Goodbyes are hard. But UMPI’s former president, Linda Schott, has had to say them as she has begun a new chapter in her life. Earlier this year she accepted a new position as president of Southern Oregon University. But although she might be gone, thanks to her, UMPI’s on a whole new path.
Schott served as president of UMPI for just four years. She spent her time developing relationships with folks on campus. Those relationships were founded on mutual respect, she said.
“It’s been one of the best groups of faculty and staff I’ve ever worked with,” she said.
According to her, a president should always be honest and help build people up.
Something she never took for granted was the face-to-face time she had with students.
“It’s important to listen to your students and find out their concerns,” she said. “It’s about digging into those cracks.”
Before her arrival at UMPI, the university was looking for someone to help it develop an identity. Her leadership made her the visionary the campus was looking for.
“She dramatically changed this place in four years,” Ray Rice, UMPI interim president and provost, said. “She was incredibly forthright and had a vision in the first six months.”
Her vision included marketing UMPI so that others would take notice of this northern Maine gem.
“We were incredibly fortunate to get someone to take stock and see (UMPI’s) strengths,” Rice said.
Developing that identity meant taking huge leaps in restructuring how the campus teaches. Because of Schott, UMPI is now a destination for proficiency-based education. Students now have many opportunities to prove their mastery of their knowledge.
“She’s a visionary and strategic,” Deborah Roark, executive director of university advancement, said. “She sees the big picture, the national picture. She put the university back on the playing field.”
Schott’s resolve and commitment to UMPI can be attributed to her grit. That’s a trait she’s been developing since her days growing up on a Texas cattle farm.
Schott, a proud feminist, has often blazed her own trail. She’s faced opposition from male counterparts in her career. Her fight for equality led to her publishing a book on the history of women in the United States. Her determination has helped her go from teacher to administrator. That’s an arc she’ll continue in her new position in Oregon.
Schott may have begun a new chapter in her life, but UMPI is a whole new story thanks to her. She put UMPI on a new path in her short term. It’s one that the folks she leaves behind hope to continue to follow.
