In 1985, the Maine legislature approved L.D. 2174 an Act to Establish

the Maine Vocational -Technical Institute System (MRSA, Chapter 431,

Maine Vocational-Technical Institute System, enacted by Laws 1985,

six institutions, once governed by the State Board of Education, into

one organization under a central office structure governed by a board of

On June 22, 1989, the Maine legislature passed An Act to Enhance the

Status of Vocational -Technical Education in Maine (MRSA, Chapter 443,

ss2). This act changed the name of the Vocational-Technical Institute

System to the Maine Technical College System (MTCS) with similar changes

the foundation for MTCS policy section 200 Governance and Organization.

The original responsibilities and mission remained the same. The

current system consists of the board of trustees, a system office and

The basic mission of the Maine Technical College System is to provide

associate degree, diploma and certificate programs directed at the

educational, occupational and technical needs of the State?s citizens

post-secondary vocational-technical education and the Maine Technical

College System are to create an educated, skilled and adaptable labor

force, which is responsive to the changing needs of the economy of the

State and to promote local, regional, and statewide economic

development. A listing of specific tasks of the technical college

system is included in the legislation (workroom document).

The board of trustees consists of 13 voting members, one ex officio

include 12 members from the field of business and industry, the field of

labor, the field of education, the general public and one member who is

from the student body of one of the technical college campuses at the

officio member and the commissioners of economic and community

development and labor are non-voting ex officio members. From among the

appointed members, the board elects a chair and vice chair to annual

terms of office, and the chair appoints all committee members. The

president of the MTCS serves as secretary of the board of trustees.

Board members are appointed by the governor to four-year terms of

office, with the exception of the student member who is appointed to a

two-year term, subject to review by the joint standing committee of the

legislature having jurisdiction over education and to confirmation by

person who holds elected state office may serve on the board of

process, consideration is given to member field of expertise, statewide

to assure that the public interest is represented in the membership of

The board is the legally constituted body responsible, through the

exercise of the powers and performance of the duties set forth by the

law, for the establishment, control, and administration of the statewide

meets at least six times each year and at the call of the chairman or at

organization of the board are delineated in the MTCS Policy Section 201

and Section 11.20A MRSA c.431 ? par. 12705 ?Board of Trustees? and par.

committee, the educational policy committee, and the finance and

trustees, one of whom is chair; two college representatives ? one

administrator, one instructor; and two others from among the following:

college advisory council, student senate, public at large.   

Various ad hoc committees are established and frequently composed of

representatives from the board of trustees, the MTCS office, and

agreements also serve as important channels of communication as

representation typically includes MTCS staff representing the board of

trustees and representatives of employees served by the agreement.

Regular communication among appropriate constituencies also occurs

through the publication and distribution of minutes of Board meetings,

committee meetings, advisory council meetings, and management team

meetings. At the beginning of each board of trustees meeting, there is

an opportunity for employees and/or citizens to address the board.

Typically, the regular meetings of the board are held on the college

The board of trustees? commitment to learning and scholarship is evident

activities was the creation of a 14-member ad hoc commission in January

1994 to identify and define the skills that best represent the critical

complementary skills necessary for success in the workplace of the

1990s. The Skills Commission for the 21st Century, with input from a

35-member select advisory committee, prepared a report that would serve

as a blueprint to guide the curricula development and validation

process. It provides the foundation to determine if graduates have

achieved the skills necessary for successful personal and professional

lives. The board continues to review and monitor the implementation and

integration of the identified skill sets at each college.   As described

in the Standard Two section, board policy establishes an annual program

review process designed to assure that all academic program offerings

There are no other boards with vested authority for governing the

institution. The Maine Technical College System board of trustees?

powers and duties are described in Section 200 of the MTCS Policy Manual

The board appoints the president of the system who serves at its

pleasure. The system president implements the policies of the board,

reports directly to the board through the board chairperson, and is

responsible for the operation of the system. The president of the system

meets regularly, typically monthly, with the presidents council, made up

Policy originating with the board is forwarded to the presidents council

level, the college president submits it to the system president for

and if approved, submits it to the presidents council for review and

approval. The presidents council or its designated subcommittee

reviews, and if approved, then presents it to the full board for review

and adoption.   Colleges may adopt specific policies, which are not in

conflict with board policies or MTCS operational guidelines. The

policies, including contracts negotiated with each bargaining unit, the

MTCS Strategic Plan as approved/adopted by the MTCS board of trustees,

and procedures approved/adopted by the presidents council and approved

by the system president are distributed to each college. These

documents clearly delineate the authority, responsibility and

relationships among the governing board, administration, staff and faculty.

