UMFK News Releases

The University of Maine at Fort Kent (UMFK) will participate in a four-year statewide collaborative project led by the University of Maine to foster resilient forest communities in Maine. The Maine-FOREST, or Forest-based Opportunities for Resilient Economy, Sustainability and Technology project, will be funded through a $7 million grant from the National Science Foundation.

Dr. Kennedy Rubert-Nason, UMFK Assistant Professor of Chemistry, will lead the portion of the project located on the UMFK campus, which will consist of research that explores how different human-environment relationships involving Indigenous peoples shape Maine’s forests.

As part of the grant, each year, over the next four years, an undergraduate student intern will be hired to assist with the research. Interns will learn workforce-relevant technology as well as leadership and multicultural skills through co-productive relationships involving academic and community stakeholders, including a Wabanaki cultural knowledge sharer. Through dialogue, students will explore different perspectives on how the use of science and technology can shape socio-ecological resilience.

“UMFK student interns will use scientific methods to explore how humans’ relationships with forests shapes these ecosystems and the economic and cultural benefits they provide,” said Dr. Rubert-Nason, “In conjunction with UMFK faculty and Wabanaki cultural knowledge sharers, interns will co-develop management practices that increase the resilience of Maine’s forests to climate change, learn to collaborate with Indigenous peoples, and gain a deeper understanding of the role of humans in Earth’s ecosystems from diverse cultural perspectives.”

To learn more about the Maine-FOREST project, please visit the news release on the UMaine website.

• Hannaford associates are eligible for 10 percent discount on all University of Maine System courses
• New partnership expands Hannaford’s Groceries to Grads tuition benefits program

SCARBOROUGH, Maine – Hannaford Supermarkets and the University of Maine System (UMS) recently announced a new partnership that will offer significant savings to associates of the grocery retailer who wish to pursue postsecondary education and training through Maine’s public universities, including the University of Maine at Fort Kent (UMFK).

Beginning this summer, qualifying full- and part-time Hannaford associates will receive a 10 percent discount on all undergraduate and graduate courses offered within UMS, including UMFK’s Business Management, Nursing, Behavioral Science, Computer Systems Administration, and Natural Sciences programs.

“Postsecondary education is the most proven pathway to upward mobility, enabling learners of all ages and stages to improve their knowledge, skills, and earning abilities. With expanded online offerings and other flexible degree and certificate pathways that work for busy adults, relevant higher education and opportunity are more accessible than ever through Maine’s public universities,” said Chancellor Dannel Malloy. “I commend Hannaford Supermarkets for their ongoing investment in their associates and look forward to strengthening our System’s partnership with this iconic Maine-based company for the benefit of their employees and our economy and communities.”

The partnership, which is the first-of-its-kind for UMS, expands Hannaford’s Groceries to Grads education reimbursement program, which offers associates up to $5,250 in tuition funds annually at any accredited college or university, with additional discounts available at partner universities within Hannaford’s network.

“We are thrilled to partner with the University of Maine System on such a meaningful benefit for our associates,” said Julie Libby, Vice President of Human Resources for Hannaford and a graduate of the University of Southern Maine. “We have a steadfast commitment to supporting the career growth and development of our associates, and this partnership only bolsters the opportunities available to them. We thank the University of Maine System for their collaboration and encourage our associates to take advantage of this outstanding benefit.”

Maine’s public universities are the most affordable in New England, enabling the Hannaford tuition benefit to go even further toward employees’ door-opening degree or certificate programs. When adjusted for inflation, the cost of tuition and fees within UMS has actually decreased over the past five years.

Introduced in August 2022, the first full year of Hannaford’s Groceries to Grads initiative supported the career growth and development of associates across 78 stores attending more than 50 colleges and universities. Top programs of study for Hannaford associates utilizing the benefit include business/management; finance/accounting; pharmacy/biology; and computer science/information technology/cyber security.

The tuition discount is the most recent development in a long history of partnership between Hannaford and UMS. Since 2020, Hannaford has provided more than $160,000 in funding to initiatives and programs across Maine’s public universities that support student mental health and wellness.

