Objective 4.2 History and Context
Objective 4.2: Shape and enhance UMA's institutional image.
Up until the start of calendar year 2006, UMA did not have the appropriate mix of staffing to create and implement an effective Marketing and Communications plan. Recognizing the need to fill the critical functions, UMA employed in early 2006 a new Director of Communications and Marketing and a Webmaster. By the spring of 2006, a comprehensive Marketing and Communications Plan was put in place, and is now being implemented.
Specific to 4.2.4, addressing a name change, following the merger of UMA and UCB, over ten years ago the faculty endorsed a name change to the University of Central Maine. It was a name supported by the Chancellor and the BOT at the time. The reason the name was not changed at that time was the reluctance of President Cargol to accept the name. Today the President and President's staff have developed and endorsed the following rationale. They further believe that the name change is timely and in accord with UMA's new Mission Statement.
UMA's Mission Statement
The University of Maine at Augusta, a regional state university, provides baccalaureate and select associate degrees to meet the educational, economic and cultural needs of Central Maine. Based on a common liberal arts core for all degree programs, UMA delivers professional programs to non-traditional, traditional and place-bound students.
-- University of Maine at Augusta Mission, as adopted by the Board of Trustees, University of Maine System, July 10, 2006
A RATIONALE FOR RENAMING UNIVERSITY OF MAINE AT AUGUSTA THE UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL MAINE.
When the Board of Trustees of the University of Maine System approved the University of Maine at Augusta's mission "to meet the educational, economic, and cultural needs of Central Maine," it was less a declaration of a new direction for UMA and much more an affirmation of a road UMA has been successfully traveling for the past several years.
It is time to align our name with our mission. Although proud of our historic connection with the city of Augusta, UMA's outreach today extends far beyond the capital borders. In fact, only 41% of our students currently attend courses on our Augusta campus. About the same percentage of students actually take courses on our Bangor campus or at other Central Maine locations.
The University of Maine at Augusta name is simply no longer an accurate reflection of who we are, hampers our ability to articulate our Central Maine mission, and makes it difficult for us to brand our institution.
These problems are perhaps best exemplified when examining our relationship with the University of College at Bangor (UCB). Despite a natural educational fit with UMA, a ten year association as a UMA campus, and 20% of our student body attending classes there, UCB's identity as part of UMA continues to be extremely muddled both outside and even within the UMA community. Two universities, one under the other, and the larger town under the banner of a smaller town located 75 miles away, makes little intuitive sense to most.
By becoming one university -- the University of Central Maine -- with an Augusta campus and a Bangor campus, we can clarify our relationship with Bangor, maintain our valued connection with our state capital, and most important, better articulate our mission across the region.
The fact is that we are already the University of Central Maine in everything but name. We would like the name, too, because a name should reflect reality and mission. And while one's name is but one part of who you are, it is generally the critical starting point for introduction.
Changing our name to the University of Central Maine is neither the first step nor the last step in delivering on our mission to serve the people of Central Maine, but it is the crucial next step in enabling us to effectively move forward.