Using Higher Education Emergency Relief Funds (�����Ի���) allocated under the American Rescue Plan Act ()), the �鶹APP issued over $1.6 million in emergency grants to enrolled students, and awarded more than $900,000 in debt relief to students affected by the COVID -19 pandemic. The federal funds were designated specifically to ease the financial burden on students enrolled since the start of the pandemic in March 2020.

In early October 2021, UMA sent direct relief payments to 2,024 students ranging from $400-600 depending on the number of credits taken.�� 954 students received additional emergency relief based on exceptional hardship as outlined in the HEERF regulations. Direct payments totaled more than $1.64 million.

In December 2021, UMA identified and provided relief to 717 students who were enrolled at UMA at any point during Spring 2020 (as of March 13, 2020) through Spring 2021.�� With a maximum benefit of $2,500, 544 students received complete debt forgiveness, while 173 received partial relief of their debt.

During the Spring 2022 semester, an additional $1.7 million of federal relief payments will be distributed to students.�� The HEERF eligibility requirements are similar to the payments distributed in October.

“The significance of the emergency grants and debt forgiveness cannot be understated,” said Jonathan Henry, UMA Vice President of Enrollment Management and Marketing. “The pandemic’s effect on employment and family obligations has placed a strain on the financial resources of our students. Many needed to choose between continuing their studies and supporting their families,” Henry continued. “The response has been overwhelming with several students planning to resume their studies this spring semester.”

“I want to thank UMA for providing this debt relief to students,” stated UMA student Sarah Merriman of Old Orchard Beach. “This has allowed me to continue my studies sooner than I expected,” the Mental Health and Human Services major continued. “I enrolled for classes the same day I heard the news and look forward to finishing��my degree.”

“The challenges of the pandemic remain,” stated UMA Interim President Joseph Szakas, “however, with the support of our faculty and staff, and the targeted federal relief, our students have managed to persevere and continue toward degree completion.”

In addition to the HEERF II and HEERF III funds, UMA previously distributed federal funds made available for students under the����(which included an original HEERF allocation).�� A local��, established through the generosity of employees, alumni, and community partners was also utilized to assist students with food, housing, utilities, medications and other necessities due to the COVID-19 epidemic.

Annual Plunkett Maine Poetry Festival presents��a hybrid event of visual and literary arts on April 30, 2021��

To join this Virtual event:��

This past year has been challenging. We have been quarantining, masking, “pivoting,” rising up, breaking down, and just trying to keep it together.

To mark the events of this moment, the annual Plunkett Maine Poetry Festival will break out of its usual format to celebrate the���鶹APP’s (UMA) 2020-2021��academic theme of “Outbreak,”��a topic inclusive of viral outbreaks, outbreaks of social justice, and outbreaks of creativity.

The Plunkett Festival will partner with the����to provide a virtual multifaceted literary and arts event on April 30, 2021. Additional details on the Danforth Gallery Exhibition are available at��/news/the-outbreak-project-exhibition-april-6-30-2021/

Providing the keynote for the event will be Maine’s former poet laureate (2000 – 2006),��. Wormser is the author of nine collections of poetry, as well as two texts on pedagogy, a memoir, and two collections of essays.�� He is an avid defender of poetry, peace, and the power of language to make collective change. Wormser will speak on �鶹APP academic theme of Outbreak, as well as read some of his work.

The April 30 event will be filled with readings, art exhibits, an art installation, and a performance by artist and UMA part-time lecturer,��.

The event will also recognize those selected to receive awards in the annual��Student Poetry Contest, which invites University of Maine System undergraduate students and Maine high school students to submit poems for recognition.

This year two additional contests were added, the��Outbreak! Writing Project, which will recognize written pieces including poems, flash fiction, short stories, creative nonfiction, essays, or any combination of blurred genres from the community and the��Outbreak Project Exhibition, which invited Maine visual artists from UMA, high schools, and surrounding communities to submit work for a juried exhibition at the Danforth Gallery.��Outbreak Project Exhibition awards��will be announced during the April 30 programming.

Those receiving awards will read or display their works as part of the program.

