The University of Maine System (UMS) has gained a new chancellor and USM has lost a president.On Feb. 5, the UMS Board of Trustees (BOT) unanimously chose President Richard Pattenaude as the next chancellor. Pattenaude accepted the position.Margaret Weston, chair of the BOT, said, “In the end, the Board concluded that Dr. Pattenaude has the best combination of leadership and academic experience to meet our needs.”
The job of chancellor consists of overseeing the seven universities, the law school and several academic outreach centers with a total of more than 34,200 students and 5,000 faculty and staff members.”I feel excited about the opportunity,” said Pattenaude. “It gives me another way to work for the people of Maine, but I feel sad that I have to leave because I love USM.” Executive Director of Public Affairs Bob Caswell said that Pattenaude has been the university’s president for 16 years, far exceeding the average tenure of six and a half to seven years.
Pattenaude will finish the current academic year as president and assume the chancellor position July 1. At that time USM will have an interim president appointed while presidential candidates are considered.The process for selecting both interim and permanent presidential positions is currently underway.Caswell said any information about potential candidates is not yet known, but “Often the Provost is appointed the interim (president).”
“It’s common,” agreed USM Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs Joe Wood. “But no one has offered me the interim presidency.” Pattenaude said the current chancellor, Terry MacTaggart, has started considering the next president of USM. “As we speak, (he) is visiting with people on this campus to get their opinions-student leaders and faculty leaders-and he will make that decision,” said Pattenaude. “I will have some impact, but there’s no decision yet.”
Student Senate Chair James McKeon was present for the chancellor selection process. He has heard of no specific candidates to replace Pattenaude. “There’ve been meetings on it but they’ve all been very closed meetings,” McKeon said. “There’re obviously rumors (but) there’s no frontrunner or anything like that.”
Caswell said the search for a full-time president “would start sometime late this coming summer and go through the next academic year.”The process involves using professional associations like The Chronicle of Higher Education and “other vehicles for getting the word out about the opening of the position,” said Caswell. “Certainly we’ll open a nation-wide search. Anybody internal (to USM) or otherwise (can) apply,” he said. “I’m not going to be surprised if there are internal candidates.”
Pattenaude’s Tenure
The next president have the benefit of working with Pattenaude’s 16 years of groundwork. Enrollment was on the decline when Pattenaude arrived in 1991, dropping from 10,423 in 1991 to 9,966 in 1996. Enrollment is now at 10,478. Pattenaude has overseen the addition of 12 undergraduate programs including linguistics, media studies and mechanical engineering. Seven graduate programs, including social work, music and leadership studies, have also been added to USM’s curriculum, as well as a Ph.D. in public policy, the university’s first doctoral program.
Pattenaude has also built on USM’s appearance and functionality by authorizing a number of new building projects. The Portland campus has nearly doubled in size since 1991, with buildings like Glickman Family Library, the Bioscience Research Wing and the Abromson Center. Portland’s campus will continue to expand with the USM Commons project already under construction. The Gorham campus also added the Costello Sports Complex, a child care center and several dorms.
Jean Hulit, chair of the USM Board of Visitors, has worked with Pattenaude for the last seven years. “He’s built a lot of bridges and brought visibility and energy to USM and created some momentum I’m sure is going to continue even with his departure,” she said.
Theater professor and chair of the USM chapter faculty union William Steele has been at USM for nearly 40 years and said he has seen many presidents come and go “I hope that we have a new president who can carry on and lead as well as (Pattenaude) did,” Steele said.