UMaine Calendar

Grant Writing Certificate Program
2025-05-16 09:00 - 12:00, 2025-05-09 09:00 - 12:00 (America/New_York) | Online
You have a lot on your plate. Between annual appeals, communications, virtual event planning and fundraising, you’re overwhelmed. And now you’ve been tasked with writing a grant and you don’t know where to start. Our online grant writing program can help!
This interactive online professional development program will teach you the basics of seeing a grant through a full cycle—from inception to completion. You’ll learn how to get your organization ready to apply for grants, where to find funders and funding opportunities, how to write the components of a grant and how to submit a successful application that has all the information funders want to see.
Using case studies, this program will focus on real-world grant applications. Comprehensive checklists and worksheets will guide you through every step of planning, researching, applying to and managing a grant—without missing a thing! You’ll also develop language specific to your organization that answers common grant questions.
The only thing you won’t learn in this program is how to celebrate securing a grant proposal. We figure you’ve got that one covered.

Summer University
2025-05-16, 2025-05-15, 2025-05-14, 2025-05-13, 2025-05-12
Click here to view the full 2024–25 Academic Year Calendar.

Final grades due
2025-05-16

SAT Prep Matters
2025-05-15 18:00 - 19:30, 2025-05-08 18:00 - 19:30 | Online
Program Description
Online SAT Prep Matters and SAT Boot Camp are new courses designed by Dr Mary Smyth, a long-time SAT coach in the Midcoast. College-bound high school juniors who plan to take the SAT test will benefit from learning about the new format and updated content of the new SAT.
“I am actually a fan of the new SAT,” says Dr. Smyth. She explained the test is shorter (2 hours 15 minutes total) and questions are individualized to each student. The digital approach allows the test to “react” to the student’s prior answers and change the difficulty level. The reading passages are shorter and there is a combined section with both reading and grammar questions included. The test also has a visible built-in timer and a calculator and graphing program available for all the math questions.
The new test will require a whole new approach to studying and practicing. While there are free resources available on Khan Academy, most students will need guidance in understanding how to approach the test. For instance, students can attempt a math problem by using any of several techniques: graph the problem, write out the algebra steps, or try the answers to see which one fits. Knowing how to navigate between those options will give students more strategies and can increase their scores.
“With this new SAT format, I am amazed how much teaching I can do to help students solidify knowledge they have been exposed to in high school, “ says Smyth. “Students have to be able to use what they have learned to solve problems. That is the name of the game in the SAT.”
Dr. Mary Smyth’s SAT Boot Camp has been used successfully to prepare students to take the SAT for many years. Students attend class every day during a school vacation week and practice taking short sections of the test. Students are relaxed and well-rested, so they are able to absorb the lessons and practice at their best.
Dates and Times
February Boot Camp – PROGRAM FULL, REGISTRATION CLOSED
Feb. 18, 19, 20, and 21, 2025
5-6:30 p.m. ET
SAT Prep Matters
Thursdays May 8, 15, 22, and 29 and June 5, 2025 – Registration opens Feb. 1
6–7:30 p.m. ET
Modality
This dynamic program will be offered synchronously via Zoom—you’ll need access to a stable internet connection. There will be assignments between classes.
Program Benefits
Using lessons that she writes herself, Smyth has helped many students through their own hard work improve their SAT scores by 100-200 points.
Who Should Enroll
College-bound high school juniors who plan to take the SAT test.
Instructor
Dr. Mary Smyth

Education:
A.B. Biochemistry, Smith College M.D. University of Pennsylvania
Work History:
Watershed School Math Instructor
Middle School Math Team Coach
Gifted and Talented Math Instructor, SAD 5
Tutor, SAD 28 and CSD High School
Private tutoring, SAT and PSAT, ACT, IB Math, AP Calculus, GRE and GMAT prep, and individual support for school classwork grades 2-12
Health and parenting newsletter editor, writer
Private practice – pediatrician

Program Fee
Bootcamp: $300
Prep Matters May session: $350
Click here to apply for a need-based scholarship.
Class Capacity
8 participants
Accommodations
For more information or to request an accommodation contact um.continuinged@maine.edu, 207.581.3113.

