UMPI President Schott Leaving for Oregon

University of Maine System Chancellor James H. Page has announced that University of Maine at Presque Isle President Linda Schott has accepted an offer to serve as the president of Southern Oregon University.

President Schott, who began her service in UMPI in 2012, was selected from a highly qualified field of 77 candidates who responded to SOU’s national search for a new leader.
President Schott provided transformational leadership at the University of Maine at Presque Isle, establishing the northern Maine campus as a national leader in personalized education.  The New England Board of Higher Education recognized UMPI’s achievements in personalized education with its 2016 Maine State Merit Award.
President Schott and her team at UMPI have expanded the capacity of the university to serve the region and its students through the development of innovative early college offerings at the Maine School of Science and Mathematics in Limestone and with area secondary schools.  UMPI has also established new opportunities for students to interact with employers, successfully secured reaccreditation from the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, and increased year-over-year enrollment and retention rates.

“While we will miss Linda as a colleague and leader, she leaves in place an award-winning strategic mission and a leadership team with a greater capacity to serve our students, the region, and our statewide needs.  We thank Linda for service to UMPI, her students and the state, and we wish her and Tom the very best in the future,” said Chancellor Page.

President Schott explained “I am grateful to my university colleagues here in Presque Isle and across Maine for the chance I have had to serve our students and the Aroostook County Region.  I am proud to have served with the incredibly talented and dedicated team of educators we have at UMPI and know that our personalized education model positions the university to deliver statewide public higher education value and leadership,” .

President Schott will assume the presidency at Southern Oregon University before the start of the 2016-2017 academic year. The Chancellor anticipates naming an interim president for UMPI before President Schott concludes her service in Presque Isle.