The Groceries to Grads program is one element of the comprehensive benefits offerings available to Hannaford associates, including paid time off, medical coverage, mental and physical wellness programs, associate discounts, paid parental leave, and retirement plans with company match.

For more information about the Groceries to Grads program, as well as career opportunities at Hannaford Supermarkets, visit Hannaford.com/Careers.

About Hannaford Supermarkets

Hannaford Supermarkets operates 189 stores in the Northeast, most with full-service pharmacies. Stores are located in Maine, New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. All are committed to offering great fresh food, convenient experiences, and everyday low prices. Hannaford is also an active and committed community partner—focusing on fighting hunger, supporting youth development, and helping people live healthier lives. Hannaford is an industry leader in sustainability with a strong commitment to reducing waste and protecting the environment. Hannaford diverts or donates all food at risk of going to waste—sending no food to landfills. In 2023, Hannaford donated 26 million pounds of food to hunger relief organizations. Hannaford employs nearly 30,000 associates and is based in Scarborough, Maine. Additional information can be found at Hannaford.com.

About the University of Maine System

The University of Maine System (UMS) is the state’s largest driver of educational attainment and economic development. Established in 1968, UMS unites the state’s distinctive public universities, including the University of Maine and its regional campus, the University of Maine at Machias, the University of Maine at Augusta, the University of Maine at Farmington, the University of Maine at Fort Kent, the University of Maine at Presque Isle, the University of Southern Maine and the University of Maine School of Law, as well as the University of Maine Graduate and Professional Center. Over the past two decades, the System has awarded 106,362 degrees and spurred and strengthened thousands of small Maine businesses through its world-class research and development activities. Working-age alumni of its flagship, UMaine, earn more than double the state’s average median income. For more information, visit maine.edu.

The University of Maine at Fort Kent is proud to announce the Dean’s List for the spring 2024 semester. This list includes full-time and part-time students.

“Congratulations to the students who have made the UMFK Dean’s & Academic Recognition Lists,” said UMFK’s President Deb Hedeen. “The Dean’s List includes full-time students who have earned a 3.2 grade point average, while the Academic Recognition List acknowledges our part-time students who have also earned a 3.2 GPA. Their accomplishments are to be acknowledged and celebrated. We are incredibly proud to have these talented students as members of the UMFK community.”

The University of Maine at Fort Kent is the northernmost campus of the University of Maine System. It is the academic center for Acadian and Franco-American culture for the greater Fort Kent area and beyond. In addition, the diverse campus offers students a close-knit community experience with an international perspective.

UMFK offers multiple degree paths, which lead to associate, bachelor, and master’s degrees. For a complete program listing and more information, please visit the UMFK website.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Please refer to the attached news release for students and their hometowns. (Full-time list Dean’s List and part-time Academic Recognition list.)

The University of Maine at Fort Kent Athletic Department will offer two action-packed Bengal co-ed soccer camps, the first one held from Monday, June 24th through Thursday, June 27th and the second one on Monday, July 22nd through Thursday, July 25th at the UMFK Michael Simon soccer field. Registration is open to all students entering pre-K through grade 12.

Daily times for both soccer sessions for pre-K through grade eight will be from 9 AM to 11 AM. The session for grades nine through twelve will be held from 5 PM to 7 PM.

The cost is $70 per camper for one camp or $100 per camper if they sign up for both the June and July camps.

The camps will feature experienced UMFK coaches and UMFK college soccer players who will develop and improve players’ soccer skills through an environment that is fun and conducive to learning. We will accommodate all skill levels through a week of intense and enjoyable training. We focus on small-sided games to allow players to apply lessons learned in-game situation scenarios and to develop a better awareness of the game.

The summer camps continue to be popular with local residents, as well as visitors who spend their summer in the Valley.

To reserve a spot, register online through the UMFK Athletics website.

For more information on the soccer camp, contact Dru Bogden at (207) 834-7805 or steven.bodgen@maine.edu.