UMaine AI Webinar: "AI Guidance: A Look at Implementing AI in Schools and Classrooms"
2025-05-15 12:00 - 13:00 | Zoom Web Conferencing
Join us for this 1-hour Zoom AI Webinar, including live Q&A with speakers: Nicole Davis, from the Maine Department for Education, and Matthew T. Marino, Professor at the University of Central Florida. Moderated by UMaine’s Sarah K. Howorth, Associate Professor of Special Education, Special Education Program Coordinator and Director: PEERS Lab @ UMaine.
Register at our UMaine AI Website: https://ai.umtraining.lv-o-wpc-dev.its.maine.edu/webinars/

The Secrets of Gravity
2025-05-13 10:00 - 11:00 | Versant Power Astronomy Center, 167 Rangeley Rd., Orono, ME, 04469, United States
Luke is interested in the universe and its secrets. He is fascinated by the stars, the universe, and the laws of nature. One night, he sneaks into the Albert Einstein Museum where he meets ALBYX3, a small, clever but rather quirky robot who knows all about Albert Einstein and his theories. ALBY takes Luke on a magical journey through space and time during which they uncover the secrets of gravity and learn about friendship and imagination.
Watch the trailer here!

Tickets for planetarium programs are $7 for Adults, $6 for UMaine Students/Veterans/Senior Citizens, and $5 for children under 12. Click here to view our calendar.
Tickets may be purchased online, by phone at 207.581.1341, or at our ticket box office prior to the show.

Strengthening Your Facilitation Skills
2025-05-13 09:30 - 16:30 | Online
Note: If your employer is a compact member of the Harold Alfond Center for the Advancement of Maine’s Workforce, you may be eligible to take this program at a reduced cost. Click here to learn more.
PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
In your professional or volunteer work, have you ever needed to:

help a new group get started?
guide a group to solve a problem?
help a group deal with a conflict?

Skills for working with groups don’t usually come naturally and are not routinely taught. If you have ever worked with a group and wished you had more practice or skill, Strengthening Your Facilitation Skills is for you.
Are you involved with municipal boards, non-profit committees, staff teams or community members that need to produce results? Are these groups as successful at getting the job done as you’d like? This training can help you get great results.
Fun, creative, and thought-provoking, the Strengthening Your Facilitation Skills, Level 1 curriculum is a dynamic and comprehensive multi-session facilitation training series full of activities, practice opportunities, and potential aha! moments.
PROGRAM DATES & TIMES
May 13, 20, and 27, 2025 – Registration opens February 1st
9:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m. ET
For those looking to build their virtual facilitation skills, Kristen Grant also offers Building Your Virtual Facilitation Skills. Learn more here.

MODALITY
This program will be offered in-person at the University of Maine at Augusta campus.
Facilitation is a skill that can only be mastered through practice. With this fact in mind, opportunities for training participants to practice facilitation are central to the training design. Each participant will sign up and prepare to facilitate an activity with a small group during one session.
PROGRAM BENEFITS
Participants in this training will:

build competence in essential facilitation skills and knowledge
actively engage and collaborate with other participants
apply a variety of processes for guiding groups to useful outcomes
practice facilitating and receiving feedback in a supportive environment.

TOPICS COVERED
Session One: Facilitation Basics

An Introduction to Facilitation Core Values of Facilitation
Working Agreements
Contracting
Decision-making Options
Stages of Group Development
Facilitation Guiding Principles and Practices
Behaviors that Hinder and Help Groups
Developing a Meeting Design

Session Two: Facilitation in Action

Achieving Desired Outcomes
Generating Ideas, Narrowing Ideas and Action Planning
Identifying Core Facilitation Practices
Recognizing and Redirecting Difficult Group Situations
Assessing Your Facilitation Strengths and Weaknesses

Session Three: Facilitation Challenges & Opportunities

Using the Left-Hand Column
Designing Interventions and Making Interventions
Using the Diagnosis-Intervention Cycle
Clarifying Circle Consulting Method
Opening and Closing Ideas and Other Resources
Evaluation, and Celebration

WHO SHOULD ENROLL
This course is designed to benefit:

Analysts
Community-based groups
Consultants
Educators/Teachers
Executives
Managers
Municipal Officials
Nonprofit organizations
Trainers
Sales Professionals
Others whose professional and/or community work involves working with groups to achieve results.

