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More than 200 people gathered Tuesday at the University of Maine’s Wells Conference Center for a summit on advancing higher education in Maine, which focused on innovation and heightening cooperation between departments and public and private enterprises.
The eight-hour summit, called Advance Maine, featured a keynote speech by UMaine alumnus and innovator Doug Hall, who said the University of Maine System needs to break down the walls between universities, schools and departments to promote new kinds of thought. Hall, who started UMaine’s first-of-its-kind innovation engineering program, said products must be meaningfully unique.
“The relay race between departments isn’t going to do it,” Hall said. “Multidisciplinary programs is where the big win will be.”
Hall said the private nature of Mainers is antithetical to the expansion needed to drive innovation.
“The problem is, Maine is 28th in the nation for innovation.” Hall said. “We should be leading in this. It’s in our soil. It’s in our air. It’s in our water.”
Hall’s business-centric message was echoed by Laurie Lachance, president of the Maine Development Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to developing sustainable and long-term economic growth in the state. Lachance said universities can produce attractive graduates who are more likely to stay in Maine if programs are closely tailored to what businesses are looking for.
Lachance cited the risk management and insurance program at the University of Southern Maine, which was created in 2008 at the behest of the insurance industry, as an example of public-private cooperation that yielded good results. The insurance industry raised and donated more than $600,000 to cover the costs of starting the program.
Lachance said universities should ask one question: “How can I do things differently today that can help Maine tomorrow?”
“Partnering with industry is one of the most promising [solutions], because you directly tailor to their needs, and they’re willing to invest in that,” Lachance said.
Lachance also said businesses are less likely to come to Maine because of high energy costs and taxes.
“The cost of doing business in Maine has gone way above the U.S. average and it’s something our companies can’t sustain,” Lachance said.
But, she said, lower taxes — which would mean less revenue for the state and a shrinking state appropriation for the university — should not result in higher tuition. Between 1999 and 2008, the percent of their income Mainers spent on tuition at a public university rose 15 percent — from 21 percent to 36 percent — while the national average rose only 8 percent.
“Turning to tuition is not really an option at this point,” Lachance said.
Board of trustees member and student Sen. Benjamin Goodman praised the message of public-private collaboration.
Goodman said getting representatives from all seven universities in the same room was a huge step and stressed a need for better communication between the campuses.
Gov. John Baldacci opened the summit by touting UMaine’s energy resources and the research and development at the university.
Bangor Daily News