Zeph Resigns as Dean of the Division of Lifelong Learning

Effective July 1, Lucille Zeph will resign as associate provost and dean of the Division of Lifelong Learning (DLL) to allow her to focus solely on her duties as director of the Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies at the University of Maine. For the past three years, Zeph has held both positions.

“I am extremely grateful to Lu for her leadership of the Division of Lifelong Learning these past three years,” says Jeff Hecker, executive vice president for academic affairs and provost. “Few people could have stepped in to lead an organization as complex as DLL. While I will miss the wisdom and creativity she brought to the Provost’s leadership team, I support her decision to turn her full attention to the Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies.”

Zeph was tapped to serve as interim associate provost and dean of the Division of Lifelong Learning in 2011 upon the retirement of longtime dean Robert White. She was appointed associate provost and dean on an ongoing basis last July, all the while continuing to serve as director of the Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies (CCIDS).

During her tenure, she managed the complex operations of DLL that include the Hutchinson Center in Belfast, Conference Services, the Continuing Education Division, Summer University, UMaine’s online programs and several centers and interdisciplinary academic programs. Her benchmarks in DLL include implementation of UMaine’s 24–7 initiative offering online certificates and degree programs, and creation of the Lifelong Learning Advising Center specifically for adult and nontraditional students who aspire to complete their degrees at UMaine.

Zeph, a UMaine associate professor of education, joined the College of Education faculty in 1979 and founded CCIDS in 1992. The center is Maine’s University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities, part of a national network of centers congressionally authorized under the Development Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act of 2000. CCIDS conducts interdisciplinary education, research, and community engagement to positively affect the lives of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families throughout Maine and beyond.