The creation of a cohesive group is a focus of the series. It is expected that if you join the training, you will make a commitment to attend all three sessions and participate as fully as possible. If it’s not possible for you to make that commitment at this time, please consider waiting to take the training.
Not sure if this program is right for you? Contact us at um.continuinged@maine.edu or 207.581.3113 and we can help you figure it out.
INSTRUCTOR
Kristen Grant, Senior Extension Program Manager, Coastal Community Resilience and DEI Leader (she/her)
Kristen’s work focuses on the interactions between the people, and ecosystems of the coast. Her work includes a range of activities to build the capacity of coastal communities to plan and adapt for their future, such as building community engagement and facilitation skills, considering housing options, addressing coastal access and waterfront development issues, and understanding erosion trends and planning for coastal hazards. To this work, Kristen brings a Master of Science degree focused on Environmental Education, and has an extensive background in outreach education and community development, as well as nearly a decade of experience in training facilitators.

PROGRAM FEE
$400
Click here to apply for a need-based scholarship.

CLASS CAPACITY
22 participants

CONTINUING EDUCATION CREDITS
20 hours / 2 CEUs are available.
Certificate for completing the entirety of this program.
If you’d like to receive CEUs for participating in this course, please note this in your registration via our online store.
A micro-credential will also be available.

ACCOMMODATIONS
For more information or to request an accommodation contact um.continuinged@maine.edu, 207.581.3113.

Artificial Intelligence in Business: Disruption, Opportunity, or Both?
2025-05-12 17:00 - 18:30 | Fogler Library, The Salon, ME, United States
Artificial Intelligence is transforming the way we live and work — and business is at the center of the storm. From automation and data analysis to marketing and customer service, AI tools are evolving faster than many companies can keep up. So what does this mean for the future of business?
Is AI a powerful tool for innovation and growth? Or a disruptive force with serious risks? Or both?
Join UMaine Libraries for a dynamic Salon Series panel discussion that will explore the many sides of AI in the business world. Learn how organizations are already integrating AI, what ethical concerns are emerging, and how small businesses and entrepreneurs can navigate this rapidly changing landscape.
Our panel of experts includes:
– Dr. Jason Harkins, Dean of the Maine Business School and Dean of the Graduate School of Business at the University of Maine
– Dan Reed, Business Mentor with the SCORE Mentoring Program
– Dr. Berkeley Almand-Hunter, Technical Director of Partner Products at Northeastern University’s Roux Institute
Attend in person or via Zoom.
For additional information, visit the Salon Series website.

ELO: Ticket to the Moon
2025-05-11 16:00 - 17:00, 2025-05-04 16:00 - 17:00 | Versant Power Astronomy Center, 167 Rangeley Rd., Orono, ME, 04469, United States
Join us in the dome with a myriad of lights and visual effects as we journey into and through space with the Electric Light Orchestra! Featuring songs such as Mr. Blue Sky, Livin’ Thing, Starlight, and more! You will be transported to a higher dimension with this rock supergroup.
Tickets are $9 for general admission.
Music programs may contain explicit lyrics, and are intended for adult audiences. All music programs may contain bright flashing lights and fast-moving images, which have been known to trigger seizures with those with photosensitive epilepsy. Viewer discretion is advised.
Tickets may be purchased online, by phone at 207.581.1341, or at our ticket box office prior to the show.

