WAGM, Houlton Pioneer Times cover President Hunter’s talk at Rotary Club meeting

WAGM (Channel 8 in Presque Isle) and Houlton Pioneer Times reported on University of Maine President Susan J. Hunter’s recent talk at a Houlton Rotary Club meeting. Hunter spoke about current initiatives and opportunities at UMaine, as well as the university’s partnerships around the state. “We really see ourselves as a statewide institution and a statewide resource,” Hunter told WAGM. “We really want to be seen as everyone’s best partner and with a footprint that expands and covers the entire state.” Notable Aroostook County partnerships Hunter mentioned were working with the Maine Potato Board and Three Rivers Paper Co. During the meeting, Hunter, who said there are currently 371 UMaine students from Aroostook County, also addressed questions about how to prepare students for the high school-to-college transition. “It really is about talking and listening, encouraging and offering opportunities,” she said. “We see that with students who are already on campus, but every opportunity you can provide for somebody getting close to that high school-to-college transition — whether it’s a volunteer stint, whether it’s working in a small business, volunteering in a school — all of those things help pave the way to somebody thinking about different careers, different pathways.”