ORONO, Maine — Susan Hunter will have a hard time staying away from the University of Maine, but she shouldn’t miss her desk. She didn’t spend too much behind it, anyhow.
On a typical day, it’s unlikely you’d run into the university’s president in her Alumni Hall office without an appointment. Most of her time has been spent bouncing around campus, meeting with the provost, deans, foundation staff, faculty and students.
“The job just isn’t done behind that desk. It’s done out there,” Hunter said, pointing out her office window during a recent interview.
In the evenings after 5 p.m., as other campus offices started to empty, you might see her walk into Alumni Hall to spend a few hours working in the glow of a computer screen or ironing out plans for the next day’s meetings. Her office mates regularly joke about chastising their boss for coming in on “days off.”
“The calendar is challenging. Almost relentless,” Hunter said. “I love it.”
30-year climb
During an interview three weeks before her last day on the job, empty cardboard moving boxes lined one wall of Hunter’s office, waiting to be filled with the final few photographs, books and decorations as she clears out. July 1, she’ll be a retiree.
In Hunter’s 30-year career, she ascended from adjunct faculty to the presidency of Maine’s largest university.
Hunter moved to Maine in 1986 after her husband, David Lambert, a now-retired plant pathologist, joined UMaine’s faculty. Soon after arriving, Hunter, a cell biologist, was hired as a part-time zoology instructor. Four years later, she received a tenure-track appointment.
By 2003, she was department chair. Two years after that, she became the campus’ associate provost and undergraduate dean, then she moved up to provost in 2008.
In 2013, University of Maine System Chancellor James Page needed a vice chancellor for academic affairs. He turned to Hunter, who needed some convincing to leave her post in Orono for the system office, which was then in downtown Bangor.
“Actually, I didn’t want to leave campus at all,” Hunter said during a recent interview. “I’d been provost for five years and if this is something the chancellor and board thought would be beneficial, I was willing to do it.”
“The chancellor and I do joke about the fact that he took me to breakfast at Governor’s about 40 times to talk me into that job, because I really liked being on campus,” she added.
She thought that would be her last job before retirement. But less than a year later, then-UMaine President Paul Ferguson abruptly announced plans to resign and leave for a short-lived posting as president of Indiana’s Ball State University.
The university system appointed Hunter to the presidency, making her the first woman president in the 153-year-old flagship’s history. The “interim” in her title was eventually dropped, and she ultimately agreed to two separate extensions of her term.
Changes and challenges
During Hunter’s presidency, UMaine’s enrollment, measured in total credit hours, has been stable despite a steady decline in Mainers enrolling at the school. Since 2014, the number of in-state credit hours dropped from nearly 200,000 to 181,000. This would have meant significant loss of revenue, if not for out-of-state students. During that same stretch, out-of-state students went from taking 74,600 credit hours to nearly 102,000.
Maine’s demographic decline is going to be the university’s biggest challenge going forward, Hunter said. It will mean fewer students stepping through the doors of colleges and universities and fewer trained workers to fill high-demand jobs and industries in which the workforce is aging.
The competition for these students across New England is expected to ramp up as other states struggle with their own demographic shortcomings.
Hunter’s tenure as president also brought about significant changes in how the university raises money.
In the past, the university’s development office and the independent University of Maine Foundation separately sought donations for university projects. Some prospective donors received visits from both offices in the same month pitching ways to give or projects to support, according to Hunter.
Donors were sometimes confused about whether they should be giving money through the foundation or through campus development, despite the fact that the money would ultimately land in the same place.
“When donors tell you they don’t understand how to give you money, it’s time to light your hair on fire and fix it,” Hunter said.
The university moved all Maine’s fundraising and advancement functions to the foundation.
In the wake of that change, the university received its largest donation ever — a $10 million naming gift to support the construction of an engineering education and design center on campus.
UMaine has raised nearly $160 million toward its $200 million “Vision for Tomorrow” campaign, announced late last year.
Page, the university system’s chancellor, said Hunter was leaving UMaine in better shape than it has been in a “very, very long time.” He credited her for opening doors and strengthening relationships between the university and the communities it serves.
“That is something you cannot manufacture, that you cannot fake,” he said during a recent UMaine dinner recognizing Hunter before her retirement.
What’s next?
Hunter’s retirement will make way for Joan Ferrini-Mundy, the former chief operating officer of the National Science Foundation. She’ll serve as UMaine’s 21st president and also will lead the University of Maine at Machias. The university system announced her selection in April after a national search.
“She’ll do a wonderful job,” Hunter said, adding that they’ve met and discussed the transition.
Her advice to Ferrini-Mundy?
“You have to get out and explore the state. Go up Mount Katahdin, drive Down East, go to Fort Kent, go to Rangeley, get to know the people.” Hunter said. “This is a relationship job.”
What are Hunter’s plans after retirement? “Kayak with cup holders,” she answers.
But her latest assignment might limit her time on the water for now. She’ll be leading the University of Massachusetts at Amherst’s reaccreditation team, an unpaid volunteer professional posting through her work with the New England Association of Schools and Colleges. Last year, she chaired a similar reaccreditation effort for the University of Rhode Island.
“No good deed goes unpunished,” she quipped.
Hunter expects to stay active with other volunteer work, and may have some time to rebuild her golf game.
“I played much better golf years ago when I actually had time to play golf,” she said.
Hunter thinks it will be difficult for her to stay away from the campus that’s been a key part of her family’s life for three decades. She doesn’t think she’ll be a stranger.
“This isn’t easy,” Hunter said when asked whether she’d miss coming into work every day. “It’s just the right time.”
Follow Nick McCrea on Twitter at @nmccrea213.
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