The University of Maine at Fort Kent gladly announces the publication of the ENG 100 Writing Project “Composition Series: LIFE Review, Volume Four.”

In a Zoom book launch event to be scheduled in early June and hosted by UMFK English faculty members Dr. Joseph Becker and Professor Geraldine Cannon Becker, the fourth book of the series will be unveiled. Twenty-five students are published in this volume.

These student interview essays went through a peer review process and were evaluated before being nominated for publication by their teachers. The selected essays were finally read by a panel of objective judges to select for the awards.

Winners of the awards are: first place, AJ Theriault (Fort Kent); second place, Sadie Plummer (Casco. ME); and third place, Madeline Getchell (South Berwick. ME); as well as two honorable mentions: Georgia Burton (Darlison P.O., Westmoreland, Jamaica), and Kalen George (Mesa, AZ).

The Old Sylvain House Press Awards are funded by Dr. Joseph E. Becker and Professor Geraldine Cannon Becker. “English studies and publication opportunities are important in all fields. English and communication courses give students tools and techniques for LIFE,” said Dr. Joseph E. Becker.

All money from book sales goes into the Old Sylvain House Press Award Fund. This fund was put in place by Dr. Becker and Professor Cannon Becker to benefit the education of students at UMFK and to honor their commitment to the importance of education for young people, specifically in the area of English Language Arts.

Professor Geraldine Cannon Becker said, “Students could select to earn a certificate by completing six courses or take a minor in Nature and Environmental Writing (NEW). Compatible with many majors, students could choose to minor in English at UMFK, and we would be happy to help them succeed. Come grow with us!”

Depending entirely upon funding, an annual scholarship may be awarded to a student who has had an essay published and is pursuing a degree in an area of study that is compatible with English at UMFK.

Anyone interested in donating toward the publication or scholarship award could give online and designate Old Sylvain House Press Award Fund in the memo.

Copies of this volume and earlier volumes of the “Composition Series: LIFE Review” are available for purchase. Please contact Dr. Joseph Becker at joseph.becker@maine.edu or Professor Cannon Becker at geraldine.becker@maine.edu for details.

The University of Maine at Fort Kent will host its twelfth annual Scholars’ Symposium on Wednesday, April 24th, on the UMFK campus. The theme of this year’s event is “One Health.” The symposium is open to the public.

“The UMFK Scholars’ Symposium (April 24, 8:30 am to 4 pm) is an annual celebration of student achievement and engagement where students have an opportunity to share their academic research through poster projects and presentations. At 11 am, invited keynote presenter Tristan Burgess (Center for Wildlife Studies) will speak to the One Health theme of the Symposium through his talk titled Spillover: How do we REALLY prevent pandemics?” said Dr. Kennedy “Ned” Rubert-Nason, UMFK assistant professor of chemistry and the Scholars’ Symposium chair.

Wednesday morning, the symposium will begin with a welcome from UMFK President Dr. Deb Hedeen at 8:30 a.m. in Fox Auditorium, followed by the undergraduate awards presented by Dr. Hedeen.

You will hear from UMFK faculty members, who will speak on “What is One Health and how can AI inform it?” Then, at 9 a.m., we will hear UMFK students’ research presentations.

Beginning at 11 a.m., keynote speaker Dr. Tristan Burgess will speak to the UMFK campus community at 11 a.m. in Fox.

Dr. Burgess is a co-founder, vice president for Science and Education, and assistant professor of Wildlife Health and Epidemiology at the Center for Wildlife Studies. He specializes in wildlife veterinary medicine and epidemiology, focusing on marine mammal health and emerging pandemic threats. He received his Bachelor of Veterinary Science from Massey University and a Ph.D. in Wildlife Epidemiology from UC Davis. Widely published, Dr. Burgess’ research interests concern the impacts of environmental health and disease on wildlife conservation efforts, the effects of disease on ecosystems, and the intersection of behavioral/foraging ecology and wildlife health. A question and answer session will follow his presentation.

