Reminder: Chancellor’s Spring ’22 Campus Tour at UMaine April 12

April 11, 2022 News

Chancellor Dannel Malloy will visit the University of Maine on April 12 as part of his Spring ’22 Campus Tours of all the University of Maine System (UMS) universities and Maine Law.

This semester, the Chancellor’s visits focus on gathering input for the System’s first five-year strategic plan in more than a decade. He is hosting listening sessions about the plan with university presidents, faculty, staff, students, UMS staff who serve on the System’s Strategic Plan Working Group, and members of Huron Consulting Group, the firm retained to help UMS develop the plan.

Students, faculty and staff are invited to UMaine’s listening sessions, all in the Bodwell Lounge, Collins Center for the Arts:

  • 9:45–10:30 a.m. — Student Engagement
  • 10:45–11:30 a.m. — Faculty Engagement
  • 11:45 a.m.–12:30 p.m. — Staff Engagement

In addition, the Chancellor and President Joan Ferrini-Mundy will lead an in-person Campus Community Town Hall at IMRC, Stewart Commons, from 1:45–2:30 p.m. that day.


Two representatives from Huron Consulting Group will lead open sessions in Bodwell Lounge of the Collins Center for the Arts with UMaine students (9:45 a.m.), faculty (10:45 a.m.), and staff (11:45 a.m.) to gather input that will be used to develop the next UMS strategic plan. The information below helps to explain these sessions. Come share your thoughts about UMaine’s important role in the University of Maine System in the years ahead.

Guiding Principles for UMS Strategic Planning Process

The following principles were created by the Board Ad hoc Strategic Planning Committee, the UMS President’s Council and the UMS Strategic Planning Work Group. The statements provide a framework for idea prioritization, decision making, and behavior as part of UMS’ strategic planning process.

(© 2020 Huron Consulting Group Inc. and affiliates.)

  1. Be student-centric and further the System’s missions of teaching, learning, service, and research
  2. Express values of sustainability, quality, affordability, relevancy, and diversity, equity, and inclusion in all we do
  3. Align with the State of Maine’s needs and priorities in system opportunity identification, prioritization, and implementation. Base decisions on facts and projections of the higher education and R&D market
  4. Be candid and willing to make bold decisions that are based in objective data which balance the current and future interests of our students, faculty, and staff in a cost-effective manner
  5. Declare a System vision that heightens each university’s strengths while maximizing opportunities for collaboration toward a cohesive whole
  6. Leverage unified accreditation as a tool for achieving systemwide benefits and adhere to the UA guiding principles
  7. Address aging facilities and organizational infrastructure through a lens of efficiency, accessibility, and modernization that preserves our history while supporting future strategic initiatives
  8. Seek input from a diverse and broad set of UMS stakeholders
  9. Foster a culture of innovation and collaboration and communicate transparently about the strategic planning process

Strategic Planning Process

Strategic Planning Background

The UMS Board Ad-Hoc Strategic Planning Committee, UMS President’s Council and a UMS Strategic Planning Working Group are charged with leading the development of a new System strategic plan, in consultation with the entire System community and other stakeholders. The resulting plan will serve as a blueprint for UMS’s future, align our current strengths to a new vision and goals, and overcome the challenges the System and its universities are expected to face over the next five years. The plan will be developed in close alignment with the UMS Unified Accreditation Self-Study and Evaluation process already underway. 

The strategic planning process will fundamentally address where we are, our vision for the future, a plan to achieve this vision, a process for monitoring our success, and the resources we will acquire and apply in the execution of the plan.

Your Role in the Planning Process

We have asked our Huron partners to speak with you because you are a key stakeholder in the process. Simply put, this plan is about your future, too. By sharing your perspective, the plan will benefit from the collective expertise and breadth of vision from diverse viewpoints. The following questions are illustrative of the types of questions that Huron will ask you:

Current state
  • What are the strengths of UMS? What sets UMS apart in the current state?
  • What assets across the System could the System better leverage?
  • What are the challenges and threats facing the System that are either internal or external?
Future state
  • What are three areas where UMS is poised for growth
  • What should the top priorities be for the system’s continued development?
  • Where do opportunities exist for increased collaboration between universities within the System? What makes these opportunities optimal for collaboration (e.g., culture, structure, resources)?
System Collaborations
  • What kinds of enhanced educational experiences can be delivered through collaboration and alignment with other System Universities?
  • What kinds of enhanced research activity can be achieved through collaboration and alignment with other System Universities?
  • What role can the Chancellor and System Office play as an enabler to that collaboration?

We thank you in advance for your willingness to participate in these important discussions. Do not hesitate to reach out to Brenna Casey, Huron Project Manager, at bcasey@hcg.com if you have any questions or visit the Strategic Plan website. There you can find a timeline of the full activities, the Guiding Principles, and a comment box where you can share your perspective through the full process.