ROCKLAND — Opportunities for higher education degrees have grown exponentially in Maine over the last 20 years, as distance learning technology has matured and and the public university system has concentrated more on collaboration, instead of competition.

It doesn’t matter whether one wants to be a nurse, teacher, game warden, historian or cyber crime specialist, options exist now to pursue courses without having to commute or relocate. The programs, from certificates to doctorates, are as diverse as the geography of the state itself. 

Most recently, the UMA Rockland Center (locally and affectionately known as URock)has cemented stronger ties to the state’s university mothership, meaning even more opportunities for students. 

The development results from a the new agreement that brings the Rockland branch of the university system more firmly under the wing of the University of Maine at Augusta.

This thrills Rockland Center Director Deb Meehan, who has worked tirelessly for more than a decade to evolve the Midcoast hub of higher education.

“We are eons ahead of where we were,” she said, July 25, sitting at a table with her colleague, Brenda McAleer, Dean of College at UMaine Augusta, and a business professor. 

The two were commenting on positive changes that have shaped Maine’s current university system, which comprises seven campuses (Augusta, Orono, Presque Isle, Machias, Farmington, Fort Kent, and Southern Maine), a law school, the eight centers, and a cooperative extension.

“We have more a culture of sharing resources,” said McAleer.

Meehan, McAleer and others were in Rockland along with Rebecca Wyke, president of the University of Maine at Augusta, to mark the new agreement.

That administrative move, done with the blessing the University of Maine system trustees, has UMA overseeing eight newly branded UMA Centers, one in Rockland, the others in Brunswick, Ellsworth, East Millinocket, Houlton, Rumford, Saco, and South Paris.

While the Centers have existed for years, they have been referred to as university colleges, a loose term that, in Maine, tied a more rural public higher learning facility to the University of Maine system, but without much clarity.

Now, the Centers have stricter definition, and are in line for expanded resources.

The difference between a campus and a center, said McAleer, lies in the extent of the resources. A campus has residence halls, libraries and physical fitness centers. Centers, like Rockland, have classrooms and offices, but are smaller. Their strength, however, lies in their distance learning network, and that is a major resource for a rural state like Maine.

UMA’s Rockland Center is the largest of them all, and it also has 500 students enrolled in various classes this fall. Meehan calls them “heads”, meaning students who are actually climbing the stairs or taking the elevator to the top of the Nautical Building for classes. Even more are signed up for distance learning.

The Breakwater Building on Route 1 north in Rockland, is near the intersection of Route 17. It is a convenient location for students, either who come off the ferry from the islands, or into Rockland from outlying towns.

Making it all even more accessible is the new Dash bus service, courtesy of Waldo County Community Partners, that runs between Thomaston and Rockland, and is itself envisioning expansion.

It is this growth the makes Meehan smile. She has been shepherding the development of the Rockland UMA Center since 2007, when its doors first opened in the old mill that overlooks Rockland Harbor.

Prior to 2007, the university college, as it was known then, was in Thomaston, in an old school building. Now it is a aerie of meeting rooms and classrooms, where conversations take place on sofas or in chairs around tables and blackboards.

According to Meehan, with the new UMA Rockland Center designation, course availability and academic supports for students will expand.

And, the identity of the academic center is more firmly outlined.

“So many people said. ‘what’s a university college,’” said Meehan.

With the Center continuing to occupy the top floor of the Breakwater Building, relationships with social and governmental services offices on the lower floors has created even sturdier networks with Maine’s Department of Health and Human Services, said Meehan.

“This building is magical in being a social service hub,” she said. “We have meetings in the building to talk about issues and funding.”

UMA Rockland Center, or URock, is considered a repository of academic excellence, with outstanding professors coming from a variety of backgrounds, like David Farmer, of Cushing, who holds an MFA in art history from Princeton, and teaches art appreciation history, as well as John Shattuck, of Newcastle, former Commissioner of the Deaf and who teaches the Foundations of Vocational Rehabilitation.

It is also a place, said Meehan, that opens its arms to anyone who has the enthusiasm and curiosity to learn, and wants to shape a future.

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