The University of Maine at Presque Isle is hosting a jam-packed Homecoming 2010 celebration from Friday, Sept. 17 to Sunday, Sept. 19, offering everything from a concert by famed interactive retro band Motor Booty Affair to a silent auction to athletic events, socials, alumni games and the annual Hall of Fame dinner.
Featured
Latest
UMPI celebrates Constitution Day with Living History lecture
The University of Maine at Presque Isle will celebrate the 223rd birthday of the signing of the U.S. Constitution with a unique “Living History” lecture delivered by UMPI political science lecturer Dr. Brent Andersen.
On Friday, September 17, from 10-11 a.m., students, faculty, staff and community members are invited to observe Constitution Day by gathering in the University’s Campus Center for the special lecture, which is titled Alexander Hamilton Looks Back on the Drafting and Adoption of the Constitution.
UMPI presents Motor Booty Affair during Homecoming 2010
The University of Maine at Presque Isle is pleased to present famed interactive retro band Motor Booty Affair during its Homecoming 2010 festivities on Saturday, Sept. 18 at 8:30 p.m. in Wieden Gymnasium. Campus and community members are invited to attend this concert.
Motor Booty Affair, dubbed “The Ultimate Disco Party Band,” delivers 1970’s dance floor classics with flair – complete with afros, bell bottoms, platform shoes and lots of polyester. The band consists of four “funkateers straight from the Planet Funktar” – Superfly, Spanish Fly, Sir Rumpus Funkberry and Cyclone Link Skywalker Jr. – who will perform hits by Earth Wind & Fire, The Bee Gees, KC & the Sunshine Band, Chic, The Commodores, Barry White, Abba and more.
MRPA regional workshop to take place at UMPI
The University of Maine at Presque Isle will welcome parks and recreation officials from across Maine and from Canada when the Northern Maine Community Recreation Association hosts the Maine Recreation and Parks Association’s Regional Workshop from Oct. 21 to 22.
The MRPA’s fall workshop is held at a different site in Maine each year. This year, more than 90 participants are expected to visit Aroostook County for the two-day workshop, which will take place at UMPI and the Nordic Heritage Center and include sessions on developing capital improvement plans, Americans with Disabilities Act compliance, low ropes initiatives for strengthening team building, and cooperative partnerships through conservation easements. Dr. Darrell J. Burnett, a nationally recognized clinical sports psychologist and the author of several books including Positive Coaching and It’s Just a Game!, will serve as this year’s keynote speaker.
University announces first Distinguished Lecturer of the year
The University of Maine at Presque Isle is pleased to announce that it will begin its 2010-2011 University Distinguished Lecturer Series with a presentation by award-winning journalist Karin Fischer, who serves as a senior reporter for The Chronicle of Higher Education.
Fischer will deliver her talk The New China: A Rising Superpower Opts for Brainpower Rather than Manpower, and Looks to U.S. Colleges to Help It Succeed at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 9 in the University’s Campus Center. The event serves as a homecoming of sorts for Fischer, who grew up in Presque Isle and is a 1992 graduate of Presque Isle High School.
UMPI offers new Associate’s degree program in Special Education
This fall, the University of Maine at Presque Isle will begin offering a new Associate’s degree especially designed to prepare, and provide quality training opportunities for, individuals who want to work in the Special Education field as teacher aides in the State of Maine.
The University is offering the state’s first ever Special Education Paraprofessional Associate of Arts Degree. The new degree will prepare students to work as teacher aides/educational technicians – also known as special education paraprofessionals – in K-12 classrooms throughout the state. The degree is aimed at satisfying federal mandates for ‘highly qualified personnel’ in the field of Special Education, both under the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 2004.
UMPI announces new Head Golf Coach
The University of Maine at Presque Isle is pleased to announce that it has hired Daniel Hotham as its new Head Golf Coach.
Hotham recently retired from Northern Maine Community College, where, in addition to his work as the institution’s longest serving faculty member, he served for more than 20 years as the first head coach of the varsity golf team. During his time as golf coach at NMCC, the Falcons were members of the Maine Small College Conference, which included community colleges from around the state and the University of Maine at Augusta. During his 22 years of coaching at NMCC, the Falcons won the conference title three times.
Paul Stone to take over UMPI’s Ski program
Officials with the University of Maine at Presque Isle officially announced Tuesday that they have hired Paul Stone as Head Coach of their NCAA Nordic Ski Team.
Stone comes to UMPI from the University of Vermont, where he served as head Nordic Coach for the past four seasons, and where he was named NCAA Eastern Coach of the Year in 2009. He also has been the interim head coach of Colby College (2004-2005 season) and Williams College (2003-2004), prior to taking over the UVM program in 2006. He was also the head coach of southern Maine-based Coastal Nordic Ski Team for the 2005-2006 season. Stone has coached two NCAA Champions and placed skiers in the top 10 at Junior Olympics, NCAA Championships and U.S. National Championships.
UMPI leads University of Maine System with 80 percent increase in summer enrollments
With its summer enrollment numbers nearly doubling since last year, the University of Maine at Presque Isle has the highest percentage increase within the University of Maine System of students taking summer courses. Officials are attributing the increase in large part to summer online course offerings and efforts to respond to students’ needs.
This year’s summer enrollment is at 886 students, compared to 488 students in 2009, an increase of more than 80 percent from last summer. UMPI officials say the significant increase is due to two major factors – a wider variety of online courses being offered at the campus than ever before and a large number of students throughout the state of Maine and beyond who are taking advantage of these courses because they fit conveniently into their busy summer schedules.
UMPI, NMCC announce partnership to help Early Childhood Education students meet new state requirements
Officials with the University of Maine at Presque Isle and Northern Maine Community College officially announced on Wednesday, July 14, a partnership between the two institutions that will benefit NMCC students preparing for jobs as Head Start teachers and early childhood educators and help them to meet new state requirements for teaching in their field.
Recent state requirements have increased the qualifications for preschool teachers. Educators who teach children from birth to age 5 – and who earn their Maine teaching endorsement after July 1, 2009 – must have or be working toward a Bachelor’s degree in order to teach. Right now, NMCC offers an Associate’s degree program in Early Childhood Education, but there are no colleges or universities in northern Maine that offer a four-year Early Childhood Education degree.
The partnership between UMPI and NMCC will create a pathway for NMCC students in the Early Childhood Education program so that, upon graduation, they can transition seamlessly into UMPI’s Elementary Education Bachelor’s degree program. Officials have worked for the past year to develop a new Early Childhood Education concentration within UMPI’s Elementary Education degree program that will allow these students to meet the state requirements.
