University of New England

Nexus
A Message from the President

As I begin my final year at UNE, I find it amazing how far we’ve come over the past decade. Some of the numbers are truly remarkable…

Student enrollment grew from fewer than 2,000 students to some 3,400 today…full-time faculty nearly doubled, from 81 to 158…our operating budget expanded from $26 million to nearly $100 million…endowment swelled from $2 million to $23 million…and more than $100 million was spent on capital construction on both campuses.

Much of this growth is the direct result of the successful merger of Westbrook College with University of New England. The merger, which created a larger, more diverse educational institution, allowed us to provide the College of Health Professions (CHP) a home of its own on the Westbrook College Campus, and gave us the opportunity expand research at the College of Osteopathic Medicine (COM) as well as the opportunity to grow our College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) on the University Campus.

The growth of CAS and the liberal arts at UNE, and the profound effect that commitment and growth is having on the entire University, is highlighted in this issue of Nexus.

The liberal arts’ intrinsic value lies in their ability to awaken and foster intellectual curiosity, develop and nurture our aesthetic sensibilities, and help us learn to think critically and analytically. All vital skills in an increasingly complex and fast-moving world.

In this issue you can read about Jacque Carter’s dream to make our College of Arts and Sciences on par with other fine, New England liberal arts colleges; the emergence of the Department of Creative and Fine Arts, now under the direction of former Maine College of Art Dean Gregory Murphy; the proposed George and Barbara Bush Cultural Center, which will house a performing arts center; and faculty and students’ lives and careers that have been deeply enriched by their involvement with the arts.

When I step down this June I will have served this wonderful institution for 11 years, a considerably lengthy tenure for a university president these days. We have come a long way together, and my tenure at the University of New England has been the pinnacle of my career. We have dreamed large and achieved much, due to your ongoing support. Thank you.

Sandra Featherman, Ph.D., HA '98, '04
President

Back to table of contents