Under the direction of the system president, the system office provides

leadership in developing policies, setting goals and objectives with

recommendation of presidential nominees to the board of trustees and the

oversight of college presidents; the selection and evaluation of the

system office staff and of the college presidents; the allocation of

special revenues; budget preparation; maintenance of an accounting

system and procedures which reflect and identify all appropriations,

allocations, revenue and expenditures of each college and the system

office. In cooperation with the presidents council, it provides

leadership in long-range planning and research; promotion of

inter-college cooperation and coordination; promotion of interagency

cooperation and communication; coordination with the public sector;

coordination with the private sector; and the liaison with the legislature.

The academic affairs council, consisting of the vice presidents/academic

deans from each college, provides leadership in reviewing, assessing and

recommending policies and actions which ensure the academic integrity of

promoting and maintaining quality academic standards; facilitating

communication among the college faculties with regard to instructional

issues; cultivating excellence in the teaching/learning process;

promoting opportunities for the professional development of faculty;

maintaining an accurate inventory of MTCS catalog programs; reviewing

and recommending action on proposals for new catalog programs; reviewing

and recommending action on proposals for program discontinuance or

suspension; representing the system on matters relating to the Regional

Student Program of the New England Board of Higher Education; and

reviewing and acting on academic issues and other matters referred by

The directors of finance from each college meet regularly as do the

deans of students, the deans of continuing education, and the public

The organizational design and governance structure are supported and

strengthened by the vision, mission and guiding principles described in

and focuses the energies of the system on shared priorities.

At the system level, public awareness polls have been conducted annually

to determine how the citizens of the state of Maine feel about the MTCS,

MTCS enjoys recognition and esteem with the people of Maine and with the

state legislature at both the system and the college level. As a result

of those polls, the MTCS has continued a statewide awareness campaign to

further build statewide awareness of the system and the colleges.

In 1994 the board of trustees directed system personnel to develop and

initiate a system wide benchmarking effort to research best practices,

establish goals, and measure progress in a number of areas.   One major

objective is to increase employee participation in professional

resource allocation to support professional development activities and

Each of the seven colleges in the system has a president who has been

nominated by the MTCS president and appointed by the board of trustees.

Timothy Crowley is the current president of Northern Maine Technical

The college president implements the policies of the board of trustees

and is responsible for the day-to-day operation of the college. Powers

and duties identified for the college president include the following:

administration of the college, ensuring educational quality, appointment

of staff, staff oversight, preparation and administration of the budget,

appointment of police officers, appointment of advisory committees, and

other duties as delegated by the board. These duties are identified in

the MTCS policy on Governance and Organization, section 203 (workroom

Organizational charts in the workroom delineate the division of

responsibility and authority between the system office and the college

and clarify the relationships that exist within this structure. The

organizational chart on pages 7 - 8 delineates the relationships that

within the policies set by the MTCS board of trustees, he has the

authority and autonomy necessary to manage the college and to formulate

and implement policies that are compatible with the board?s intentions.

The president consults regularly with the NMTC director of finance on

issues relating to financial policy and the allocation of resources at

with department chairs, faculty, other administrators, staff and

students, the president involves appropriate constituencies at all

levels of the institution in policy-making decisions and in management

The NMTC Faculty and Staff Handbook contains the college's and MTCS

policies and procedures that regulate the operations of NMTC. All MTCS

policies and procedures clearly delineate the division of responsibility

All academic programs, including off-campus, continuing education,

evening and weekend programs, are incorporated into the governance

vice-president/academic dean and is charged with administering system

and college procedures in accordance with established policies. 

Within the system of governance, the faculty is involved and/or

bargaining agreement with faculty (a workroom document), once ratified

by the parties, becomes MTCS policy and further delineates faculty and

for staff and professional/technical employees (administrators) with the

exception of confidential employees (senior management and the

guide all aspects of organization and management including the employee

with the parameters established in the bargaining agreements.

