Board of Visitors to Welcome Kennedy, Discuss Future at Tuesday Concluding Session
Contact: Joe Carr at (207) 581-3571
ORONO — The University of Maine Board of Visitors, authorized by the Maine Legislature in 1997 to advocate for the university and advise its administration, will hold its annual two-day on-campus meeting Oct. 25 and 26 at UMaine’s Buchanan Alumni House. As the meeting concludes on Tuesday, Board Chair H. Allen Fernald will host a session, “Building the Future,” at which he will formally welcome Interim President Robert Kennedy on behalf of the board. Fernald and Kennedy will both offer remarks about UMaine’s direction and the critical role the board will continue to play. Members of the UMaine community and news reporters are invited to the session, which will begin at 2:30 p.m.
“More than ever, it is important for UMaine to turn to the Board of Visitors for assistance as we position the university for the future,” says Kennedy, who became UMaine’s interim president on Aug. 15. “We are making concrete plans, within the context of the University of Maine System strategic plan, which calls for UMaine to continue its leadership role as the system’s flagship university. We will rely heavily on the counsel of the board members to help us choose the proper course of action.”
Kennedy will also discuss the four new committees he has created to work on specific strategic planning concerns. Each committee will have Board of Visitors representation, along with representation from the UMaine faculty and other segments of the university community. The committees will study the following:
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Fogler Library
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Graduate education
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UMaine’s role in the Higher Education Park planned for Bangor
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Distance education/outreach centers
“These concerns are central to our planning, and our long-term ability to positively affect Maine, trough teaching, research and engagement with communities across the state,” says Kennedy, who discussed the committee structure with UMaine’s Faculty Senate last week.
On Monday, the board approved the nominations of three new members:
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Maria Fuentes of Hallowell, the executive director of the Maine Better Transportation Association and a 1985 (MBA) UMaine graduate
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Catherine Scott-Craig Newell of Locke Mills, who earned a Master of Arts in Teaching from UMaine in 1968 and currently serves as executive director of the Maine Adult Education Association
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Matthew Rodrigue, a Wilton native who graduated from UMaine in 2004 and currently works as a Massachusetts-based controls engineer with Woodard and Curran
As described in the law authorizing its existence, the board can have up to 20 members. Each of the seven universities in the University of Maine System has its own Board of Visitors. UMaine’s board meets four times each year.