Education Commissioner Bowen at UMaine Monday

Maine Education Commissioner Stephen Bowen is spending Monday Sept. 12 at UMaine, as part of the Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center Distinguished Maine Policy Fellow Program.

Bowen will meet with students, faculty members and staff members, in addition to President Paul Ferguson and Provost Susan Hunter.

The Distinguished Maine Policy Fellows Program, which began in the spring of 2006, brings Maine elected officials and senior policymakers to UMaine for intensive one-day programs through which they can learn more about UMaine, the Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center, and the work of the university’s faculty members and students. It is also intended to provide opportunities for UMaine students to have access to high-level public officials, through whom they can learn more about government and the development of public policy.

Bowen’s Monday schedule includes a 10-10:50 a.m. meeting with a student panel to discuss the educational experience at UMaine, from the perspectives of several students representing various academic disciplines.  From 11-11:50 a.m., he will meet with a group of faculty members whose research programs involve close connections with Maine’s K-12 schools.  Both sessions are scheduled for Memorial Union’s Bumps Room.  Bowen will also meet with a group of UMaine graduate students from 1-1:30 p.m. in the Advanced Manufacturing Center’s first floor conference room.

A former teacher and two-term member of the Maine House of Representatives, Bowen served as director of the Maine Heritage Policy Center’s Center for Education Excellence for nearly four years before becoming commissioner.

His visit to UMaine is organized by the Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center and the College of Education and Human Development.

Sept. 12, 2011

Contact: Joe Carr at (207) 581-3571