Earth, Moon, and Sun
2025-05-11 14:00 - 15:00 | Versant Power Astronomy Center, 167 Rangeley Rd., Orono, ME, 04469, United States
Earth, Moon, & Sun is a fast-paced full dome demonstration of lunar phases, eclipses, day and night, the sun and other puzzling events with the help of a confused coyote. This program beautifully illustrates basic concepts like moon phases and seasons. Based on the trickster of Native American lore, Coyote is constantly corrected in his misunderstandings of how things work. A live tour of the Maine sky and its beautiful constellations completes this micro-unit of astronomy.
Watch the trailer here!

Tickets for planetarium programs are $7 for Adults, $6 for UMaine Students/Veterans/Senior Citizens, and $5 for children under 12. Click here to view our calendar.
Tickets may be purchased online, by phone at 207.581.1341, or at our ticket box office prior to the show.

Baseball vs Binghamton University
2025-05-11 11:00 - 13:00, 2025-05-10 13:00 - 15:00, 2025-05-09 15:00 - 17:00 | Mahaney Diamond, University of Maine, Orono, ME, 04469, United States
For full schedule click here.

Celebration Brunch
2025-05-11 10:00 - 15:00 | Wells Conferemce Center, ME, United States
Even though graduation isn’t on campus, you can still celebrate at Wells Conference Center on Sunday, May 11. Join us for a full-service brunch buffet—the perfect way to honor all the special moments happening during the weekend. We are offering a 10 a.m. seating for those attending the afternoon ceremony and a 12:30 p.m. seating for those attending the morning ceremony.
Reserve tickets here: umtraining.lv-o-wpc-dev.its.maine.edu/commencement/celebration-brunch
Adult tickets: $35 | Children under 12: $16

Commencement — Undergraduate
2025-05-11

2025 UMaine Graduate School Commencement
2025-05-10 18:00 - 21:00 | Cross Insurance Center, 515 Main St., Bangor, ME, 04401, United States
The 2025 UMaine Graduate School Commencement will be held on Saturday, May 10, 2025, from 6:00 p.m. to about 9:00 p.m. at the Cross Insurance Center.
Please check the Graduate School Commencement page for the most up-to-date information for students, faculty, and attendees.

The Met: Live in HD – Le Nozze di Figaro
2025-05-10 13:00 - 15:00 | Collins Center for the Arts, 2 Flagstaff Road, Orono, ME, 04469, United States
Conductor Joana Mallwitz makes her Met debut leading an extraordinary cast in Mozart’s comic masterpiece. Bass-baritone Michael Sumuel stars as the clever valet Figaro, opposite soprano Olga Kulchynska as his betrothed, the wily maid Susanna.
What is The Met: Live in HD Series?
The Metropolitan Opera’s Peabody- and Emmy Award-winning series, The Met: Live in HD, lets fans immerse themselves in opera up to 10 times a year. Up to 12 cameras capture the onstage drama, as well as the fascinating backstage action, and transmit it from New York City to the Collins Center for the Arts and other venues across the globe.
Learn before you go!
Please join us for free informational sessions, held prior to each opera. You’re invited to attend to learn about the upcoming opera and meet up with other opera fans. Whether you have been to a zillion operas or have never been – these sessions are for you!
Tuesday, May 6, at 4:15 pm at Dirigo Pines
Thursday, May 8 at 5 pm at Orono Public Library

The Dark Matter Mystery: Exploring a Cosmic Secret
2025-05-09 19:00 - 20:00 | Versant Power Astronomy Center, 167 Rangeley Rd., Orono, ME, 04469, United States
What keeps Galaxies together? What are the building blocks of the Universe? What makes the Universe look the way it looks today? Researchers all around the world try to answer these questions. We know today that approximately a quarter of the Universe is filled with a mysterious glue: Dark Matter. We know that it is out there. But we have no idea what it is made out of.
This planetarium show takes you on the biggest quest of contemporary astrophysics. You will see why we know that Dark Matter exists, and how this search is one of the most challenging and exciting searches science has to offer. Join the scientists on their hunt for Dark Matter with experiments in space and deep underground. Will they be able to solve the Dark Matter Mystery?
Watch the trailer here!

