Last week, USM announced plans to eliminate its non-credit, personal enrichment courses offered through The Center for Continuing Education.
These courses, which target non-matriculated students, usually attract around 1,100 community members, but had been operating at a loss of $30,000 per year.
“In this fiscal environment it is responsible and fiscally prudent to reallocate funds so that we can invest in the growth areas of online education and professional development,” said USM Associate Provost for University Outreach Robert Hansen.
USM has offered non-credit enrichment courses for decades as a part of its community outreach effort. Since 2005, the courses have been housed in the Abromson Community Education Center.
The enrichment courses currently offered are an eclectic mix of subjects, including performing arts, writing, visual art, and language.
USM’s current revenue shortfall has necessitated a reevaluation of some of the university’s non-essential offerings. Such programs include USM’s daycare program and Lifeline fitness program, which were both cut this semester because of a budget deficit.
“It’s time for us to focus on programs that meet the professional and career development needs of people throughout the region,” said Stacy Calderwood, director of continuing education.
President Botman sees this paring down of community services as a regrettable necessity given USM’s current $4.1 million dollar budget shortfall in the next fiscal year.
Botman says that USM’s first commitment is to its students, and those enrolled in CCE courses “are not our students”.
CCE will continue to offer its over 150 courses in professional development and certificate programs in human resource management, leadership, grant writing and various nursing topics. The elimination of CCE’s enrichment courses will allow the center to “focus on professional development areas,” said Calderwood.
While displaced enrichment students will still be able to fnd similar offerings through local community centers and independently run enrichment programs, they say they will miss the price, and convenience of CCE’s classes.
“I’ve been interested in Asian brush painting for a long time,” said Peaks Island resident Doug Smith. “This is a nice opportunity because it’s not a big investment of time and money,” he said of the one-day, 90-dollar class.
Smith, who plans to take another art class at the Maine College of Art in late April, does not look forward to the end of CCE’s enrichment courses. “These are more reasonable in price, and in a real nice facility.” Smith said.
“It’s a shame that in severe economic times, arts are the first to be cut,” said Asian brush painting student Margaret Boyagian, “It’s important to balance what we need to do on a daily basis with creative outlets.”
Maryanne Storer, another member of the brush painting class, says that the enrichment courses offer a less obvious form of professional development that should be more carefully considered.
“People doing this can move on to start a small business – making cards or watercolors.”
Book critic Bill Bushnell also sees his class, “Book Reviewing: How to Get Started” as a potential moneymaker for his students. “It’s a business-oriented class” he said.
Still, Bushnell understands the economic realities that drive USM’s decisions. “If you can’t break even, you need to cut your losses.”
Bushnell has been teaching enrichment courses for the last 11 years, and while he hopes USM will reintroduce the courses as finances stabilize, he plans to offer the same book reviewing class at Glickman library through the Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance.
Bushnell’s experience in CCE seems to echo Botman’s concern, in his 11 years on the job, he doesn’t believe he has had a single full-time USM student in one of his classes.
“Mostly it’s an older group,” he said “folks who are out of college and want to expand their horizons.”