What is Community Hour at USM?
In a busy week on our campus, opportunities to come together beyond the classroom are rare, but we know such engagement can contribute to increasing community and success. The Community Hour is a new initiative designed to provide uninterrupted time during the week — free from classes and recurring administrative meetings — for the entire University of Southern Maine community to gather, engage, and grow together.
The USM Community Hour occurs daily Monday through Thursday from 12:30-1:30 p.m., and is an opportunity for USM community members to host and engage with offerings across campus!
We hope that the Community Hour can:
- Create space for community-focused programming that strengthens our sense of belonging.
- Support student-faculty and student-staff interaction through open office hours, mentorship, and advising.
- Encourage campus-wide conversations on timely issues and shared values.
- Offer workshops, panels, and training that enhance learning and professional development.
- Provide time for individual or small group meetings that otherwise compete with academic and work schedules.
We know that there are offices, depending upon the time of the year, that may not be able to close or reduce work for the hour. We want to encourage creativity around keeping administrative and work functions ongoing during this time, providing coverage for necessary services and support, while also being creative in assuring that staff are supported to attend events and engage in community happenings. For more resources on balancing essential services with encouraging participation, please see the FAQs.
USM fall semester theme weeks for 2026:
Our fall semester comes packed with theme weeks to look forward to! While Community Hour happens daily throughout the year and events can free flow across any week, look out for events based around these themed weeks below…or better yet, plan your own event towards one! It is not required for an event to match the theme week.
- Week of August 31st: Bienvenue Week*
- Week of September 7th: Connect and Engage Week
- Week of September 14th: Civic Engagement Week
- Week of September 21st: Husky Spirit Week
- Week of September 28th: Major Week
- Week of October 5th: Mid Term Wellness Week
- Week of October 19th: Advising Week
- Week of November 2nd: Registration Week
- Week of December 7th: Reset Week
*Bienvenue (byan-vuh-noo) is French Canadian for Welcome, a nod to our Franco American and Arcadian roots in the State of Maine
Looking for Community Hour programs to attend?
All members of the USM community can access the Campus Groups app using your single-sign on account. Once in the app, click on ‘Events’ in the top toolbar and use the ‘Community Hour’ event tag to filter events. Note that not all events posted here are open to all campus members (for example, student organization events).