A tentative program schedule* for April 30 follows:

• 2:00 pm�������������������� Welcome
• 2:15 pm ������������������ Student Poetry Contest Readings and Awards
  High School Plunkett Poetry Contest Awards
  UMS Plunkett Poetry Contest Awards
• 2:45 pm ������������������ Gallery Performance by Patricia Brace followed by a Zoom Q&A with the Brace and Liz Rhaney, Heather Lyon and Riley Watts, artists who also have performed during the Outbreak Exhibition.
• 3:45 pm�������������������� Musical Interlude
  “The Hill We Climb” by Amanda Gorman
  Scored by the �鶹APP’s Global Rhythms Ensemble
  Directed by Brian Shankar Adler
• 4:00 pm�������������������� Outbreak Exhibition Project Awards
• 4:30 pm�������������������� Outbreak! Writing Project Readings and Awards
• 5:00 pm�������������������� Baron Wormser Keynote: “Outbreak Time, Three Poets from One Decade: Allen Ginsberg, Sylvia Plath, Bob Dylan” via livestream
• 5:30 pm�������������������� Baron Wormser Reading and Q & A via livestream

*Times are estimated and subject to change.��

The exhibition, selected by a jury of art leaders drawn from community arts organizations and the University of Maine System, draws from works submitted through an open submission process for the show.

The exhibition will circulate, conceptually and physically, around an installation and performance work by Maine artist and UMA lecturer Patricia Brace.����will be a constructed plywood cubic space installed within the recessed center of the Danforth Gallery. With audiovisual equipment installed above, performance artists will choreograph and perform live-streamed dance-based works that respond to the restraint and connection of the physical form of “Stage” and, metaphorically, our moment of outbreak.��Artists��,��,�������Ի�����will perform during a live-streamed performance April 9. Brace will perform again in the structure on April 30 during the Plunkett Poetry Festival, after which she and all the performers will participate in a live question and answer session via Zoom.

Brace’s project will be realized through the support of numerous groups, including���鶹APP Women Invigorating the Curriculum and Cultivating Diversity (WICCD) Committee,��the��Plunkett Poetry Festival, the Danforth Gallery, the UMA College of Arts and Sciences Dean’s Office, and through a grant from MECA.

The Outbreak Project in the Charles Danforth Gallery will open April 6 and close April 30 after the events of the Plunkett Poetry Festival.

The��Student Art Exhibition��offers UMA students the opportunity and encouragement to exhibit their work in a professional setting, and to explore the work of their peers across courses and terms that they might not otherwise see. Most of all, the exhibition highlights and celebrates the work of UMA students completed during their coursework in the Art department. Usually an annual exhibition, last year’s show was cancelled due to Covid-19, making this year’s exhibition an eagerly anticipated event.

“The Art department is enormously proud of what our students have achieved,” stated Amy Rahn, Danforth Gallery Director and UMA Assistant Professor of Art History. “This has been a challenging year, yet our students have risen to the occasion. Their creativity and determination are clearly visible in the virtual exhibition.”

This year, the exhibition also included a postcard design contest administered by Danforth Gallery intern Becky Pass. The winning postcard design contest was Frederica Shorey’s acrylic painting “Rainy Day Blues.”

Encompassing seventy works in media ranging from paint to plaster to pastel, this year’s Student Art Exhibition demonstrates the creativity and skill of UMA’s art students. Installed virtually in the ongoing Covid-19 crisis, the exhibition is also a celebration of UMA’s students, and the ways they have persevered in creating and exhibiting their works.

To view the virtual exhibition, please visit:��.

“UMA is honored to receive this designation,” stated UMA President Rebecca Wyke. “Our faculty and staff are dedicated to providing a welcoming community for our military service members and veterans.”

“We are very excited to receive this designation from Military Friendly Schools recognizing �鶹APP commitment to support our military service members and veterans, and their families,” said Amy Line, UMA Director of Military and Veterans’ Services. “This has been a challenging year for everyone as we have responded to the pandemic. However, we have maintained the lines of communication and contacts with service members and their families through the use of virtual meetings and in-person contacts within the COVID-19 protocols.”

Institutions earning the designation are evaluated using both public data sources and responses from a proprietary survey completed by the school. Methodology, criteria, and weightings are determined by with input from the Military Friendly® Advisory Council of independent leaders in the higher education and military recruitment community. Final ratings were determined by combining the institution’s survey scores with the assessment of the institution’s ability to meet thresholds for student retention, graduation, job placement, loan repayment, persistence (degree advancement or transfer) and loan default rates for all students and, specifically, for student veterans.

