USM President Richard L. Pattenaude delivered his opening breakfast speech for the 2002-2003 academic year to the University community on Aug. 30 at the Brooks Dining Center. In the speech, Pattenaude conveyed a sense of promise.
Pattenaude, the longest serving president in the UMS system, spoke of “The USM Plan, a journey towards achieving regional excellence and national recognition.”
Last week Pattenaude granted an interview where he answered questions about “The USM Plan,” and the “Workplan 2001- 2003.” The Workplan 2001-2003’s purpose is “to establish key actions for the next two years in order to achieve the goals and purpose of the USM Plan.”
One component of Workplan 2001- 2003 is to revise the general education curriculum (CORE).
“This will be facilitated by a $92,000 grant from the Davis family foundation to initiate the updating and refinement of the CORE,” said Pattenaude. That process will be led by the Provost and the faculty, and the faculty will decide what changes are appropriate.
“My job is just to stimulate the conversation and provide the resources”, said Pattenaude. Another aspect of Workplan 2001-2003 Pattenaude mentioned is the undertaking of a broad-based public awareness campaign and the need to generate a core set of consistent themes and messages about USM.
The four main themes are quality, creative energy, opportunities to pursue a wide range of interests, and involvement and partnership with the community.
“USM must build scale and depth in science and technology while sustaining strong liberal arts and professional programs,” said Pattenaude.
When asked whether discontinuing the master’s in Biology was counter-productive to that goal, the president responded by saying the program was only delayed.
“We worked too hard to get the master’s in Biology program started. Over the summer we had our budget cut $982,000 because of the state revenue shortfall. We’re holding positions vacant, and delaying new programs.”
With all the work to achieve national recognition for regional excellence, does that mean that USM does not have national recognition for regional excellence?
“[The University] has a growing reputation, but we’d like to be known as one of the very best universities in the country serving a region, like San Diego State, or George Mason University.”
In the USM Plan 2001 it is stated that student retention is not satisfactory and many believe academic programs, especially general education, lack coherence. Pattenaude responded by saying, “That’s what the CORE work this year is about. It’s about student learning but also about student retention.”
According to Pattenaude, the problem is that Maine does not have a community college. The result is many students tend to use USM in its stead and later transfer to another college.
“Therefore we have the appearance of a lower retention rate. If enrollment numbers are an indication of success, The USM Plan is a success.”
USM is expected to reach a record level of enrollment this semester at over 11,000 students.
The USM Plan is a five-year plan with four major goals.
1. To actively embrace and support a highly regarded and enduring community of intellectual inquiry and learning. 2. To deepen and enrich the organizational culture in support of inquiry and learning. 3. To build a responsive and coherent curriculum aimed at student success and regional needs. 4. To mobilize institutional resources in an innovative fashion through a more inclusive budget process leading to a clear alignment of budgets with plans and priorities.