The afternoon continues to highlight students’ research with poster sessions and presentations, and the students will answer questions about their methodologies and findings at the Sports Center from 1:00 pm to 4 p.m.

UMFK offers multiple degree paths, which lead to associate, bachelor, and master’s degrees. For a complete program listing and more information, please visit the UMFK website at umfk.edu.

If you’re interested in attending the symposium, please register at the UMFK Symposium webpage.

For more information on the Scholars’ Symposium, please contact Dr. Rubert-Nason at kennedy.rubertnason@maine.edu.

The University of Maine at Fort Kent is pleased to announce that author Kathryn Olmstead will be the Commencement speaker for the 142nd commencement ceremony held at the UMFK Sports Center on May 4, 2024.

Kathryn was presented with the honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters at UMFK’s 139th Commencement Ceremony on May 8, 2021.

“We are honored to have Ms. Olmstead speak at our celebration,” said UMFK President and Provost Dr. Deb Hedeen. Due to the pandemic, the 2021 commencement ceremony was online, and so was Kathryn’s commencement speech. We are pleased that she will serve as the commencement speaker this year and will have the opportunity to address the graduates in person.”

Kathryn Olmstead, Associate Professor Emerita of Communication and Journalism at the University of Maine, served 25 years on their journalism faculty, the last six as associate dean in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. She is currently a writer and editor living in Caribou, Maine. A native of Battle Creek, Michigan, she earned a BA in English from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, and an MA in English and Education from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

She moved to an abandoned farm in Westmanland in 1974 after teaching high school English in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, and Concord, New Hampshire, where she and her husband directed a residential college preparatory program for minority students. In 1988, she co-founded Echoes: Rediscovering Community, a quarterly magazine celebrating the quality of life in Aroostook County, which she later published from her home in Caribou until 2017.

She is the author of True North: Finding the Essence of Aroostook and the editor of Stories of Aroostook: The Best of Echoes Magazine, both published in 2020. She also wrote a biweekly column about northern Maine for the Bangor Daily News and co-authored a WWII memoir, Flight to Freedom: World War II Through the Eyes of a Child, with Philomena Baker, who began her career as a photographer in Fort Kent, Maine, in the 1950s.

Before joining the UMaine faculty in 1984, she served as regional representative for Senator Bill Cohen in Presque Isle, edited the weekly Aroostook Republican and News in Caribou, and was a correspondent for the Bangor Daily News and two agricultural newspapers based in Vermont and Kansas. She also taught journalism and photography at UMS campuses in Fort Kent and Presque Isle.

Founder of the Maine Center for Student Journalism for high school journalists in 1993, she received the UMaine Presidential Public Service Award in 2009 and was inducted into the Maine Press Association Hall of Fame in 2018.

She serves on boards of the Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance, the Natural Resources Council of Maine, the Penobscot Theatre Company, and the Caribou Public Library. She lives, writes, and skis in Caribou, Maine.

The University of Maine at Fort Kent Athletic Hall of Fame Committee is seeking nominations of individual student-athletes, teams, coaches, and administrators for induction into the University’s Athletic Hall of Fame.

Nominations will be accepted through Friday, April 19, 2024. The induction ceremony will be held during UMFK’s Homecoming weekend in September.

The UMFK Athletic Hall of Fame was established to recognize the men and women who have distinguished themselves in the field of athletics by their performance on UMFK athletic teams, through their achievements after graduation from the University, or by their efforts on behalf of UMFK Athletics.

Nominations will be accepted in the following categories: athlete, team, coach/administrator, and special inductee.

Any alumni or friend of UMFK may submit a nomination for consideration by a 15-member selection committee, which consists of students, athletes, coaches, faculty, administrators, and alums of the University. Nominees must receive at least 70 percent of the selection committee’s vote to be eligible for induction into the UMFK Athletic Hall of Fame.

A complete list of the eligibility requirements, the selection process for inclusion in the Athletic Hall of Fame, and an online official nomination form are located on the UMFK Athletics website.

