August 26, 2022 – Minutes – University of Southern Maine Board of Visitors

Meeting Minutes

Ex-Officio Non-Voting Members
Name	Represent	Present	Absent
Dan Crewe	USMF Representative		X
Linda Verrill	Corporate Partners Representative		X
Bri Dimaso	Student Body President		X
	Student Senate Chair
Sheltlon Waldrep	Faculty Senate Chair		X
Danielle Letourneau	Classified Staff Senate Chair		X
Marge Jarry	Professional Staff Senate Representative		X
Jennifer Hutchins	Muskie BOV	X
	Maine School of Law BOV

Agenda
Item	Action	Description
		Introductions
		BOV Purpose and Relationship
		2022-2023 Topics of Interest and Agendas
		2022-2023 Nominees and Meeting Locations

Introductions

President Edmondson Introduction

Spoke that USM, along with the rest of the system, down in enrollment and USM is focusing on retention to be a big factor for the University moving forward.
President’s outlook for the University and how it can best make an impact.
- Moving USM forward to reach a large population

Beckie Conrad:

One piece the BOV has been missing; new members have not really had an orientation
Introductions and why members chose to serve on BOV?

Jana Lapoint:

Love USM School of Music and Athletics
Has insight into education landscape as a former Board member of the Community College System
Vocational/Community College background in Maine

Steven Gregory:

Attended a flagship and had a miserable experience. Looked for University that had a better student experience and forward people’s lives.

Jennifer Hutchins:

Navy daughter, traveled the world and desired to travel the world
Wanted to run a nonprofit, met with a Muskie professor, and asked their advice on which school to attend out of state. He said “you’ll make a bigger difference here, than anywhere else.”

Beckie:

Grew up in the “Birthplace of education” and sees the benefit in higher education and knows the state of Maine is a valuable asset in the nation.
- Education is the bases for a civil society
- Think about guiding principles of Higher Education and what USM’s value is
BOV has been impactful, but can be more thoughtful

Julia Trujillo:

Grew up in the Canary Islands, mother’s town only had school up to 3^rd grade, a teacher saw her potential and supported her to continue her education.
USM became the opportunity for Julia, ran International Student Organization while she was a student
- Wanted to open the gates for others

BOV Purpose and Relationship

The BOV is the eyes and ears of the community.
Desire to shift BOV meetings to a conversation style and a place to channel good ideas to actions
President Edmondson: Hope the BOV can help with Leadership Academy
Future of the world is changing
- Companied involved in sending employees to school
- Discussion about number of empty positions in different professions; government, teaching, etc.
Desire to hear more faculty stories
Jana: Members need buy-in, need to know what it means, and need something to do
- Need to know about USM’s relationship with UM
  - President Edmondson: “USM is the campus that can grow”
Julia: Need to look at demographics, compared to other schools
- Jennifer: Impact of Community Colleges
- What’s getting missed in rural schools, that don’t see college as a possibility?
Jennifer: Because Maine has a low population, we have the ability to try different things.

Nominees

Will be moving forward with Kelly Barton and Fowsia Musse, will take the year to prepare and refine process for the 2023-2024 year

Locations

Hold next meeting in Portland
Desire to hold meetings on all three campuses but will ask the Board at the next meeting on their thoughts.

Bylaws

Future Agenda Items
Item	Action	Description
		Relationship with Muskie BOV
		Faculty Stories