Hello everyone and welcome to a brand-new academic year.<\/p>\n
This year is truly a special year for UMPI.\u00a0 The number of out of state and out of country students is up this year.\u00a0 As of the day I am writing this article we have students coming to UMPI from Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, Maryland, Minnesota, North Carolina, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Vermont.\u00a0 Students from outside of the United States are coming to UMPI from Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, England, India, the Netherlands and Saudi Arabia.
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This is the beginning of my 22nd year of working at the University of Maine at Presque Isle and I cannot remember a time when our students came from as many states and countries as they are this year.\u00a0 This is a great thing for the university and for our students.\u00a0 It is because of this diversity that all of the students at the university will grow stronger in their thoughts by coming into contact with people who have different backgrounds from their own.<\/p>\n
As you walk around campus this year, please notice that many things have changed.\u00a0 Some individuals have left.\u00a0 President Schott and her family have moved to Oregon and left the campus in the very capable hands of our new Interim President Ray Rice. \u00a0Rice had been our provost and vice president of academic and student affairs and has worked tirelessly with many others to help move UMPI down the road to becoming a proficiency-based education institution.<\/p>\n
We have a new food service company on campus this semester.\u00a0 SODEXO Food Services is now running our dinning services on campus.\u00a0 Our new director of dinning services is Allison Basye.\u00a0 Please stop by and visit her in the cafeteria in the Campus Center.\u00a0 One of the biggest changes you will see is an expanded menu and a change in the times meals are served.\u00a0 The cafeteria is now open from 7 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.\u00a0 It does not close down.<\/p>\n
Late Night will be served in the cafeteria for the fall term because SODEXO is remodeling the Owl\u2019s Nest.\u00a0 The old C3 in the classroom building will still be serving grab and go drinks and food, but watch for an extended menu.<\/p>\n
One of the biggest fears of all college students is, How do I fit in a college?\u00a0 This is an issue for new students and returners who may have had some close friends not return.\u00a0 In order to do well at UMPI you will need to make a commitment to yourself to make the next year the best year of your life.\u00a0 Do what you can to meet people.\u00a0 Get involved in a club.\u00a0 Eat in the cafeteria. \u00a0Hang out in the Whooo\u2019s Hut.\u00a0 Get to know a faculty or staff member.\u00a0 Try something that you never thought you would do.<\/p>\n
How will doing these things make this year more exciting?\u00a0 I know some of you are saying to yourself, \u201cI just can\u2019t walk up to someone and start a conversation.\u201d\u00a0 So how do you overcome the fact that you do not like walking up to people?\u00a0 Take advantage of your surroundings.\u00a0 While sitting in a class, talk to the person sitting next to you.\u00a0 Make sure you get to know the people in the groups you will be working with.\u00a0 Just talk to someone.\u00a0 Do not let the person\u2019s age or class rank bother you.\u00a0 Some of the best conversations I have had in my life were with people who were different from me.<\/p>\n
Getting involved in college life is very important.\u00a0 One of the ways to do this is to get involved in a club.\u00a0 UMPI has over 30 clubs and organizations to join.\u00a0 Some of the clubs are major related, some are athletic in nature and others cover special topics.\u00a0 I always suggest that students consider getting involved in the Student Government Association (SGA).\u00a0 If you are interested in joining the SGA, come to one of their meetings.\u00a0 SGA meetings happen every Tuesday afternoon from 1-2 p.m. in the Alumni Room of the Campus Center.<\/p>\n
If you would like to join a club that is connected to your major, contact some of the professors in your major and ask them for information.\u00a0 Many times, commuter students do not think they have the time to join a club.\u00a0 My advice is to try it and see what the commitment will be like.\u00a0 If you do not have the time, you can always withdraw from the club later.\u00a0 Give it a shot first, however.<\/p>\n
Eating in the cafeteria will give you many opportunities to meet people.\u00a0 Residence hall students will find eating buddies through the associations they make during the first few days of the semester.\u00a0 Commuter students will find eating buddies in their classes or with friends they recognize on campus.\u00a0 The best part of eating in the caf\u00e9 is the food.\u00a0 If you are a commuter student, you can buy a meal plan.\u00a0 These plans are attached to your ID card and can be used for any meal from September through May.<\/p>\n
UMPI has a lounge in Folsom\/Pullen.\u00a0 The lounge is called the Whooo\u2019s Hut.\u00a0 It is a great place to hang out in between classes.\u00a0 Take advantage of this space.\u00a0 It is comfortable and a great place to sit back and relax.<\/p>\n
Perhaps the most important thing you can do is get to know a staff or faculty member.\u00a0 The employees at UMPI set us apart from many schools.\u00a0 Many of the people working here will ask you to address them by their first name.\u00a0 Some of the faculty have projects that students can assist them with.\u00a0 These projects are usually in your major and make great resume builders.\u00a0 All members of the faculty and staff want to see you succeed here.\u00a0 If you have any questions, please feel free to ask anyone.\u00a0 If people don\u2019t know the answer, they\u2019ll be able to get you to someone who does.<\/p>\n
As the dean of students, my office is located in 236 Preble Hall.\u00a0 Please feel free to stop by.\u00a0 I eat most of my meals in the cafeteria during the weekdays.\u00a0 If you see me in the cafeteria, please feel free to stop by and say hello.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Hello everyone and welcome to a brand-new academic year. This year is truly a special year for UMPI.\u00a0 The number of out of state and out of country students is up this year.\u00a0 As of the day I am writing this article we have students coming to UMPI from Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":96,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7381],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4417","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archives","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4417","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/96"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4417"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4417\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8963,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4417\/revisions\/8963"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4417"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4417"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4417"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}