University of Maine at Fort Kent Has a New President

FORT KENT, Maine -  University of Maine System Chancellor James H. Page announced today that Dr. John N. Short is the new President of the University of Maine at Fort Kent.
Dr. Short’s successful career in public higher education spans nearly forty years with experience as both a faculty member and an administrator. His most recent post has been serving as the CEO and Dean of the University of Wisconsin-Fond du Lac where he oversaw operations and academics at the freshman-sophomore level liberal arts transfer institution serving approximately 700 students within the University of Wisconsin System.

In addition to maintaining a critical gateway to university programming throughout the statewide system while at Wisconsin-Fond du Lac, Dr. Short helped establish a thriving high school concurrent enrollment program that recently included over 190 Fond du Lac high school students taking college credit classes while still in high school.

Dr. Short was selected as a finalist for the presidency following an extensive national search process that resulted in an applicant pool of forty-five candidates and campus visits last December when students, staff, faculty and community members engaged in discussions with four presidential finalists that significantly shaped the outcome of the selection process.

Dr. Short will begin work on April 1, 2016. In addition to serving as the President of UMFK he will join the leadership team of the University of Maine System as a valued partner in the work to establish One University for all of Maine. The One University effort is a pioneering initiative that seeks to ensure that all Maine’s public university resources can be brought to bear in support of every Maine student, business and community.

“The Early College work we are doing at UMFK provides hundreds of students in more than eighty high schools across Maine with a chance to experience the rigors and expectations of higher education while still working toward their high school diplomas,” said Norman Fournier, Chair of the UMFK Presidential Search Committee and a Member of the University of Maine System Board of Trustees. “Dr. Short understands and embraces this incredibly important work. It is a privilege on behalf of the Board of Trustees to welcome our new president to UMFK and assure him that Maine’s Rural University has the momentum, tools, and the team to do even more.”

“Dr. Short’s success in expanding access through early college initiatives, his experience teaching in and growing community-focused programs at rural institutions, as well as his entrepreneurial approach to civic engagement and multi-campus collaboration were accomplishments and characteristics that distinguished John’s candidacy among a large and highly qualified field of aspirants for the UMFK presidency,” said Chancellor James Page. “In a context of change and opportunity we welcome President John Short as the new leader of the University of Maine at Fort Kent knowing we have accomplished much but have more to achieve under his leadership.”

“I want to thank Chancellor Page, members of the search committee, the Board of Trustees, and all of the faculty, staff, students and community members who interacted with me during my visits to Maine and the Fort Kent campus,” said incoming UMFK President Dr. John Short. “I appreciate their confidence in me and I am honored at being appointed as the next President at the University of Maine at Fort Kent.” He added, “My wife, Caryn Cleveland-Short, and I are delighted at being able to join the Fort Kent community in the near future.”

“I am particularly excited about working with UMFK to build upon and expand the Early College program that has already served the citizens of Maine so well,” continued Dr. Short. “In my prior experience I led efforts that established and increased the number of local high school students who were able to graduate with transferable university credits, benefiting students, families, school districts, and taxpayers. Early college programs lower the cost and time required to complete a college degree, and they help to increase the number of college-educated citizens in the state.”

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