UMaine Compass

UMaine 2025 Opening Meeting

In March of 2021, the UMaine 2025 Commission was convened and charged by President Ferrini-Mundy to consider how the context of higher education is being re-shaped by noteworthy current events and what bold and visionary steps we will need to take in order to serve our students, our institutions, our state, and to contribute, in shaping ways, to the national discourse.

The 25-member commission, led by co-chairs Kirsten Jacobson, Professor of Philosophy and Department Chair, and Matt Rodrigue, Co-head and Managing Director of Miller Buckfire in NYC, met six times, three meetings each in the spring and fall terms of 2021 for the visioning session listed below.

Visioning Session 1 | COVID-19

UMaine 2025 Commission members were asked to consider: What have we learned from the COVID-19 pandemic that can help us (1) build a more diverse, equitable and inclusive institution? (2) develop a higher impact student experience? (3) make UMaine a distinctive institution? (4) better serve our community and state? A detailed supplemental reading list and  two video interviews (with Michael Crow, President of ASU, and Leslie Fenwick, dean emeritus of Howard University School of Education) were circulated to the group.

Visioning Session 2 | Racial Equity and Justice

UMaine 2025 Commission members were asked to reflect on (1) faculty and staff recruitment and retention, (2) attracting and supporting a more diverse student body, (3) institutional culture- virtual & physical spaces and practices, (4) strengthening partnerships for promoting racial justice and equity state-wide. The meeting featured an opening panel discussion with Marcus Librizzi, Professor of English at UMaine Machias and member of the President’s Council on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion; Darren Ranco, Chair of Native American Programs at UMaine and member of the Equity Subcommittee of the Maine Climate Council; and Idella Glenn, Associate Vice President for Equity, Inclusion and Impact at USM.

Visioning Session 3 | Climate Change

UMaine 2025 Commission members were asked to consider the role of higher education in addressing climate change (at both the state and national level) and how it influences our vision for UMaine in 2025. In addition, members were asked to consider statewide documents such as Maine Won’t Wait, A Four-Year Plan for Climate Action, and to develop and identify new and expanded conceptions of university learning, teaching, research, community engagement, and partnerships. Ivan Fernandez Distinguished Maine Professor, Climate Change Institute & School of Forest Resources and member of the Maine Climate Council, co-chair of the Scientific and Technical Subcommittee and member of the Natural and Working Lands working group will present and lead a Q&A session (along with other UMaine 2025 Commission members including Hannah Pingree, Director of the Governor’s office of Policy Innovation and the Future and co-chair of Maine’s Climate Council.)

Visioning Session 4 | Education for Society

UMaine Commission members were challenged to re-evaluate the role universities play in education and society. Andreas Schleicher, Director of Education and Skills for the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in Paris, gave an insightful and thought-provoking presentation. Commission members were asked to consider what UMaine can uniquely offer its students and communities in order to remain a vital and shaping force in society. Specifically, the university might consider whether and how it performs as a site (i) for helping students grow as individuals, (ii) for imparting appreciation and acceptance of diverse voices, (iii) for becoming critical thinkers able to distinguish fact from opinion, (iv) for understanding what it is to be human in a world evolving more and more to embrace the various technologies that continually reshape us.

UMaine  2025 Final Working Group

In December of 2021, the UMaine 2025 Commission held a final meeting. It was working session designed for the group to meet in person for the first time and to begin to synthesize the ideas and recommendations that had emerged from the four visioning sessions. During the spring term 2022, the UMaine 2025 project team worked with members of the UMaine Division of Marketing and Communication to produce a creative deliverable with the capacity to engage, inform and grow.