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Some students may not be aware of the fact that there is a single person who presides over the entire University of Maine System – the chancellor. Right now, there is no one filling that position on a permanent basis.
This past week, two of the candidates for the chancellorship, Joseph Westphal and Richard Croft, visited the UMaine System schools.
Westphal, currently a senior policy counselor with the Patton Boggs law firm, has past experience with the armed forces as Acting Secretary and Assistant Secretary of the Army.
“[My] experience in both academia and government combine to meet the important responsibilities outlined for a new chancellor,” he said.
Croft spent 32 years working in higher public education. He has been the Commissioner of Higher Education for the Montana University System since 1996 and before that was the school’s Deputy Commissioner for Academic Affairs.
There are two things Croft said he particularly enjoys about being an administrator in the higher education field. First, the ability and opportunity to get involved in setting and establishing education policies on the state level. And second, helping to coordinate, direct and allocate resources and devote them to the right areas.
During their respective open forum discussions – Westphal on Wednesday, Jan. 23 and Croft on Thursday, Jan. 24 – the candidates were asked similar questions concerning where they saw UMS in the future, how they viewed the system as it stands and what role students should play in administrative procedures. Both stressed the importance of defining what UMS is and where it is headed.
Westphal said Maine is a “natural laboratory for research.”
If given the position of chancellor he said he hopes to increase the amount of student aid so that students don’t have to escape to other states to afford an education.
Westphal said it is necessary to assess how well administrators know the system and then to use that knowledge to compare weak and strong points.
“[We] need to know why we do things to know that they make sense and mean something” Westphal said.
By working with the presidents of UMS campuses and the Board of Trustees, Westphal said it will be necessary to define the system for the present and the future.
Croft said he is “struck by the parallels between the Montana University System and the University of Maine System.”
He said Maine is in a slightly different situation, however.
“[There is] a political environment here that is more positive and supportive,” Croft said.
To Croft, UMS presidents are providing good leadership and the BOT appears to be both stimulating and challenging.
One of the strongest parallels between Montana and Maine is their economic status.
“The economies of both states lag behind the national economy,” Croft said.
He sees UMS as a major player in research and development in Maine and recognizes it is difficult to get businesses to invest in the state if you don’t have a skilled, trained work force.
As far as students are concerned Croft said he is in favor of increased student input.
“I hate nickel and diming students,” he said.
“[Students] will vote for [tuition and fee increases] if they are convinced they need it and have a say in how their money is spent,” he said.
He views higher education as a consumer environment with students as the consumers.
“In this consumer-driven environment, we’re better off if we involve you guys in helping us design what we’re going to do to you,” he said. “We don’t want you to do our job, but we’d better listen or you’ll walk away.”
Like Croft, Westphal sees students playing a role in this assessment of the system.
A third candidate, Robert T. Tad Perry, is scheduled to visit UMaine this week. Perry has been the executive director of the South Dakota Board of Regents since 1994. There will be an opportunity to learn more about him at an open forum Wednesday, Jan. 30 from 2 to 3 p.m. in the Soderberg Lecture Room, Jenness Hall.
