A Respectful Environment

A Respectful Environment

UMFK has made a commitment to foster a respectful environment on our campus and in the wider community. Not only will you experience the sights, sounds, and tastes of multiple cultures, but you are also encouraged to lift up your own to share with others or become an active participant in theirs.

The statements found below express the views of our campus and the global cultures found at UMFK. If you are interested in participating in these initiatives and promoting a respectful campus environment, please contact the Student Life Coordinator’s office at (207) 834-7540.

A Respectful Environment on Our Campus

Student Affairs

The Student Affairs Department at UMFK, through the provision of services and multifaceted programming, serves to provide a supportive and caring experience for all students.

Living

• Residence Life staff at UMFK enhances the heterogeneous atmosphere of the two campus residence halls by paying close attention to preferences in room assignments, staff hiring, and the careful placement of students. The varied backgrounds, skills, and goals of the Residence Life staff members foster a rewarding and interesting blend of dorm activities and events.
• Residence Life staff members respond quickly and efficiently to incidents that undermine shared goals and respond to these incidents as opportunities to protect and educate the community.
• The Student Activities program at UMFK embraces the fact that our student body represents different backgrounds and has varied ideas, values, and interests.
• UMFK’s Campus Dining Services, Bookstore / Mailroom Services, in association with Facilities Management, serve to support student life and related cultural initiatives. These departments provide the amenities needed for successful campus living and learning for all students in a respectful environment.
• Career Services, in conjunction with other Student Affairs offices, provides culturally sensitive etiquette, interview, and personality-type training workshops to a variety of cohorts and organizations on campus.
• International Student Programming and student organizations often collaborate to sponsor campus-wide and community events that focus participants on the wide range of options and perspectives in our country and our world, as well as uplifting local Acadian and Indigenous traditions.

Learning

• Experiential Learning and Recreation programming provides co-curricular functions, allowing students to explore new ideas and new activities. This department and the Student Activities Board sponsor performers and artists representing various backgrounds to the campus and our surrounding communities.
• The Student Affairs Office and the Confidential Resource Advisor, in robust support of Title IX compliance and personal growth, promote awareness of health and wellness, sexual orientation, gender, and sex. It accomplishes this by facilitating activities, workshops, discussions, and programming meant to educate students about issues and practices that are relevant to their lives.

Academic Affairs

The President and Provost’s Office at the University of Maine at Fort Kent’s position on a Respectful Environment stems from the mission and value statements of the institution, as well as statements and broader philosophies contained in the University of Maine at Fort Kent Strategic Plan 2024-2028.

Division of Nursing

The University of Maine at Fort Kent (UMFK), Division of Nursing’s (DON) support for a respectful environment stems from its mission. Faculty and staff are committed to promoting a learning atmosphere that reflects a global view of society. The faculty philosophy statements also support and reflect a holistic view of health, person, nursing, and human development. Furthermore, the DON’s commitment to a respectful environment is congruent with the American Association of the Colleges of Nursing Statement on Competencies for Professional Nursing Education (2021), which states: “Person-centered care focuses on the individual within multiple complicated contexts, including family and or/important others. Person-centered care is holistic, individualized, just, respectful, compassionate, coordinated, evidence-based, and developmentally appropriate.” (p. 29).

To this end, the UMFK DON will:

• Emphasize a multicultural focus in the curriculum, thereby enabling students to provide care for persons in various settings;
• Provide a supportive learning environment in which students, staff, and faculty from the entire spectrum of society are full participants in the educational process;
• Develop creative and innovative educational methodologies that serve a broad student population;
• Foster and facilitate the development of professional nurses prepared to meet the health care needs of a complex society;
• Create an educational community and a professional practice environment that incorporates the wide-ranging perspectives reflecting the constituencies whom they serve;
• Require an admission and employment process that fully encompasses the principles of equal opportunity;
• Recruit and retain student applicants from a variety of backgrounds, including but not limited to those from socially or economically disadvantaged communities, multiple racial and ethnic backgrounds, rural communities, and men interested in nursing; and
• Recruit and retain faculty and staff from backgrounds similar to the American experience.