Over 1,200 schools participated in the 2021-2022 survey with 747 earning the designation. The 2021-2022 Military Friendly® Schools list will be published in the May issue of G.I. Jobs magazine and can be found at .

Earlier this year, UMA was also ranked by US News and World Report as Best Online Bachelor’s Degree for Veterans.

UMA Dental Health Programs Coordinator Nancy Foster

Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center (EMMC) in Bangor held a vaccination clinic for healthcare workers at an event on January 23. The UMA Dental Health Programs’ faculty, staff, and students were provided the opportunity to take part and receive the first dose of the Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine and 26 participated in the event.

Dental Health Programs Coordinator and Associate Professor of Dental Health, Nancy Foster was one of several members of the UMA Dental Health Program that received a COVID-19 vaccine during the clinic. “We grateful that EMMC included individuals in the UMA Dental Health Program as part of the clinic,” stated Professor Foster. “To have the opportunity to receive this vaccine just 6 weeks after the FDA’s approval for emergency use authorization is simply amazing.”

Also taking part in the clinic were healthcare providers including area dental practitioners and their support staff. Nancy reported that it was “exciting to see so many people participating” with an estimated 800 people scheduled on this one day.�� She observed the positive energy, optimistic outlook, and feelings of hope by the participants for the end of this pandemic, something she has not experienced for a long while.

Everyone is to be commended for the extraordinary efforts undertaken to navigate the in-person portion of the fall 2020 semester. As we transition to the semester’s conclusion remotely, I wish everyone a successful completion of the semester.

The Safe Planning Committee provided recommendations for the continued safe operation of our campuses and centers at the conclusion of the fall semester. These recommendations will be implemented on December 23, 2020 continuing through January 10, 2021, as follows:

• UMA campuses and Centers will remain open to students, faculty, and staff, as well as those conducting business with the university; however, the general public will not be allowed on campus and buildings will be locked;
• Faculty and staff will utilize the card access system to gain entry to their offices;
• Supervisors will implement minimal staffing levels on campuses and at centers by establishing remote work schedules for employees, wherever possible. Supervisors will contact their employees with specific details
• Students will be encouraged to use phone, online (live chat), email, texts, and Zoom to access services whenever possible. In rare circumstances that students may need access to in-person services, they should call ahead to make an appointment; and
• Access to �鶹APP Computer Labs will be available Monday through Friday from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm at the following locations:
  • Augusta Campus – The breezeway between Klahr Center and Katz Library
  • Bangor Campus – Lewiston Hall, Rooms 123 and 13
  • UMA Centers – By appointment, see Center website for contact information

Thank you for keeping each other safe throughout the semester and continuing to remain vigilant during this current surge of the pandemic. We must not let our guard down; wearing face coverings, maintaining physical distance, staying home when sick, and washing hands are still critical components to keeping our community safe.

Stay healthy and be safe.

Sincerely,

Rebecca M. Wyke, Ed.D.
President

During the final days before the Thanksgiving Break, our safe return precautions are being refined in response to Maine’s current increase in COVID-19 cases. These efforts also support a transition for students and employees to remote learning and working after the Thanksgiving holiday and comply with recent changes to Maine CDC and state requirements.

Face coverings required outside

Consistent with the new Maine CDC requirement, face coverings must be worn at all times on UMA campuses, property, and facilities, both indoors and outside regardless if you are alone. This is a change in both Maine CDC and university guidance. If you have any questions about this requirement, including a list of the limited exceptions, please refer to this Face Coverings Guide.

Non-essential travel limited

Everyone is encouraged to defer any University non-essential travel within the state, at least until November 25. Restrictions on domestic and international travel remain in place.

Increasing remote work and learning before Thanksgiving break

To limit the number of individuals on campuses and at Centers, a gradual return to remote work by some employees will begin in the days before the Thanksgiving Break and continue thereafter. While campuses and Centers will remain open, wherever possible, students should be encouraged to use phone, online, email, texts, and Zoom to access services. Affected employees will receive specific instruction about this transition from their supervisors in the next few days.

