The art of education

As the construction team pulled back old wooden panels during much-needed renovations of the Academy Building at the Gorham campus of the University of Southern Maine (USM) in 2024, they came across a treasure trove of student communication from the 1800s. There were sheets of scrap paper covered with caricatures of teachers and notes with suggestions of what to do after class, scrawled to friends.

It might be a reminder that, even if today’s students communicate with their phones more than their pens, they still have the same kind of interests and habits.

But it’s the building itself that speaks most to University of Southern Maine President Jacqueline Edmondson, because its very construction attests to the importance of education. The first school in Gorham, it was built on land gifted to the community when it raised enough money to build a school there.

“It’s because the community cared enough about education that they raised the funds for it,” she tells The CEO Magazine.

Edmondson says she often thinks about this founding story and reflects that she hopes that the community would do the same thing today.

“If the university wasn’t there, I hope they would still raise funds to build one because education is so important,” she says.

As a first-generation college student, she understands the impact that higher education has had on her life. “It has opened doors for me that I wouldn’t have had otherwise,” she explains.

And this is why she made a career out of it. “I wanted to be part of that story for other people who go into higher education,” she adds.

Passionate about education

After over two decades at Penn State University, including the last five as the Chancellor and Chief Academic Officer at the Greater Allegheny campus, Edmondson joined USM as its 18th President in 2022. She admits that, during that last year, she knew she was ready to find something different.

“I’m a student of higher education,” she says. “I love to study different universities and the ways they’re organized. The University of Maine system is differently organized than the Penn State system, so it was an opportunity to join a different kind of university to think about education in different ways.”

It was also an interesting time to join the University of Southern Maine.

Founded in 1878, USM offers undergraduate, graduate and professional programs to over 7,000 students across three campus locations: Gorham, Portland and Lewiston, as well as an online school. The latter two are unique.

“Portland and Lewiston are the largest, most diverse and fastest-growing cities in the state,” she explains.

“When I came here three years ago, what is known as the Portland Campus Transformation was already underway.”

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“Partnering with USM has been a great experience. It gives us the freedom to be creative and really focus on what’s best for the students. The communication between Sodexo, the university and the community is strong, and it’s clear that everyone’s working together to make campus life as student-centered as possible.” – Adam Vigue, Resident District Manager, Sodexo

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A new student center, the McGoldrick Center for Career and Student Success, a 580-bed residence hall, the Portland Commons Residence Hall and a new quadrangle are among the key transformations and have recently been completed, working with the likes of key partners like Soxedo Campus to provide food and dining services.

One of Edmondson’s first roles was to get approval from the board of trustees to build a new center for the arts on the campus.

“That resonated so much with me, as I have such an affinity toward the arts,” she says.

In late 2025, the Crewe Center for the Arts will open, a 3,995-square-meter facility that will be the new home of the university’s highly respected Dr. Alfred and D. Suzi Osher School of Music.

“Our students will have new and different opportunities here,” she says.

As part of it, the school has just been approved to become an all-Steinway school, which means that over 90 percent of its pianos will be Steinways.

“That’s a huge reputation boost for us,” she says.

While the university has a track record in preparing students for professional fields such as education, business and nursing, arts and humanities are, she says, an enormous focus because of the role they play in this foundation building.

“My goal is to ensure that every student has a meaningful experience with the arts and humanities because that will make them better teachers, better engineers, better business people and better nurses,” she says.

Bright spots

Like Edmondson herself, a large percentage of USM’s students are the first in their families to go to college. This means that they might not have the family or neighborhood networks that others have to help find jobs once they graduate.

As such, the university’s career hub is extremely important, as is the social networking it does to help its students secure employment.

“Our goal is to make sure that, if you’re graduating with a degree in social work or criminology, you get that first job in the field that you’ve chosen to pursue,” she says. “Our staff works hard to do that, and I’m proud of the work we’re doing there.”

Among the initiatives are shadowing programs and internships, as well as an employer advisory board that ensures the work the university is doing aligns with business and industry needs in the area. It’s an essential conversation, considering that around 80 percent of its students stay in the region upon graduation.

With overall enrollments on the up (Edmondson says her goal is to get to 10,000 students) and new construction across campus, there’s a buzz in the air at USM.

“We’re seeing growth in our visual arts programs, and our student retention rate is the highest it’s been in over a decade,” she says. “We have some really bright spots as we look to the future.”