These are the answers to a question posed yesterday by CBS to each of the gubernatorial candidates regarding UMS: Today’s question: With looming budget and enrollment issues, does the University of Maine System need to be changed or is the current structure working? Mike Michaud: “The University of Maine, unfortunately the state hasn’t kept up with the role as far as investing in education, there is a decline in enrollment in the university system. Under my plan, I am proposing to have the sophomore year free. The reason the sophomore year would be free of tuition is that, that is the year that students usually drop out. That’s one area you can be able to keep students in there, that’s 25% of funding for students. The other area is, I will bringing in not only the university but the community college system together to find out the ways that we can help hold down the cost, within higher ed. Higher education can play a huge role in economic growth and economic development. Look what Germany is doing working with the private sector on research and development. I’ve seen what the University of Maine at Orono has been able to do. With the bridge and the backpack technology, the offshore wind. There is a lot of interest in economic development and higher education can play a key role in that economic development and growth here in the state of Maine. Eliot Cutler: “The current structure isn’t as good as it ought to be. We have, I think, two or three big problems. Number one, in a state of 1,300,000 people, which is about as big as the city of Buffalo, greater Buffalo, we have two systems, separate from each other, each of them have seven campuses. Dozens of satellite facilities. I think, two separate boards of trustees, two separate chief executive officers, two separate purchasing departments, a lot like Noah’s Ark. I have said for six years that we need to merge these two systems, to save money to make them operate together better, so that kids in the community colleges have an easier path into the university system – if they want that. We need to focus curriculum courses in the community colleges and in the university campus better, so that it better reflects our economic needs. We ought to be at the University of Maine at Presque Isle for example, we ought to have a magnet high school on that campus for agricultural sciences and we ought to focus the universities curriculum on life sciences and agricultural sciences. We have a magnet high school for marine sciences in Machias and focus that universities curriculum on marine sciences as well. There is a lot that we can do to make the two systems work better for Maine people. Paul LePage: “You know that is such a great question, and I have had that discussion, I have had that discussion with Jim Page the new Chancellor. There are some systemic issues within the system, he is looking into them. I have taken the approach that, look you are new at the job, you have been here for a couple of years now, I will work with you for a period of time, to see if improvements are being made. I honestly believe that some changes are being made. We have a long way to go, but I think that, for instance credit transferability. I have been here saying this for 40 years, that until the university system starts transferring credits within the university, the Maine kids are going to become suspect of trying to transfer. It is working, it’s happening. I think that the University of Augusta, Maine – with the I.T. and the online programs that they are doing – is joining the 21st century. So, I do believe that there are programs, I am a big advocate of making the University of Maine at Machias, as a marine resource university. Simply because it is located on the ocean. So, I really believe that we are heading in the right direction, but we are keeping a very close eye on it.”
Posted on: Tue, 28 Oct 2014 11:41:48 +0000
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