BANGOR, Maine — The three finalists for the University of Maine System chancellorship will visit three system campuses next week, and students, employees and members of the public will have the chance to hear from each candidate during open forums.
The itineraries are identical in times and locations of the visits, but the dates are staggered so no two candidates will be at the same place on the same day. The first day for each candidate will begin with a streaming videoconference from 10-11:30 a.m.
Then he or she will move on to the University of Southern Maine’s Portland campus to meet with members of the public from 2 to 3:15 p.m in Room 133 of Wishcamper Hall.
On each candidate’s second day, he or she will participate in a forum at the University of Maine in Orono, which is scheduled for 10-11:15 a.m. in Room 2 of Wells Conference Center.
After that, candidates will travel to the University of Maine at Fort Kent’s Nadeau Hall Teleconference Center for a forum set for 3:30-4:45 p.m.
James Page of Old Town will be the first to visit on Tuesday and Wednesday, Jan. 17-18.
Page is principal and chief executive officer of James W. Sewall Co. and an adjunct associate professor in UMaine’s Department of Philosophy.
He was one of four finalists in the University of Maine’s search for a president early this year after former UMaine President Robert Kennedy announced plans to leave the state for a new position.
Meredith Hay of Tucson, Ariz., will visit Thursday and Friday, Jan. 18-19.
Hay is special adviser to the chairman of the Arizona Board of Regents for Strategic Initiatives and a physiology professor at the University of Arizona’s College of Medicine. She also has held vice president-level positions at the University of Arizona, the University of Iowa and the University of Missouri System.
Rebecca Wyke of Augusta will tour the campuses Wednesday and Thursday, Jan. 19-20.
Wyke is vice chancellor for finance and administration at the University of Maine System. She has also served as commissioner of the Maine Department of Administrative and Financial Services and as chief deputy secretary of state.
The candidates also will participate in forums by videoconference with the system’s universities in Presque Isle, Machias, Augusta and Farmington. Those will be shown at campuses the candidates won’t be visiting.
To see the full visit itineraries, go to www.maine.edu/UMSchancellorsearch.
Correction: an earlier version of this story swapped the dates of two candidates’ visits. Meredith Hay will visit campuses Jan. 18 and 19. Rebecca Wyke will visit Jan. 19 and 20.
UMaine – Orono needs people to head things that are going to 1. Invest money into the actual “educational” departments so they can work on all those “F” ratings. 2. Stop throwing money into building new buildings they don’t actually use. 3. Putting tons of money into the esthetics of the campus to make it “look” prosperous. A campus should look prosperous because it is healthy. Not because you’re trying to put on a show. 4. Stop putting tons of money into the Sports section of the campus. 5. Repair the actual classrooms for students to use. I mean that is the main purpose of an Educational Institution is to Educate. Not build tons of expensive buildings to put on airs to appear like the “flag ship campus”. The reason they got such a failing grade last year was because they don’t know how to “invest” money into what they actually need verses what they want. If they continue like this that place is going to fail worse. Sure enrollment is up but look at the huge % of students that fail out, or move on to other colleges, or graduate with low grades. Look at the lack of real professors vs the large amount of regular instructors an TAs that teach classes now. It’s because UMaine Orono pays their professors lower than the National Average. That’s why they get the bottom of the barrel professors that can’t teach, or they lose good professors to other colleges.
PS Sure working on the aesthetics of a campus to make it look prosperous might sound nice. But look at it this way. If you are a healthy person it will show on your face, you will look strong and look good. But if you are sick from the inside you are going to look sick on the outside… slapping makeup on and concealer and dressing in nice clothes may make you “appear” healthy but eventually that is not going to be enough. If they focus on what is important and make the campus strong from within (ie focus more on academics) then eventually there will be truly representative aesthetics as more money becomes available for buildings, monuments, and grounds keeping that will highlight the Universities actual health. But basically. all they are doing now is dressing up in fancy clothes to appear rich. You can put a transient in top hat and tails but it doesn’t make him rich.
Maine is a poor state and we are unlikely to have a gem of a University until either the state itself becomes prosperous or the University does something extraordinary, preferably academically.