Final round of fall asymptomatic testing

The UMS asymptomatic testing for the fall semester will draw to a close with Thanksgiving Break. However, expanded testing will be included during the final round to provide safe departure and travel testing for residence hall, out-of-state, and other groups of students, similar to the arrival testing conducted at the start of the semester.

Post-Thanksgiving break, Nov 30 – Dec 22

Upon the recommendation of �鶹APP Safe Return Committee, supervisors will implement minimal staffing levels to limit the number of individuals on campuses and at Centers, while still providing support for students. Extended hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays until 6:00 p.m. will continue. Whenever possible we encourage students to conduct business via phone, online, email, text, and Zoom options.

We will continue to update you regarding any changes in this schedule and provide additional details about campus and Center staffing between semesters in future communications.

As always, please remain vigilant by wearing face coverings, keeping our distance, staying home when sick, and washing hands to help keep our campuses and Centers safe. Our collective adherence to these protocols are imperative to our successful completion of the semester during this current surge of COVID-19 cases in Maine.

Stay healthy and be safe.

Sincerely,

Rebecca M. Wyke, Ed.D.
President

The mission of the UMA athletic department is to create positive leaders and citizens through a focus on personal growth opportunities, academic excellence, wellness initiatives, and community outreach. In the fall semester, UMA will continue to provide opportunities for engagement within health and safety guidelines, including practices and team activities. As always, coaches and staff are committed to providing the best possible experience to UMA student-athletes. The UMA fall athletic programs affected by this decision are the co-ed golf, men’s and women’s cross-country, as well as men’s and women’s basketball.

“This decision is not one that we have taken lightly,” stated Jennifer Laney, UMA Director of Student Life & Athletics. “Competitive athletic programs are an important part of many students’ college experience at UMA. However, the shared safety concerns within the conferences in which we participate guided this postponement.”

is working in conjunction with the (YSCC) and the (USCAA) to coordinate plans for the return of athletics in spring 2021 and provide meaningful experiences for students to compete while meeting University of Maine System policies as well as federal, state, and local health directives.

Chancellor Dannel Malloy has announced the re-opening of the University of Maine System campuses for fall 2020 as scheduled on August 31 with completion of the semester online after the Thanksgiving break. The reopening of campuses will take place under UMS developed by the UMS Safe Return Planning Team. Each university will implement these unifying principles according to its own specific safe return plans.

Over the past several weeks, the UMA Safe Return Committee, led by Associate Provost and Dean of the College of Professional Studies Brenda McAleer, developed �鶹APP Safe Return Plan guided by the need to provide necessary health and safety precautions for students, faculty, and staff while offering students the best educational experience possible. Many thanks to the faculty and staff who took part in this planning process. Special thanks to Provost Joseph Szakas, Deans McAleer and Fahy, and the Academic Coordinators for their efforts in developing a comprehensive plan that will allow our students to maintain access to high-quality academic programming that will keep them on a path to degree completion.

The Plan provides the best practices for reopening our institution based upon available information, state requirements, and scientific guidance as of this date. Should information or the situation change, our Plan will adapt accordingly.

To review the UMA Safe Return Plan, visit .

This webpage will be updated to provide resources and guidance on �鶹APP reopening as information becomes available. Additionally, an Open Forum on �鶹APP Reopening will be held on to share details and answer questions.

�鶹APP Emergency Operations Center (EOC) has already begun to implement this plan. As we return to UMA, plexiglass shields in reception areas, classroom reconfigurations, and installation of hand sanitizer stations will be some of the noticeable changes on our campuses and center locations. Employees will be provided washable face coverings for use while on campus and everyone will be asked to acknowledge our mutual commitment to the safety of our community members.

A gradual return from remote work locations by employees will begin in July. The UMA Safe Return Committee, with input from directors and managers, will make recommendations on how employees will return safely to campuses and centers. Employees will receive specific instructions about this transition and should not return to their usual work location until they receive these instructions.

Our collective adherence to the Plan’s protocols and guidelines, such as wearing face coverings while at UMA locations and maintaining physical distancing, are imperative to our successful opening and our ability to reduce the risks to members of our community. I look forward to working with the UMA community as we implement this plan and begin the fall 2020 semester.

Be safe and stay healthy.

Sincerely,

Rebecca M. Wyke, Ed.D.
President