U
NIVERSITY EMBRACES
NEW LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES,
STRENGTHENS COMMUNITY TIES
T
he University of Maine at Presque Isle has
worked to create new learning opportunities and
develop deeper community connections with
many projects during the - academic
year, from new six-week terms to an event focused on polio
eradication to exciting new faculty research.
This past autumn, the University offered its first-ever Fall
Short Term, providing students and others looking to complete
their four-year degrees with a concise, -week session as an
alternative – or an addition – to the regular -week semester.
The short term allowed students progressing well in their
regular -week coursework with the opportunity to pick up an
extra course, helping to speed their time to completion. For
those who needed an alternative, the short terms allowed
students to pick up a new course mid-semester and avoid
getting behind. The short term was developed to provide
students with greater scheduling flexibility, encourage more
people to pursue their degrees, and provide even more support
in helping them stay on track and complete their degrees in a
shorter period of time. The Fall Short Term served as the first
in a year-round schedule of short term offerings, which now
includes sessions in the fall, during winter break in late
December and January, in the spring, and during the summer.
On Oct. , the University partnered with the Presque Isle
Rotary Club to host World Polio Day, an event meant to raise
awareness of Rotary International’s efforts to eradicate polio
worldwide and to raise money, $ at a time, to go toward that
global effort. Polio has not been a problem in the U.S. for
many years, but this is not the case in several developing
countries. The day’s activities included a Purple
Pinkie Project event throughout the day at
UMPI, and also at three sponsoring organizations: the Aroostook Centre Mall, Northern
Maine Community College, and The Aroostook
Medical Center. UMPI and NMCC students and other
volunteers were on hand to paint people’s pinkies purple—with
the same purple dye used when Rotary International
conducts polio immunizations—for $. In the evening, TAMC
presented its TH Storer Boone Memorial Presentation, also
honoring Dr. Arthur Pendleton of Fort Fairfield, in the Campus
Center. The event, titled End Polio Now, featured talks by local
polio survivor and Caribou Rotarian Steve Mazzerole; TAMC
Physician Dr. Vatsala Kirtani, who spoke about the disease in
her home country, India; and past Rotary District Governor
Leigh Cummings, who shared details about Rotary’s journey to
eradicate polio. The event raised more than $, and officials
estimated that about , community members participated.
Funds raised will go toward Rotary International’s End Polio
Now efforts.
Also in October, the University celebrated the Campus
Center’s TH anniversary with an event full of food and live
music that culminated with a special ribbon-tying ceremony
meant to symbolize the way the Campus Center brings together
the campus and the community. The Campus Center has served
as a major hub for student activities, community events, and cul-
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