, and allother programs and activities. The following person has been designated to handle inquiries regarding nondiscrimination policies: Director,Office of Equal Opportunity, 101 North Stevens Hall, 207.581.1226.



University of Maine Office of the Executive

Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost

5703 Alumni Hall, Room 201Orono, ME 04469-5703

umaine.edu

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