Event to raise funds for Cultural Center in Downtown Presque Isle
Officials with the Wintergreen Arts Center and the University of Maine at Presque Isle are collaborating to host their first ever 10×10 Art Auction, which will help them to establish a Cultural Center in the downtown area. The auction will be held Friday, May 4, from 6-9 p.m. at the Wintergreen Arts Center during the May 2012 First Friday Art Walk.
A University of Maine at Presque Isle English Professor has had his debut novel published and the University will celebrate with a reading and book signing event with the author on Monday, April 9 at 7 p.m. in the Campus Center. The public is invited to attend this special event, which will include a reception featuring light refreshments, and wine available through a cash bar.
Richard Lee Zuras, UMPI Professor of English and Creative Writing, explores Zain’s final year of childhood, his father’s dismissal from the CIA, and his family’s near disintegration in this coming-of-age work The Bastard Year, published by the independent press, Brandylane Publishers.
A University of Maine at Presque Isle staff member and 2004 alumna recently received major recognition from the Maine Association of Agricultural Fairs – she was honored with the Rising Star Award during the association’s annual meeting. This is the association’s most prestigious honor.
Jessica Blackstone, UMPI’s Assistant Director of Admissions, was recognized for her work with the Northern Maine Fair Association, specifically the extremely popular Lil’ Farmers at the Fair exhibit, which took months of planning and preparation to put together.
A research team from the City University of New York [CUNY] will deliver a presentation at the University of Maine at Presque Isle at 10 a.m. on Thursday, March 22 to discuss the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration [NOAA] funded research that an UMPI student has been helping them to conduct. Their project involves calculating snow cover in the region and using the results as a predictor for spring flooding issues, potentially a valuable tool for emergency management and decision-maker officials. The public is invited to attend this research presentation, which will take place in the Geospatial Information Technology Center (GIS Lab, Folsom 201).
A familiar office on the University of Maine at Presque Isle campus is changing and expanding – including the addition of five new staff members – after receiving a five-year, $1.15 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education to help middle and high school age students prepare for and enroll in college, and succeed once they get there.
UMPI’s TRiO Upward Bound office is taking new shape with a new name – TRiO College Access Services – after receiving word last fall that its application for a TRiO Educational Talent Search (ETS) program had been selected for funding through a competitive grant process. The Office of Postsecondary Education at the U.S. Department of Education is funding the program for five years, at $230,000 per year, to serve 500 middle and high school students.
The Houlton Higher Education Center presented a “Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!” event for area preschoolers, elementary-age students and community members on Friday, March 2.
The Houlton Center event was part of the National Education Association’s Read Across America Day, which calls for every child in every community to celebrate reading on March 2, the birthday of Theodore Geisel, the beloved children’s author also known as Dr. Seuss.
The University of Maine at Presque Isle has once again been named a National Weather Service StormReady campus after receiving a three-year renewal of its federal designation. In 2008 when it was first named a StormReady campus, UMPI became the second campus in New England, after Harvard University, and the 21st campus in the nation to receive this designation.
In order to secure the renewal, University security and safety staff had to successfully demonstrate that they have taken important steps to ensure that the campus is prepared when severe weather strikes.
Beginning next week candidates will visit the area
BANGOR — Three finalists were named today in the search for a new president at the University of Maine at Presque Isle.
A 13-member committee has been working on the national search for several months. The search committee includes members of the University of Maine System Board of Trustees, as well as UMPI faculty, staff, students, and local community members.
The University of Maine at Presque Isle hosted the free daylong conference Improving College and Career Readiness in Writing on Friday, March 2 in the Campus Center, offering area educators, curriculum coordinators and administrators the opportunity to explore ways to better prepare youth for the writing required in college and in their future career fields.
The conference, sponsored by the Central Aroostook Council on Education, featured more than a dozen presenters, including Patsy Dunton, an official with the Maine Department of Education, the 2012 Maine Teacher of the Year Alana Margeson, and local presenters from Presque Isle to Limestone. Registrants from Houlton to Fort Kent participated in the conference.
The University of Maine at Presque Isle participated in a global social media campaign focused on anti-bullying and “leaving judgment behind,” which culminated in a day-long schedule of events on Wednesday, Feb. 29 in the Campus Center.
Everyone Matters is a worldwide campaign headed by Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu; its message: “Don’t Judge. Respect Everyone’s Differences.” Everyone Matters is a project of the What’s Your Issue Foundation, which for the past six years has run the Film Your Issue initiative, with partners like Microsoft, YouTube, Sony, Google, MySpace, AOL, Yahoo!, the United Nations, USA TODAY, Associated Press, American Red Cross, The Walt Disney Company, and Universal Studios.