Beyond these agreements, faculty, staff and administrators are

encouraged to annually select one or more standing committees on which

to serve. As special needs arise, ad hoc committees are formed and

staffed via an invitation to specific individuals to serve on the ad hoc

committee. These committees are very important and provide members of

the college community an opportunity to formulate and recommend policies

cross-departmental representation from the faculty as well as other

and access; campus operations; computer utilization; curriculum;

discipline; facilities; financial aid and scholarship awards;

graduation; health and safety; learning resources; professional

development; strategic communications; strategic planning; and student

satisfaction. All standing committees are vitally important in assuring

the president that proposed policy revisions, additions or deletions

have been thoroughly discussed prior to coming to the president for

delineated in Section # 6730 of the Faculty and Staff Handbook (workroom

document). Other committees or councils that are described in this

section include the management team, the general advisory council, and

student senate that serves to advise college administration regarding

organize a faculty senate in the late 1990s failed due to insufficient

Through participation in the various committees and representation on

bargaining units, faculty, as well as other employees, have a

substantive voice in matters of educational programs, faculty personnel,

committees is based on the employee?s expressed preference and,

generally, the employee?s preference and their expertise and position

Many actions, particularly program/course development and revisions,

case with the AA in liberal studies at the campus level, the appropriate

at the department and program advisory level, the curriculum committee

then considers the proposal and recommends action to the vice president

participation of faculty in the formulation and implementation of

educational programs and encourages active involvement in decision-making.

Similarly, students are encouraged to become members of the various

frequently asked to suggest representatives to committees. At the

system level, there is a student representative position on the MTCS

board of trustees and the educational policy committee. 

At the local level, community involvement is fostered through membership

on the NMTC general advisory counsel and various occupational program

guidance and support to the college and effectively brings the community

represents a diverse cross section of business, industry, education and

advisory council and a current membership list are available in the

To further solidify the community connection, each program at the

college has a program specific advisory committee with representation

advisory committees provide current course and program specific guidance

to faculty and establish a vital link between the college and the

frequently the impetus for curriculum change and is required prior to

review by the curriculum committee, approval and implementation at the

While several avenues exist to encourage and ensure broad external input

into college operations, there are additional mechanisms in place to

elicit on-going review and evaluation from within the college

community. An annual Personal Assessment of College Environment (PACE)

instrument is administered to assess the perceptions of staff and

perceptions of personnel concerning the college climate and to provide

more open and constructive communication among faculty, staff, and

system and presented at employee meetings to encourage discussion and

feedback. Results are compared at the college level with previous

Given the over-all economic conditions in Maine, the current

organizational and governance structure support the stated mission and

purposes and allow the day-to-day operation of the system and the

colleges to proceed well. The board of trustees continually seeks ways

to enhance the effectiveness of the services and programming provided.

The system?s strategic plan directs the system in achieving its mission

and establishes an environment that is conducive to effective and

trustees has emphasized a number of objectives in the strategic plan

that focus efforts and resources on fostering and supporting a positive

work environment in support of employees as well as students. The

guiding principles in the strategic plan specifically address the

commitment to creating and sustaining an environment that encourages

The board of trustees has demonstrated strong support for the MTCS and

for the leadership that the MTCS president displays. The rapport with

the state legislature, evident at the system level, is a major factor in

the support that the MTCS receives from the legislature as well as from

the citizens of Maine. Two legislative committees were formed during the

past decade to look at the capacity of the post-secondary education

system in Maine. A capital improvement bond referendum was proposed and

supported by the voters in 1989 and again in 1999, and a training

Other examples of resource requests funded include: $750,000 for

re-skilling citizens due to corporate downsizing in FY94 and FY99 and

$2.5 million in FY00 and FY01 to increase enrollment in colleges of the

system, and funding of negotiated employee payroll increases within

guidelines. The legislature recognizes the contribution that the MTCS

makes to the economy of Maine and has committed funding to maintain and

encourages and supports the goals of the system and the individual

colleges. The MTCS leadership has established a prevailing positive

for resources is great and the system leadership continues to make the

case for support for necessary resources to the legislature and to the

The success of the system of governance is best measured in terms of the

accomplishments of the MTCS and the individual colleges. The MTCS

Guiding Principles originally set forth visionary goals for the system.

