University of Maine System Chancellor Richard L. Pattenaude emphasized the confluence of economic development and higher education in a joint session of the Maine state Senate and House of Representatives in his "State of the University" biennial address on March 30.

“Historically, higher education has meant ...]]>

Pattenaude presenting at NEBHE's 2011 Excellence Awards

University of Maine System Chancellor Richard L. Pattenaude emphasized the confluence of economic development and higher education in a joint session of the Maine state Senate and House of Representatives in his "State of the University" biennial address on March 30.

“Historically, higher education has meant personal growth and discovery, creating and preserving knowledge, and helping our students become lifelong learners and better citizens,” Pattenaude noted. “Today, however, the new ‘normal’ in higher ed is all about rebuilding our economy and creating opportunities for our students to live and work in Maine.”

To steer a path to this "new normal," the chancellor outlined three initiatives already underway to improve: remediation rates, transfer issues and the University System’s responsiveness to business needs. He noted:

• UMS is partnering with the Maine Community College System and Maine Department of Education commissioner Stephen Bowen to prepare a “Complete College America” grant which will focus on college preparation, remediation and retention.

• Maine’s universities and community colleges will work to solve transfer problems among public institutions.  “We are committed to working collaboratively to make the transfer experience smooth, seamless and effective,” Pattenaude said.

• The University System is working to help address the state’s need for graduates in information technology and computer science programs.

Pattenaude said the University System has made significant progress since his 2009 biennial address, which kicked off the New Challenges, New Directions initiative to focus on achieving long-term financial stability, keep education affordable and meet Maine’s changing educational and research needs.

For a complete text of Pattenaude's speech, click here.

Currently provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs at Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville, Ferguson will succeed Robert Kennedy at Orono on July 1.

UMaine noted ...]]>

University of Maine System trustees approved Chancellor Richard Pattenaude’s recommendation of Paul Ferguson as the next president of UMaine, the state’s flagship and land-grant university in Orono.

Currently provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs at Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville, Ferguson will succeed Robert Kennedy at Orono on July 1.

UMaine noted that the president's salary of $270,000 is low compared with presidents of similar institutions, which in New England, range from $231,143 at the University of Rhode Island to $575,500 at the University of Connecticut, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education.

A southern California native, Ferguson earned a bachelor's degree in Biology at Whittier College and a doctorate in Pharmacology and Toxicology at the University of California, Davis.

Among other scientists leading New England land-grant universities, the University of Massachusetts in January selected chemist Robert Caret, president of Towson University, to succeed Jack M. Wilson as head of the five-campus UMass system. University of Rhode Island President David M. Dooley is also a chemist.

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Sanjay Sharma, dean of the John Molson School of Business at Concordia University, was appointed dean of the School of Business Administration at the University of Vermont, effective July 1, 2011. The Aspen Institute ranked the Molson School  34^th in the world in its Beyond Gray Pinstripes Survey recognizing coursework, research and activities that prepare MBAs for social, enthical and environmental stewardship.

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Howard C. Bauchner, vice chair of pediatrics at Boston University’s School of Medicine, will become editor-in-chief of the Journal of the American Medical Association in July. He will replace Catherine D. DeAngelis, who will leave in June, after 11 years, to return to the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

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Lesley University appointed Southern Connecticut State University Provost Selase W. Williams as provost and chief academic officer. Williams previously served for 17 years in the California State University System, beginning as chair of the Pan African Studies Department at the Northridge campus and rising to dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the Dominguez Hills campus.

University of Maine System Chancellor Richard L. Pattenaude announced that a search committee has identified four finalists to become president of Maine’s flagship public university in Orono after current President Robert Kennedy steps down in June 2011.

The finalists are: ·        Donald J. Farish, president of Rowan University in New Jersey; ·        Paul W. Ferguson, provost ...]]>

University of Maine System Chancellor Richard L. Pattenaude announced that a search committee has identified four finalists to become president of Maine’s flagship public university in Orono after current President Robert Kennedy steps down in June 2011.

The finalists are:
·        Donald J. Farish, president of Rowan University in New Jersey;
·        Paul W. Ferguson, provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs and professor at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville;
·        Daniel J. Julius, vice president for academic affairs at the University of Alaska System of Higher Education and professor at the University of Alaska at Fairbanks; and
·        James H. Page, principal and CEO of James W. Sewall Company.

For more about the finalists, visit: www.umaine.edu/presidentsearch/finalists/.

Trustees of the University of Maine System got an update this week regarding the financial and programmatic health of the state’s seven university campuses and its online and distance-learning initiative called University College.

Last year, projected budget shortfalls to the tune of $42.8 million prompted administrators to reevaluate the management and academic structures of the Maine ...]]>

Trustees of the University of Maine System got an update this week regarding the financial and programmatic health of the state’s seven university campuses and its online and distance-learning initiative called University College.

Last year, projected budget shortfalls to the tune of $42.8 million prompted administrators to reevaluate the management and academic structures of the Maine system. At its November 2009 meeting, the board of trustees endorsed a broad-based plan that sought systemwide financial sustainability by 2013. System chancellor Richard L. Pattenaude discussed the plan on the NEBHE website in June.

At this year’s meeting, trustees were presented with a “newly updated multiyear financial plan” outlining scenarios leading to a balanced budget and sustainability for the system in five years. Officials in the chancellor’s office praised the seven Maine campuses for helping in this effort; institutional leaders this year have identified cost savings totaling about $5 million.

