The first of a series of conversations between the USM and the UMA student senates focusing on the merging of the two universities begins on November 19. The merger will change the make up of the USM student body and the way the University is seen around the state and country. The USM student senate and representatives from the four UMA student assemblies have formed ‘liaison teams’ to identify and discuss possible areas of concerns and benefits of the merger.
“There’s so much that seems to present itself when you talk about merging, or integrating, campuses,” said Senator Mike Barden, part of the USM liaison team. “Like general educational requirements? Shouldn’t they really be standardized so somebody can move from one campus to the next with out fear of having to retake a course?”
The USM liaison team met last Thursday and prepared a list of both possible concerns and benefits, and possible steps to take to facilitate the merger for discussion at the upcoming meeting. The merger will happen over the course of several years and will not directly affect students at either campus immediately.
“In student government there’s the problem of consistency…The value of meeting like we’re meeting is we’re going to put something on paper,” said Senate Chair Ezekiel Kimball. Due to the long timelines involved current student senators will probably not be on the senate by the time the merger actually takes place.
“Because really the only way we can hope for any kind of consistency in negotiations with University staff and admin is if we put things on paper,” said Kimball. “That said, future student government will revise the understandings we that we’ve come to. But it’s a base line for discussion.”
This merger will make USM the largest University in Maine. The liaison team sees this as an important benefit.
“When you add the number of students that UMA has to the number of stud that USM has, it clearly becomes the largest institution in the state no matter which measure of students you use,” said Kimball. The student senate sees the possibility for increased advocacy for USM. The larger geographical area means the University will have more members of the legislature speaking for it.
With today’s technology making geographical differences less important, Senator Barden sees “some potential economies of scale.” He gave the digital resources of the library as an instant example. He suggested if the step of consolidating the library resources. “It would seem to be advantageous to concentrate more on expanding the digital resources of the library. In that instance it’s available to more students over the wider distance”
Aside from standardized education requirements, the senate sees other concern. These include “The difference in tuition between the two universities, tuition and fees,” said Senator Jeremy Collette. “Different standards in different areas: Graduation, academics tenure for faculty members.”
While the liaison team met to discuss possible upcoming steps, they remained cautious about planning anything too concretely.
“We really haven’t been charged with this kind of tasks in the past. SO in some senses we are on new ground,” said Barden. “It’s important to be able to speak with as much information as possible, and we can’t really have all of that until we’re able to talk to the people in the other interviews.”