Blake Library

• Collection: In support of the curriculum, the library collects materials that cover a broad range of subjects, presenting students with an opportunity to explore different cultures, views, attitudes, and perspectives.
• Services: Materials and services are offered in a variety of formats to meet the needs of our complex student body and community patrons. For example, reference services are provided both in the library, over the telephone, and online so that users have multiple opportunities to access the collection.

Media Services

• Website: Media Services staff members participate in the systemwide initiative to address accessibility on University websites, including academic information posted on the web. UMFK’s website is routinely checked through a software package that reports accessibility problems, which are reviewed in order to correct the issue.
• Courseware: Online software packages such as Brightspace are supported to meet the needs of students who are on campus or away. Faculty are encouraged to post documents that will be readily accessible in many different formats. These online packages are beneficial to the nontraditional student in that they allow these students to work around their family and work schedules while maintaining their academic pursuits.
• Video Streaming and Audio Engineering: These systems allow faculty to use different methods to meet the needs of different types of learners, especially those who learn best visually or through sound. They also provide the opportunity for persons not on campus to view events, such as graduation and other campus events.
• Classroom Technologies: Classrooms are equipped with a variety of technologies that give the faculty the ability to accommodate a variety of students who have different learning styles. The faculty are also served in meeting their own diverse needs. The classrooms can bring more diversity into the classroom through film, television, and the internet.

Academic/Administrative Computing

• Access to Computers: The university provides computing access 24/7 for students who have various schedules.
• Access to the Internet: The university provides a bank of modems for students, staff, and faculty to access systems (including the library) from home.
• Support: Information Services staff work to provide good working conditions for faculty and staff, helping to ensure workstations are ergonomically correct.

Distance Education

• Access: The University provides the ability for students to take classes from a distance. Some are asynchronous, which helps students who work as well as get an education.

Acadian Archives/Archives acadiennes

• This department is dedicated to supporting and studying the heritage of the St. John Valley in all its richness, including those of the Acadian and Franco-American, Native American, English, Irish, and Swedish heritages that reside here.

Arts and Sciences

The complexity of the student body is a key requirement of our enrollment plan. An engaged faculty and welcoming classroom climate are crucial to the success of these efforts. Every effort will be made at the divisional level to guarantee that all hiring practices follow EEO procedures developed by the UMS to ensure a supportive faculty.

Academic programs and class content in the Division of Arts and Sciences will advance knowledge and understanding of the challenging issues associated with the search for truth.

Welcoming differences among faculty and students in the Division will depend upon the ability of each individual to respect the values of others.

Listening, as well as speaking, is essential when discussing issues that promote learning.

Our division acknowledges the importance of the continual effort to promote UMFK’s respectful environment.

Human Resources

The University of Maine at Fort Kent Human Resources Office is not only committed to the principles and ideals of pluralism but is also responsible for assisting in the education of our workforce regarding these ideals and ensuring compliance with applicable UMS Board of Trustees policies and procedures and state and federal regulations. We value diversity in all aspects of work, education, and recreation, and celebrate the benefit to the campus, community, and society-at-large of a supportive and inclusive environment.

To promote a respectful environment, the Human Resources Office:

• Seeks to recruit a motivated workforce through the broad placement of position advertisements, which include an indication of our adherence to Affirmative Action and Equal Employment Opportunity principles.
• Monitors the effectiveness of advertising for a deep applicant pool by encouraging all applicants to complete a convenient, confidential online Affirmative Action Survey.
• Provides reasonable accommodations to qualified applicants and employees at all stages of pre-employment and employment.
• Instructs search committees on the University’s commitment to increasing the representation of underrepresented groups at the beginning of every search.
• Oversees all stages of the search process and ensures compliance with AA/EEO principles.
• Assists in the retention of qualified workforce by incorporating sensitivity awareness (Creating a Positive Learning and Working Environment) into all new employee orientations, supporting and participating in the University of Maine System and campus initiatives to build a respectful environment, and providing counsel and support as appropriate to individuals struggling with related issues.
• Investigates and responds as appropriate to allegations or informal reports of intolerant or inappropriate behavior involving University faculty or staff, and assists in the filing, investigation, and response to formal complaints investigated by the UMS Investigations Coordinator.
• Ensures that the UMS Non-Discrimination policy is widely distributed to faculty, staff, and students and is easily accessible from the University’s homepage on the World Wide Web.