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Steady growth of UMA
enhances fabric of capital
By A.J. HIGGINS
Staff Writer Kennebec Journal & Morning Sentinel Wednesday, May 09, 2007

AUGUSTA -- It was, by most accounts, an extraordinary concept.

Establish a university campus without dormitories. Picture classrooms without walls where students participate in a lecture televised more than 100 miles away.

Imagine workers, idled by the decline of traditional industries, who receive cutting-edge retraining programs right in their hometown.

In 1965, Bennett Katz envisioned all that, and more.

The former legislator and businessman has since retired to Florida. But his dream of the University of Maine at Augusta has evolved to become an educational, cultural and economic resource that touches the lives of Augusta residents daily.

The school's business leadership programs, concerts, art exhibits and poetry festivals are now common threads that have been permanently woven into the fabric of the community. Roger Katz, Augusta's mayor, said his father is pleased with how UMA and Augusta have grown together.

"The University of Maine at Augusta has given literally thousands of people the opportunity to improve their economic and intellectual lot in life," Katz said.

"It's hard to walk into any business in central Maine where someone's life hasn't been improved by UMA."

SMALL BEGINNINGS

Today, the library that serves UMA bears the elder Katz's name. A building filled with stories, the library tells its own tale of a man and his mission to improve the quality of life for those in the greater Augusta area.

Katz forged alliances with Fran Finnegan, the vice chairman of the city's Depositors Trust Co., and other members of the business community, and the UMA project quickly acquired a head of steam. Peter Thompson, executive director of the Kennebec Valley Chamber of Commerce, recalled the idea as almost self-propelling.

"Bennett Katz was a downtown businessman who had a keen focus on education and who thought we should have a means to educate people in a non-traditional type of school," Thompson said. "So UMA was born of that nexus: educators and business people in the community who said, 'We really need this.' It's really remarkable what's happened since then."

Roger Katz grew up as his father's plan for a central Maine university campus assumed form. An Augusta attorney, Katz recalled his father always believed that if UMA could start small and "keep its foot in the door," it would flourish. And as an influential state lawmaker, Bennett Katz knew how to grease what lawmakers politely refer to as the "legislative process."

"My father was successful in getting a very small appropriation for UMA slipped into another bill almost under the cover of darkness to get that foot in the door," Katz said. "Then, as a political strategy, at the legislative hearing, he got high school kids from all of the surrounding towns to show up carrying signs with the names of their town on them. When the committee members looked out over the room, all they could see was 75 kids carrying signs with the names of communities that would be served by UMA. It was visually persuasive."

FINDING ITS PLACE

Since 1965, UMA has grown to become a key component of what helps sell Augusta as the state's newest center for economic expansion. It has developed steadily and grown with the neighborhood, which now includes six lanes of motorists who joust for position daily on Civic Center Drive on their way to The Marketplace at Augusta shopping center.

A generation ago, UMA, the Augusta Civic Center and Howard Johnson's Restaurant and Inn were about the only neighbors in a part of the community that had been nothing more than fields and farms. New arrivals to the city might find it hard to believe that commercial development of the area began with UMA. Others say it would be harder to imagine life in Augusta without the university.

"It would be a huge loss in terms of quality employment and a huge loss in cultural and intellectual opportunities," said Bill Bridgeo, Augusta city manager. "This is a tremendously valuable stepping stone institution for so many central Maine people."

Although she has worn numerous hats in both bodies of the Maine Legislature, Sen. Elizabeth "Libby" Mitchell, D-Vassalboro, stands out among lawmakers who have consistently made higher education the focal point of their legislative careers.

The Senate majority leader has watched UMA survive, at times against overwhelming odds, as the campus fought for its fair share of funding in the University of Maine System. Despite a funding allocation that forced administrators to use every penny to its best possible advantage, Mitchell said the university's programs stood up to those on any other campus in the system.

"I think a lot of local legislators found out several years ago that UMA was operating an extraordinary campus even though, at the time, their funding per student was about the same as that of students at Cony High School," she said. "I think the funding situation is being worked on now. But because of its sense of tenacious survival, UMA learned early on what we all now know: collaboration and cooperation is the way to go. It's a model for how all the branches of the university system could share courses and program goals."

THE ODD COUPLE

Like UMA President Richard Randall and Vice Provost Josh Nadel, Jon Schlenker, director of the honors program at the university, has been an influential force on campus for more than 30 years.

In the early 1970s, Augusta was still a manufacturing town, driven in part by forest resource-based industries that have since disappeared. Schlenker recalled that when UMA opened its doors, the community reaction was more of a whisper than a scream.

The new relationship began a little like a page from the "The Odd Couple," in which two very different individuals eventually learn they hold much in common.

"When I first came here, there was a view by the community that reflected a little bit of a schism," he said. "In years gone past, this was a mill town and when UMA opened here, it was viewed as something that was 'out on the hill.' In fact, some people referred to us as 'University Heights.' I think that there was that initial 'town-gown' kind of schism. But that has since eroded to a large extent."

A nationally recognized jazz program and an outstanding art department were the early hallmarks of the university. Both programs were among the first that connected with Augusta residents and continue today as two of UMA's most visible links to the community.

A BUSINESS RESOURCE

The university also flexes a lot of muscle in the Augusta business community, offering bachelor's degrees in business and public administration.

Both areas are frequently reflected in the Kennebec Leadership Institute, sponsored by the Kennebec Valley Chamber of Commerce and UMA. The three-month, 80-hour course is designed to give participants the knowledge and skills necessary to become effective community leaders.

"They go through a whole training program over several months and learn leadership skills with the presumption that these are people who will be stepping up," said Bob Stein, UMA's public affairs director. "So the program equips them with the skills they need to be true leaders in the community."

Another lesser-known example of UMA's involvement with Augusta can be found in the community service activities of the school's honors program.

Each semester, honors program members provide about 4,000 hours of community service, said Rick Seymour, the program's president and an administration of justice major who hopes to graduate in May 2008. The group has provided labor for the Habitat for Humanity program, conducted drives for area food kitchens and held numerous charitable fund-raisers, he said.

Laura Minoty, a mental health and human services major at UMA, serves as vice president of community service for the honors program. In addition to stuffing eggs for local Easter egg hunts, she and other members have been dedicated to sending care packages to Maine veterans deployed abroad.

"Just recently, we were welcoming back soldiers from Iraq here in Augusta," she said. "They knew what we had been doing and some approached us with their families to thank us."

Schlenker obviously is proud of his civic-minded students, many of whom are at least 30 years old, with jobs and families to support. From his perspective, his students' dedication and selfless service to the community are UMA's greatest asset.

Acknowledging it has taken time for UMA to create a role for itself in the Augusta community, Schlenker remains confident that the city and the school that carries its name share a bright future.

"Today, UMA and Augusta enjoy a tremendous relationship," he said. "I think the best is yet to come."

A.J. Higgins -- 623-3811 Ext. 431

ajhiggins@centralmaine.com


Reader comments

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CountryGal of Augusta, ME
May 9, 2007 2:16 PM
Possum, give them a call. I think they do offer some classes now, if not a full degree.report abuse
Possum of Manchester, ME
May 9, 2007 8:40 AM
Waiting for the day when graduate classes are offered.report abuse

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