The Maine Compact
The Maine Compact for Higher Education is a joint effort of the Maine Development Foundation and the Maine Community Foundation committed to raising educational attainment in Maine.
The Compact is made up of education, government, community and business leaders and others who care about Maine's future. The Compact's ambitious goal is to make Maine residents among the best-educated in America by 2019. That means nothing less than changing Maine's educational culture.
The Compact is committed to finding ways to expand higher education opportunities in Maine over the long haul. As Maine's champion for higher education, the Maine Compact for Higher Education will:
- Partner with existing Maine business, government, education and community organizations to implement forward-looking strategies to raise educational attainment among Maine students and adult learners;
- Launch and manage a multiyear campaign to change the values, expectations and behaviors of Maine citizens regarding higher education;
- Evaluate the results of these initiatives through an annual report on progress;
- Promote innovation and best practices in expanding educational attainment; and
- Provide a consistent and unified voice that promotes higher education and asks leaders locally and statewide to take responsibility for achieving the goal of increased educational attainment.
Initial funding for the Compact has been provided by the Great Maine Schools Project at the Mitchell Institute, Libra Foundation, Maine Community Foundation, Maine Educational Loan Authority, MELMAC Education Foundation, Peoples Heritage Bank a Division of Banknorth, N.A., and UnumProvident.
Acknowledgements
The Maine Compact for Higher Education wishes to thank the many individuals and organizations who contributed to this Action Plan.
Special thanks to Compact members Kevin Healey, Michael Higgins and Sue Huseman, who served as committee chairpersons. We also thank the many individuals who have worked on this project, including Leanne Greeley Bond who coordinated the strategy committees, Dianne Heino who coordinated logistics, Meredith Jones who advised on the program and facilitated meetings, and Lisa Plimpton who served as a researcher and production editor of the Action Plan. Thanks to Catherine Reilly, A. Mavourneen Thompson and Philip Trostel for their valuable research support. And, thanks to David Swardlick and his team at the Swardlick Marketing Group.
In addition to Compact members, many other individuals served on special committees whose work informed this report. We thank James Breece, Yellow Light Breen, Tom Broussard, William Cassidy, Tae Chong, Rebecca Dyer, Shirley Erickson, Greg Gollihur, Robert Haley, Joyce Hedlund, Nancy Hensel, Durward Huffman, Steve McFarland, John Monaghan, Cathy Newell, Sheila Pendse, Gregory Powell, Rosa Redonnett, Cullen Ryan, Candace Ward, Joe Wood, and Rob Wood. The Compact also thanks Patrick Phillips and Robert Woodbury for reviewing and making contributions to the Action Plan.
Special thanks also go to the leaders and staff of the Maine institutions that generously provided their facilities for Compact meetings. They include Bates College, Bowdoin College, Central Maine Community College, Central Maine Power Company, Colby College, the Higher Education Center in Houlton, the University of Maine and the University of Southern Maine.
Finally, we express our gratitude to Henry Bourgeois of the Maine Development Foundation and Hank Schmelzer of the Maine Community Foundation whose vision and leadership have guided the Compact's work from its inception.
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