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From Don’s Desk
Where has the fall semester gone? One answer is that a great deal has taken place since we gathered in August. The world, nation, state, university system and campus then and now are very different. Would your crystal ball in July have predicted: A decisive win for President-elect Obama? Gasoline at $2.09 per gallon? The Dow in the 8,000s? The major American automakers pleading for federal relief to avoid bankruptcy? Mumbai as the next major terrorist target? Harvard University agonizing over the decline in its endowment and the returns from it? Serious talk of the greatest economic downturn since the Great Depression of our grandparents’ or great grandparents’ days? So much has happened. The changes in the economy have hit the University of Maine at Presque Isle. More on that in a minute. But first, let us reflect on some of the accomplishments of fall beyond the usual excellent learning experiences that take place every day on our campus, and have for 105 years. —The wind turbine construction is moving ahead of schedule. A substantial part of the base has been installed over the last three weeks. If the weather holds for another two weeks, the entire base may be finished and ready for the arrival of tower, turbine and blades in late winter. We
If you plan to enroll for next semester, it is essential that we know your plans by this Friday. Memos from Dean Corsello and the registrar have emphasized: 1) if you have questions about WHETHER you have completed registration, please check with one of those offices and 2) if you have an issue with BEING ABLE TO register, do the same. We will try our very best
Transformative times UNIVERSITY TIMES
Friday, November 21, 2008
might be operating by spring. Put on your boots and take a hike across the soccer and baseball fields to see what has already been done. If you want to go in the site itself, see Charlie Bonin for a hard hat. —We have received word that the Project Compass grant has been approved in the likely amount of $750,000 over the next four years. This will allow us to continue our work in improving the retention and graduation of Native American students, with benefits to all of our student success programs. We are honored to be one of four (out of 46) New England public universities to receive this support from the New England Research Center for Higher Education. —We will shortly open the Prometrics testing center in the basement of South Hall. The center will allow on campus administration of the Praxis tests, graduate and professional admission test and a wide variety of professional licensing examinations. No longer a need to drive to Bangor or beyond for these tests. —We look back on a fall of the Warhol photo exhibit, the debut of the film studies program, Science Day, three conference championships in cross country, golf and volleyball, and the wonderful 1968 Retrospective. What challenges us are the budget issues that afflict all of higher education and government in this very trou-
bled time. Our immediate challenge is to reduce spending for the rest of this academic year (ending June 30, 2009) by about $350,000. The administration leaders have met with the faculty, staff and students on the Budget Advisory Committee. We have identified special areas of concern in cost cutting. We will try to be responsive, above all, to preserving the student needs in our programs. I wish I could promise that there will be no impacts. The dollars are too great to allow that. However, I think we will be as sensitive as we can to program impacts. We may well discover certain areas in which we can do just as well or better with fewer dollars. Necessity is a great stimulant to creativity. Vice President Bonin will release in the next week further specifics of cuts to allow us to get through this fiscal year. He will be asking all people who have control of university funds to take certain steps to reduce costs and to exercise creativity in reducing expenditures on important programs, while preserving the essentials of the program. As an example, many budgets for particular programs involve considerable amounts for refreshments, paid publicity and printed materials. We may need to do without some of those attractive, but not essential, features. We will also be asking all of us to understand that we have to make do
with less than perfect service. We also good ideas about encourage economies that save dollars at minimal costs to core campus operations. A considerable part of the savings will come from not filling open positions until at least July 1, 2009. That will impose burdens on other faculty and staff members. It will impose some burdens on those of us who benefit from the services. One example is snow removal. We will try to judge each snow situation as it comes rather than have personnel automatically on overtime schedule at the first forecast or the first fallen flake. We may cancel or delay openings to meet those needs. We value your patience and support. That addresses only the rest of this year. The economic forecasts indicate we are in tight budget times well beyond June 2009. The system trustees have insisted that the system campus, individually and collectively, take a hard look at what the university system should be. The word “transformative” is frequently used to highlight the serious changes that are envisioned. We will be sharing more information on this over the next month and beyond. This invites all of our best thinking.
not to lose anyone who wants to be here next semester. Why is prompt registration essential? In the current State budget crisis, the University System (our bosses) has emphasized that many under-enrolled courses will have to be cancelled. We don’t have the flexibility to make exceptions that we have had in prior years. Starting NEXT MONDAY, we
need to make those decisions based on PRESENT ENROLLMENTS. Your willingness to sign up in midJanuary will be too late to save a course you may want or need to take. We need you enrolled now. One last thought related to budget worries around the country and Maine. We have room to welcome transfer students from other schools who can’t
afford the higher tuition or cost of living at their current academic homes. As you are visiting with friends in that situation, let them know that UMPI might be a welcome place for a semester, a year, or the rest of their career.
Register - and tell a friend
- Pres. Don Zillman
- Pres. Don Zillman