FARMINGTON – In a conversation between University of Maine Farmington’s President Edward Serna and Vice President Christine Wilson, the two realized they had been what Wilson termed “pandemic managers” longer than they had been simply President and Vice President of the University.
In the past nine months, the University has received both criticism and commemoration for their response to the pandemic, but in all of the work being done to assess problems and create a safe, fulfilling environment for staff and students, President Serna hadn’t taken a moment of reflection on their progress until this past week.
What President Serna has learned since recently taking the position in 2019 is to remain adaptable, rely on one another’s strengths as individuals and to embrace the community inherent in both the immediate town and the University. It’s this tightly knit nature that has proved an asset to the University’s approach to the pandemic.
“The community was the foundation of everything we were able to do this fall. Sometimes when you’re in a crisis, there’s this human reaction to take control of everything, and I think that this was so big that it couldn’t be controlled. Being new to Farmington, to see that community that you hear about in action, that was powerful to me,” said Serna.
President Serna paid tribute to Christine Wilson, who personally delivered meals to the students in quarantine and isolation, bringing the question of scale to the reflection of the University’s reaction to the pandemic. While larger universities may have more funding to assess the issues arisen by the pandemic, they sacrifice an intimate proximity to the students as well as a relative perspective on the scale of cases. When the first two asymptomatic cases were reported on UMF’s campus, it was devastating to staff and students, but such small numbers would have barely registered on larger campuses’ radars.
“With scale comes more resources…But even large universities are still struggling with this. It’s a big issue. The difference here is that we’re just closer to the ground. There aren’t five layers of management between us and the students. We were on the ground, rolling up our sleeves and involved,” said Serna.
Though the benefits to the community of the area were certainly felt in the past nine months, President Serna also faced some criticisms from students as well as community members throughout the summer regarding the incentives of the University.
“We had some of our own students who were really critical of the administration. And that was discouraging because everything we did was about helping our students,” said Serna.
The University received pushback from community members as well, due to anxiety and fear early on in the pandemic. Many differing opinions were voiced on the right way to navigate the process of bringing students back to Farmington for the Fall 2020 semester. According to Serna, as well as accounts of local government such as members of the selectboard, the community has now been nothing but complimentary about the University’s strides to maintain safety.
Eventually, community members and students alike came around and embraced the environment the University worked to create.
In the coming months, President Serna and the rest of UMF are looking forward. They have a new strategic plan launching at the end of the month which will be presented to the Board of Trustees in January.
“We know that spring is probably going to look like fall. But what’s exciting to me is next fall. I’m just excited to be back and engaging in ways that we maybe took for granted a little bit. I’m excited about the future of the university,” said Serna.
Even with such challenges faced as a new President in a pandemic, Serna maintained optimism and still attests that the past nine months haven’t changed his outlook on or his commitment to the position and Farmington.
“It’s a hard job, but it’s still the best job. You get a lot of the bad news, because the easy things are solved before they get to you. But this is temporary. We’ll be back to what Farmington is, it’s right around the corner.”