Nomination forms may be obtained on the UMFK campus at the Athletics Department (Sports Center).

For more information, please contact Carly Flowers at (207) 834-7571.

The University of Maine at Fort Kent Blake Library Gallery is currently featuring the works of students in Doug Clapp’s ART 200 Fundamentals of Art – Drawing class. The exhibit will be on display during the month of March.

The course introduces students to the basic concepts of drawing. The class also encourages students to think about and come to understand two major things; first, there are so many different drawing styles when you consider the thousands of famous artists who created drawings that there has to be at least one style that you could successfully use, and second, that drawing is a form of creating, expressing, and communicating where form follows function; what are you trying to do when you draw? Are you trying to capture visually something that interests you? Are you making a plan for a more elaborate artwork? Are you trying to create a finished, stand-alone work of art using some drawing medium?

With those ideas in place, the class work consisted of learning something about a specific artist or group of artists and how, what, and why they drew, exploring different drawing mediums and their strengths and weaknesses.

“Students that chose to take the course were reminded that, as an intro course, no prior skill at drawing was necessary and that success would depend on their individual growth, not on some perceived standard of drawing skill,” said Clapp. “When Sophia Birden approached me about an exhibition of student work in Blake Library, I enthusiastically agreed that it was a great idea. I planned for it to represent a sampling of work from all of them and from across the semester’s work.”

The exhibition can be viewed during library hours. For further information, please contact Gallery Curator Sofia Birden at (207) 834-7527.

The University of Maine at Fort Kent’s Foundation will host its 17th annual UMFK Foundation Gala dinner and entertainment fundraiser on Saturday, April 6, 2024, at the UMFK Sports Center. The Denim and Diamonds-themed event will feature a social hour with the talented Taylor Martin, a seven-course dinner, and club dancing until the stars fade. Guests are encouraged, but not required, to show off their finest denim and sparkling diamonds for a night of celebration.

“We at the UMFK Foundation Board are pleased to invite community members near and far to our annual Foundation Gala. Our theme this year is Denim and Diamonds, and we are excited to see everyone’s creative styles shine through! We are proud to share that the funds raised from this event stay right here in the valley and support scholarships for our very own UMFK students (Go Bengals!),” said Foundation president Stephanie Chick. “Whether you attend every year or this will be your first Gala, please join us at UMFK on April 6th for a night of spectacular food, local entertainment, and a special tribute to a beloved community member. We can’t wait to see you there!”

The event kicks off at 6 p.m. at the Sports Center with a social hour with light appetizers and a cash bar. At 7 p.m., a seven-course dinner that is sure to exceed your expectations to be catered by Sodexo, followed by an evening of dancing with music provided by Pulse Entertainment at the Club Denim and Diamonds. A dessert station and cash bar will remain open during the evening.

“I am looking forward to another amazing night with our local community to benefit our Bengal community,” said event chairperson and Foundation vice president, Nichole Jandreau. “This night is imperative to the success of our students, and I can’t wait to share it with everyone. Seeing our students forge relationships with people and businesses in a fun, unique way is special for everyone.”

The UMFK Foundation financially supports scholarships, special academic projects, and more that are not budgeted in the University’s annual operating budget. This important work assists the University in providing students access to opportunities to ensure they reach their full potential.

The Gala is the Foundation’s primary fundraising event of the year. The celebration brings together businesses and organizations; the UMFK community – including staff, faculty, and students; and community friends. Attendees include supporters from the local area and beyond who recognize the important contributions of the UMFK Foundation.

If you are interested in attending this great event and supporting the UMFK Foundation, platinum, gold, silver, and bronze sponsorship levels are available. The deadline to sponsor a table is Wednesday, March 27, 2024. Individual tickets are also for sale.

Tickets are also available for purchase for $10 per person to attend only a night of dancing at the Club Denim and Diamonds, which begins at 9 p.m. at the Sports Center.

To reserve your spot or for more information, please contact the UMFK Development Office by calling Shannon Lugdon at 207-834-7800.