Substantial progress has been made in addressing these goals as shown in

Appendix G.   Further, the MTCS Strategic Plan establishes a formal and

periodic system for evaluation of the effectiveness of the system. The

benchmarks defined in the plan were established with input from

committees having system-wide representation and serve to guide the

The organizational structure for the system has been effective and is a

model that enables the system administration to function as outlined in

relationships among the various levels of governance and administration

are clearly described in official documents and are generally understood

available to encourage and support participation of all appropriate

constituencies in the governance of the system and participation is

Employee surveys (PACE) in the past have indicated that faculty and

staff at the college are not fully aware of the role of the system

office. Efforts have been and continue to be underway to improve that

awareness. The system president visits the colleges periodically, the

board of trustees rotates its meetings among the colleges, and a

periodic newsletter from the system office is distributed to faculty and

Distinguished Lecture Series and the Campus to Campus Networking program

are other examples of efforts to improve awareness of and participation

For the college, the organizational structure is along traditional

lines. The college president and/or senior management assess its

effectiveness and adjust as needed to most effectively fulfill the

policies and procedures, and benchmarks at the system level are

reflected in and/or translated to similarly well-defined goals and

The traditional organization of the college is clearly defined and

relationships between and among the various departments and/or divisions

are clear. The traditional support functions are in place and efforts

are on going to maintain integrated, seamless services. The off-campus

activities, continuing education, evening and weekend programs, and

non-credit activities are all fully integrated into the college

organization.   A perceived lack of academic consistency and control of

off-campus programs in the past has been remedied through solid

the appraisal system for adjunct faculty, remains to be formalized.

Student feedback is the primary mechanism for adjunct faculty evaluation

and a formal appraisal process is being developed (see Standard Five:

Operational activities within the college in the past have been rooted

has hampered, to some extent, maximum participation as the college

considering transitions in which additions to or changes in work

both the system and the college level to move these to a higher

to work to employ the interest-based approach in addressing

level, professional development is occurring and committees are engaged

At the college level, the committee structure provides an opportunity

for faculty, staff and students to initiate and/or influence policy and

procedure development. The committee structure is well utilized,

participation in committees is high, and representation from most

cross-departmental representation, and in light of the voluntary nature

of committee service, committee membership tends to be the same year

membership rotation needs to be encouraged to some extent. Community

interest and input is assured through the general advisory council and

participation on some committees is less than satisfactory and efforts

are underway to ensure more active involvement from members of the

particularly honor societies, at the college are becoming increasingly

active and staff and faculty work closely with them as advisors and mentors.

Some committees need encouragement to be more active in addressing

contemporary issues and in recognizing the potential strength of their

committees and that perception creates a resultant hesitancy to be

perception and recognized concerns about the flow of communication

a formal, respected role in the decision-making process. Individual

constituencies need reassurance that their input and recommendations are

requires continuing attention and the college should specifically

address the strengthening of formal committee reporting mechanisms. The

responsibility of committee members to represent the views of their

constituencies needs to be emphasized and two-way communication to

provide input to committees and feedback to constituencies needs to be

existing committee reporting expectations and end-of-year committee

recommendations are not always reported to the president.   Committee

chairs should be encouraged to provide the president with periodic

updates of committee activities and to file a formal, written report of

committee recommendations and/or accomplishments at the end of the

year. Accordingly, all administrators/supervisors should be equally

attentive to the need to provide timely, complete, and formal feedback

to committee members outlining what actions are taken as a result of

The current philosophical approach to the organizational and governance

process is expected to continue in the foreseeable future at the system

and management will continue to be emphasized at both levels.   As NMTC

looks forward to continued growth and change, this approach will be

vital to successful development and implementation of new programs and

Efforts will continue for the foreseeable future at both the system and

college level to increase employee understanding of the function and

operation of the system as measured by the PACE survey. It is

envisioned that additional assessment activities will occur at the

system level in such areas as the outcomes of the liberal studies

program as it matures, ?soft skills? for the 21st century and strategic

such assessments will be used to guide enhancement adjustments and help

The college committee structure provides for representation and/or input

remain unless its effectiveness diminishes significantly.   Efforts are

underway and will continue to improve the flow of communication,

especially between committees and their constituencies, and between

committees and the president, to encourage a more proactive role for

committees.   Adjustments in reporting mechanisms and response processes

will be made to enhance the formal communication and to reassure

committee members that their collective voice is heard. The college

plans to continue the process of community involvement and feedback

through the general advisory council and the various occupational

The MTCS and NMTC policies and procedures are judged to be effective and

are reviewed and revised as necessary to clarify or to increase

such items as enhanced health and safety concerns, MTCS policy

revised policies and procedures will be made available to all