Strategic Re-Envisioning Update — November 7

November 7, 2024 Strategic re-envisioning

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

I am pleased to share that we have completed Phase 2 of our Strategic Re-envisioning (SRE) process. This phase was a critical part of our journey, involving the efforts of dedicated working groups that focused on analyzing key aspects of our university’s mission, operations, and aspirations.

To provide transparency and keep everyone informed, we have created a webpage summarizing the outcomes from each SRE working group. More complete descriptions will be added as work progresses. I encourage you to review these findings, which reflect the diverse perspectives and innovative ideas of more than 175 faculty and staff members who participated in the SRE working groups.

On October 10, members of the administration and several SRE Provost’s Fellows participated in a retreat to identify our next steps as we continue with Phase 3 of the SRE process. We are now focusing on developing actionable items linked to our strategic vision of the future and our budget planning processes around four key themes, with related ideas from other themes woven in as appropriate.

  • Theme 2: Enhance academic programs through consolidation, elimination, or restructuring to enhance educational outcomes, boost career readiness, and increase the university’s research impact.
  • Theme 3: Develop meta-majors and other inter- and post-disciplinary undergraduate degree programs to provide students with flexible pathways, increase enrollment, generate intellectual excitement, capitalize on our array of academic strengths, and better prepare graduates for the demands of the workforce.
  • Theme 5: Strengthen research centers by recommending consolidation, elimination, or restructuring to foster interdisciplinary collaboration, resource efficiency, and impactful research outcomes.
  • Theme 10: Integrate teaching and research more effectively (“Learner-Focused R1”) to positively influence student experience and success.
  • Theme 14: Enhance organizational effectiveness through consolidation, elimination or restructuring recommendations in administrative units and or functions to improve institutional agility, support research and academic enrollment growth in areas of strategic importance to maintain and fortify existing high-demand areas, improve service delivery and optimize resource management.

We will also be moving forward on project ideas that have been nominated and that can be readily implemented across all themes; more information on these steps will be shared in the coming weeks. Please provide any project ideas here.

I am grateful to everyone who contributed to the working groups and who proposed ideas during Phase 2. Your input and insights have been invaluable. In Phase 3, we will narrow our focus to ensure that the recommendations in these key themes are translated into strategic actions that will strengthen the University of Maine’s role as a student-centered, land-grant, research-driven institution.

Sincerely,

Joan Ferrini-Mundy
President
University of Maine and the University of Maine at Machias