Many of these efficiencies and reductions have cost jobs. The system, in an effort to cut spending, has reduced its total workforce by 6% over the past three years. Facing a $5.9 million shortfall, the University of Maine alone trimmed more than 52 FTE positions, though few of those reductions were outright layoffs.

The elimination of many adjunct faculty positions may have also led to spikes in faculty teaching loads and class sizes, and hampered student access to certain courses, as sections were eliminated. Proposed spring cutbacks reportedly threatened the existence of the French department (among others) at the University of Maine, and trustees this week approved the elimination of two bachelor of science degrees in secondary education at the University of Maine at Fort Kent. Academic programs at Maine campuses, according to Pattenaude, must pass the “12/5 rule”—meaning that any class with fewer than 12 students and any department with fewer than five majors must defend its continued funding.

Some UMaine System priorities are growing, however. For example, distance and online education credit hours increased this year (at annual rates of 8.5% and 27%, respectively) and community college transfers into the system are up 12% over last year.

Related Posts: Lessons from Restructuring the University of Maine System; Good Intentions: Many Mainers Plan to Go to College, but Few Do (pdf); Maine Compact for Higher Education (pdf)

When faced with a challenge, the people of Maine tend to be very pragmatic and straightforward. Those cultural values helped guide our approach to dealing with a rapidly growing structural gap in the finances of the University of Maine System.

Even before the international financial crisis, we were looking at a $42.8 ...]]>

When faced with a challenge, the people of Maine tend to be very pragmatic and straightforward. Those cultural values helped guide our approach to dealing with a rapidly growing structural gap in the finances of the University of Maine System.

Even before the international financial crisis, we were looking at a $42.8 million projected annual shortfall between revenues and expenses within four years if we continued business as usual. Trustees asked me to present them with a plan to resolve it. So I looked into my magic bag and, finding it empty, decided to take a pragmatic and straightforward approach.

Certain key values emerge rapidly when addressing a problem of this magnitude. These include transparency, authenticity, accountability and fairness. We knew we would have to make major changes but we also knew that we were going to have to do it in a way that didn’t create its own opposition. To accomplish this, we formed three work groups—one academic, one administrative and one about governance—to begin to gather ideas and prepare reports. We held 20 public forums, which helped inform creation of a multiyear plan called “New Challenges, New Directions,” endorsed by the trustees in November 2009.

There are two fundamental ways to approach a project like this. You can move swiftly to prepare a plan and then deal with high implementation costs. Or you can spend more time in broad discussions and open meetings to ensure that people have a voice in the processes and thus reduce implementation costs. We chose the latter approach; so by the time we had completed a plan, people were highly aware of its contents and its goals. We shared financial data and we shared alternative approaches to problem solving. I joked that as I drove across the state to talk about it, there was a trail of draft reports flying out the car, littering the interstate.

The plan has three fundamental goals: 1) better serve the state and ensure that the university advance the needs of our citizens and our economy; 2) control tuition costs; and 3) attain fiscal sustainability within four years.

In doing this, we are looking at three broad areas of work. The first is to conserve academic resources by engaging activities such as the “12/5” rule: That is, any class enrolling fewer than 12 students must be given a review for academic necessity; any program graduating fewer than five students per year has to justify its funding. We are also looking at how we can collaborate on programs, expand online programs, add three-year degree programs and bring more resources to bear on critical needs such as allied health and nursing, to name a few initiatives.

In the administrative realm, the question became: How much “system-ness” really provides efficiency? A simple knee-jerk answer is that centralizing saves money. We are trying to increase efficiency while giving campuses greater input on which particular activities will be centralized. A solid business case has to be presented for anything that might be centralized such as purchasing, energy management or online programs.

The third area of work—structure and governance—is the most sensitive. To avoid having a firestorm at the start, we indicated very clearly that no campuses would be closed. This does not stop us from asking campuses to share resources nor from looking at different structures for providing services—for example, our plan proposes that one campus be responsible for managing online programs, another campus be responsible for energy management .

How is it working? There is a decent base of support at this point and we are proceeding in a steady manner. Each of the 40-plus action items have specific milestones and benchmarks. We find people are engaging the stated purposes, and accountability is rising. The logic is compelling. If we save money, if we are more efficient, then we can serve students more effectively and focus our resources more strategically. This is a multiyear effort, and we understand that different parts of it will move at different rates. But we believe that having spent adequate time in building support in advance, bringing as many voices to the table as possible, and sharing ongoing ownership and leadership that this work will have the momentum needed to carry it through.

What lessons have we learned? If we could do this over, we probably would have been more precise on the meanings of certain concepts such as decentralization of services and the strategic investment fund. We would have been more precise early on about the process itself in terms of dates, deadlines and work products. I think that we would have prepared the work groups more carefully by giving them a clearer charge.

It’s never easy to move a large organization in a new direction. Current difficult economic conditions have certainly given us more energy and leverage for the work. To succeed at this, leaders need to have the courage of their convictions, good colleagues on campus and in the administration, the solid backing of their trustees, flexibility and a clear commitment to where they want to go. And if that goal is based upon deep belief in serving students and the state, then one is comfortable in taking action and risks.

This work serves the public trust. Future generations count on us to do it well. Therefore it’s incumbent to reflect upon it carefully before proceeding, work openly and share credit for all that is done. There’s more work to do. But I think we are headed in the right direction at the University of Maine System.

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Richard L. Pattenaude is chancellor of the University of Maine System and former president of the University of Southern Maine.