Office of the President

I am pleased to confirm that we will return to prepandemic operations at the University of Maine and University of Maine at Machias, informed by civil and public health guidance, for an in-person fall semester for students, faculty and staff. We will come together in person as academic communities to provide our students with the most comprehensive, engaged educational experience possible, in and out of the classroom. Our research and outreach efforts on our campuses, and at our facilities and in our offices statewide, will return to in-person staffing. Watch for more information from our HR partners and UMaine/UMaine Machias campus leaders in the coming days.

Chancellor Malloy has noted this in his community message this afternoon.

Faculty and staff who were working in-person prior to the pandemic should expect to return to that status. UMS return guidance is on the Together for Maine website. In addition, Human Resources will provide resources later this week to assist employees and supervisors with decision-making around individual work arrangements where needed.

To prepare for the start of the fall semester, UMaine and UMaine Machias employees with 12-month appointments are asked to plan for a return to their work sites on or before Aug. 2, in consultation with their supervisors. Employees with less than 12-month appointments are asked to return based on their normal work schedules. As the Chancellor noted, we also stand ready to discuss any labor contract implications with our labor partners. Facilities Management and UMS IT are returning our campuses to prepandemic operation, and will support faculty and staff return to offices, labs and facilities.

As university communities, all of you — our students, faculty and staff — have done an extraordinary job continuing to learn and work to fulfill our educational, research and engagement mission. Our return to our campuses and facilities statewide will continue to be informed by the lessons of the pandemic. We will be even stronger, together, in person this fall in the valuable community experience missing during the pandemic.

For those already on-site, thank you. For those returning, we look forward to seeing you soon. We have welcome back events planned in August, providing opportunities to gather socially in addition to being together in our professional capacities.

Thank you for all your efforts and your commitment to our mission.

Joan Ferrini-Mundy

President