Reflections on Higher Education in Maine (or, Bitter is Beautiful)
Dear Governor LePage, Maine Law Board of Directors, and others:
I recently had an interesting experience when dealing with the state University. Before I relate said experience, however, I would like to take just a moment to mention a couple of small things.
Throughout the recent gubernatorial race, and regularly in the political discourse, a main issue of focus has been on the educational system in the (sometimes) Great State of Maine. Tied in with the educational system, inexorably linked you might say, are the cousin issues of employment prospect and desirability. The recent census reveals Maine to be the oldest state in the nation. Older even than Florida, which is where all the old people go to die. Quite frankly, it is embarrassing.
Politicians argue that young people are leaving the state because they can't find work here -- and therefore our business climate must change. I have made the argument that it is not so much the lack of work here alone, but also the lack of desirability. No young person can afford to settle in Camden and no young person wants to settle in Skowvegas. In light of the recent event mentioned above, I have added a corollary hypothesis. The state, and its institutions, are broken. And they are forcing people away.
Now, the story, in two parts. Part I: Last Friday I was scheduled to have a tour of the Maine Law facilities at 2pm. I have applied to the law school there, and it should be a fairly reasonable choice: a reasonable program, in-state tuition, located in Portland, and unparalleled access to the Maine legal market. Naturally -- it is Maine after all -- there was a snow storm that day. I arrived at the law building and discovered that the USM campus was closed when I pulled on the front door and find it locked. I called the admissions office and then left a message when no one picked up the phone. I then busted out the browser and took a look at the school's website. Nothing on the Maine Law web. Finally, on the USM site, I see that the campus closed at 1:30.
No one called me on Friday to re-schedule. Or even to warn me not to bother driving to Portland. Presumably someone in the office received my voice mail on Monday morning. It is now Thursday and I have heard nothing still. I may be wrong to place so much faith in the competence of admission officers at the State Law School. But my taxes support the institution and I paid a fee for the honor of them reading my application for god's sake. And it was a scheduled tour, not just a drop-in. I expect, at the very least, a follow-up email or call. Perhaps even an apology for being a pain in my ass and completely unprofessional. I shudder to think about what to expect from the career services office should I actually choose to matriculate.
Part II. The law school apologizes that financial aid packages are not finalized yet. You see, they explain, one of the scholarship committee members has been gone on maternity leave. She will be back soon, and they expect to resume committee meetings sometime next week. One would think that, seeing as pregnancy tends to offer as many as 9 months notice, that Maine Law would have had time to figure out a more manageable solution than to just delay everything. Seat deposits are due soon. In fact, they are due before the school will make its financial aid offers. And in this economy, as with all economies, money is a rather large part of the equation. So that's weird: I have to make a commitment to attend Maine Law before I know how much it will cost. And here I thought it was called a school.
So there you have it. Only a team of deranged wild horses or a full-tuition scholarship plus stipend will find me at Maine Law this fall. And that's too bad -- it used to be a top choice. Young people are not leaving the state because there are no jobs. They are leaving because it's broken.
Yours in complete and utter disbelief,
Ican'tWaittoGetouttaHere
P.S. Governor LePage. Great idea to make BPA legal again in drinking containers. You're right, things just didn't taste the same without it.
I recently had an interesting experience when dealing with the state University. Before I relate said experience, however, I would like to take just a moment to mention a couple of small things.
Throughout the recent gubernatorial race, and regularly in the political discourse, a main issue of focus has been on the educational system in the (sometimes) Great State of Maine. Tied in with the educational system, inexorably linked you might say, are the cousin issues of employment prospect and desirability. The recent census reveals Maine to be the oldest state in the nation. Older even than Florida, which is where all the old people go to die. Quite frankly, it is embarrassing.
Politicians argue that young people are leaving the state because they can't find work here -- and therefore our business climate must change. I have made the argument that it is not so much the lack of work here alone, but also the lack of desirability. No young person can afford to settle in Camden and no young person wants to settle in Skowvegas. In light of the recent event mentioned above, I have added a corollary hypothesis. The state, and its institutions, are broken. And they are forcing people away.
Now, the story, in two parts. Part I: Last Friday I was scheduled to have a tour of the Maine Law facilities at 2pm. I have applied to the law school there, and it should be a fairly reasonable choice: a reasonable program, in-state tuition, located in Portland, and unparalleled access to the Maine legal market. Naturally -- it is Maine after all -- there was a snow storm that day. I arrived at the law building and discovered that the USM campus was closed when I pulled on the front door and find it locked. I called the admissions office and then left a message when no one picked up the phone. I then busted out the browser and took a look at the school's website. Nothing on the Maine Law web. Finally, on the USM site, I see that the campus closed at 1:30.
No one called me on Friday to re-schedule. Or even to warn me not to bother driving to Portland. Presumably someone in the office received my voice mail on Monday morning. It is now Thursday and I have heard nothing still. I may be wrong to place so much faith in the competence of admission officers at the State Law School. But my taxes support the institution and I paid a fee for the honor of them reading my application for god's sake. And it was a scheduled tour, not just a drop-in. I expect, at the very least, a follow-up email or call. Perhaps even an apology for being a pain in my ass and completely unprofessional. I shudder to think about what to expect from the career services office should I actually choose to matriculate.
Part II. The law school apologizes that financial aid packages are not finalized yet. You see, they explain, one of the scholarship committee members has been gone on maternity leave. She will be back soon, and they expect to resume committee meetings sometime next week. One would think that, seeing as pregnancy tends to offer as many as 9 months notice, that Maine Law would have had time to figure out a more manageable solution than to just delay everything. Seat deposits are due soon. In fact, they are due before the school will make its financial aid offers. And in this economy, as with all economies, money is a rather large part of the equation. So that's weird: I have to make a commitment to attend Maine Law before I know how much it will cost. And here I thought it was called a school.
So there you have it. Only a team of deranged wild horses or a full-tuition scholarship plus stipend will find me at Maine Law this fall. And that's too bad -- it used to be a top choice. Young people are not leaving the state because there are no jobs. They are leaving because it's broken.
Yours in complete and utter disbelief,
Ican'tWaittoGetouttaHere
P.S. Governor LePage. Great idea to make BPA legal again in drinking containers. You're right, things just didn't taste the same without it.
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