Strategic Re-Envisioning Update — August 21

Dear University of Maine and University of Maine at Machias communities, 

As we move closer to the start of the fall semester, the Strategic Re-envisioning (SRE) initiative continues. Working groups led by Provost’s Fellows and team leads have been meeting to discuss project themes and analyze opportunities presented by each proposed theme. The groups are reviewing relevant data, benchmarking against peer institutions, and soliciting feedback from members of our community to understand the benefits and risks of potential actions suggested by each theme. 

Response to the flash survey on July 29 about integrating teaching and research indicated strong support for developing a university-wide undergraduate major in climate change, with related stackable credentials, and plans for Maine’s climate resiliency. I’m pleased to see that our community is ready to engage in new ways to address our most pressing global concerns and I’m hopeful we’ll see the same willingness to engage over the next month with the broader re-envisioning process. 

Faculty Senate President Amanda Klemmer and I will be hosting a town hall for the UMaine and UMaine Machias campus communities on Thursday, Sept. 12. The town hall represents an opportunity to hear more about the ongoing SRE work and offer feedback and suggestions. An invitation and Zoom link will be shared soon. 

The prioritizing and assessing phase of the project continues through September and members of the SRE leadership team will be engaging with groups, such as Faculty Senate, graduate and undergraduate student governments, and standing committees of the university throughout the month. If your group would like to meet with SRE co-chairs, project directors or Provost’s Fellows and team leads, please contact Sabrina DeTurk at sabrina.deturk@maine.edu. 

You are also invited to contribute individual ideas via the online Idea Prototype Tool. Thank you to those who have already submitted ideas. 

And a quick final note: if you don’t regularly check the UMS Fall Headcount Enrollment tableau site, take a look. The data are encouraging—UMaine’s undergraduate FTE enrollment, compared to this time last year, is up 2.3%. At both UMaine and UMM projected student credit hours are up over last year as well.   

Sincerely,

Joan Ferrini-Mundy
President