“I am pleased to be a new member of the Board of the Chamber of Commerce, an organization for which I have tremendous respect”, says Dean Gibson. “The Chamber offers many opportunities for the development of USM LAC as a stronger community partner, and new ways for the University to serve other organizations.”

Prior to coming to USM, Dr. Gibson served as Associate Professor at the Graduate School of Education at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell. She holds a Ph.D. in Educational Administration from the University of Florida, Gainsville and an MA in Rehabilitation Counseling from George Washington University. She has served as Associate Vice Chancellor of Academic Services at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell and was responsible for service development for students, staff and faculty, as well as developing strategic plans for improved efficiency and effectiveness. She has extensive experience in retention programs and conflict management and has taught courses in leadership, organizational change, and managing diversity.

Dr. Joyce Gibson, Dean of the University of Southern Maine’s Lewiston-Auburn College.

Occupational Therapy has been identified as one of the health professions that is “recession proof”, and was identified to have the highest wage increase percentage (6%) of all of the “hot jobs” outlined in the latest Forbe’s report. USM’s Master of Occupational Therapy (MOT) program on the Lewiston campus is the only public post-baccalaureate program in the state of Maine. The program enjoys a national and international reputation for excellence, and has recently been described as “stellar, and one of the best in the world” by international OT scholar, Dr. Michael Iwama, who has visited and worked with OT programs on five continents.

For more information about the Master’s in Occupational Therapy program at USM’s Lewiston-Auburn College, please visit their website at www.usm.maine.edu/lac/ot or call 207-753-6523 for more information.

Students from the Master’s in Occupational Therapy program at USM’s Lewiston-Auburn College practice hand-splinting techniques in the newly expanded OT lab. Left to right are Marion Russell of Portland, Amanda Bryant of Lewiston and Amber Levesque of Gray.

The University of Southern Maine’s Lewiston-Auburn College will be holding an Ulster Scots heritage event. The campus is located at 51 Westminster Street in Lewiston. The event’s special guest will be BBC Radio Ulster’s Alister McReynolds.

The day’s events will include live music with performances by Castlebay, Maine Premier Celtic Music Duo including a presentation of Scots-Irish musical roots in Maine by Member Julia Lane, lectures by Alister McReynold’s from BBC Radio Ulster’s “A Kist o Wurds”, Author and Maine St. Andrew’s Society Ulster Scots Project Chairman, John Mann, and a panel discussion of the exciting collaborative archaeology project on the Kennebec River featuring guest speakers and USM Professor and archaeologist Barry Rodrigue, Archaeologists Pam Crane and Peter Morrison, Principal of Robbins Historical Research Jay Robbins, and Humanities Student Rebecca Graham. Coffee social hour and Pot Luck lunch will provide opportunities to meet the authors and presenters.

Alister McReynolds has written extensively on Scots-Irish history and culture, and in particular about the achievements of the diaspora in the United States. His book, Legacy on the subject of Scots-Irish achievement in America, was published in June 2009. He has lectured at many venues across the United States, including at The Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C. His articles have been published in numerous journals including, The Ulster Scotsman and The Pine Tree Highlander as well as in The Belfast Telegraph and The Newsletter. He is a regular contributor to various media projects including the weekly programs on BBC Radio Ulster.

More program information is available on the University’s event web page at usm.maine.edu/lac/events. For more information about the event please Rebecca Graham at 207-837-9830 or email rebecca.graham@maine.edu

Pre-registration information is available at http://www.usm.maine.edu/lac/schedules/ . Please note that you will need to obtain your pin number from your advisor before enrolling online.

The Student Success Center can assist you with any questions you may have, if you have trouble locating your credits, or if you need help learning how to register on MaineStreet. Please call 753-6500 for more information.

Miss Michaud retired after many years of news writing, first for the Lewiston Evening Journal and subsequently for the Portland Press Herald. The first Franco-American woman to write for both newspapers, she specialized in covering events dealing with personal and general activities of Franco-Americans during most of her career.

Letters from such notable personalities as from Rudy Vallee (who was performing in New York City) and Miss Gabrielle M. Roy, a Franco-American author, attest to Miss Michaud’s far-reaching influence and connections.

The University of Southern Maine’s Franco-American collection is the largest repository of Franco-American archival material in the State of Maine. The Collection’s holdings cover local history, government, religion, language, education, industry, sports and the arts. The mission of the Collection is to develop and promote interest in and study of Franco-American culture and history on the part of the University community, academic community, and the community at large. The Collection focuses on Lewiston-Auburn and other areas of Maine, with additional regional materials providing a link to the wider contexts of French North America. The Collection is located on USM’s Lewiston-Auburn campus, 51 Westminster St. in Lewiston. Hours of operation and more information are available online at www.usm.maine.edu/lac/franco/ or by calling 753-6545.

Pictured here viewing some of Charlotte Michaud’s papers USM’s Franco-American Collection are, left to right, Collin Johnson, USM LAC Professor Barry Rodrigue, and JoAnne Lapointe-Johnson.