Tickets for planetarium programs are $7 for Adults, $6 for UMaine Students/Veterans/Senior Citizens, and $5 for children under 12. Click here to view our calendar.
Tickets may be purchased online, by phone at (207) 581-1341, or at our ticket box office prior to the show.

Practical Public Speaking: From Fear to Success
2025-05-09 | Online
Do your knees turn to jelly when it’s your turn to speak? Does your mind transform everything you thought you knew into a jumbled mess? Do you intentionally avoid uncomfortable communication situations? Public speaking may not come naturally to many of us, but with the right support and training, it can be developed. Improving your public speaking skills not only benefits your business but also benefits you personally.
Using highlights of Tom Dowd’s Gold Medal award-winning book “From Fear to Success: A Practical Public-Speaking Guide”, you will:
Learn how to relieve the stress of speaking to a crowd
Become skilled in speaking with notes, without notes and using slides
Learn how to think quickly, speak logically and engage your audience
Learn how to summarize by using analogies and short stories
Understand the importance of preparation, personal stories and mental and physical insight on reducing anxiety and increasing confidence
Most importantly, you will learn how to become influential in achieving your goals and your audience’s goals.
*All participants will be given a free copy of Tom Dowd’s “From Fear to Success: A Practical Public-Speaking Guide.”

Final exams end
2025-05-09

Insects: Maine’s Oddballs, Tricksters & Lookalikes Webinar
2025-05-08 17:00 - 18:30 | https://calendar.umtraining.lv-o-wpc-dev.its.maine.edu/event/insects-maines-oddballs-tricksters-lookalikes-webinar/
Get answers to questions such as: can you tell the difference between a sawfly larva and a caterpillar? If you saw an eastern cicada killer would you fear you had seen a “Murder” hornet instead and think that they had arrived in Maine? Can you tell a weevil from a tick? Or a booklouse from a bed bug nymph? Fool you once … shame on them! Fool you twice, shame on you for not attending this workshop!
Charles (Charlie) Armstrong hails from western NY State with a bachelor’s in biology and a master’s in entomology, the latter of which came from UMaine-Orono in 1996. He has been UMaine Extension’s cranberry guru since 1997, helping Maine’s cranberry industry with all-things pest-related, and beyond! For the past three years, Charlie has also been serving as our Extension Insect Diagnostician out of the Diagnostic & Research Laboratory in Orono, identifying not only insects, but other critters such as mites, spiders, and jumping worms. He loves gardening but has never been home enough during the day to do it justice or to even attempt it as much as he would like, so he is very much looking forward to retirement when he can finally give that a go!
Registration is required. The program fee is offered on a sliding scale, $0-$10 and is free to enrolled Master Gardener Volunteers. This session will be recorded and shared with those who register for this webinar.

Soil Testing Workshop at Waldoboro Public Library
2025-05-07 17:00 - 18:30 | Waldoboro Public Library, 958 Main Street, Waldoboro, ME, United States
Brett Johnson, sustainable agriculture educator at University of Maine Cooperative Extension, will present at the Waldoboro Public Library, 958 Main Street, about the benefits of soil testing before planting begins. The program will take place on Wednesday, May 7 from 5–6:30 p.m.
Soil testing is a cost-effective practice to optimize fertilizer use and steward the environment. Soil fertility changes over the course of the growing season and requires active management. Annual soil testing helps to produce your food or forage crop in an efficient, economical and environmentally sustainable manner. Participants can have their questions answered and receive a soil test kit. For more information or to request a reasonable accommodation, contact Pamela Doherty at pamela.doherty@maine.edu, 207-832-0343.
As a sustainable agriculture educator with UMaine Extension, Brett Johnson serves commercial producers in Waldo, Knox and Lincoln counties through educational programming and direct technical assistance. Johnson also serves as the statewide farm business management educator with Extension and coordinates Extension’s statewide business planning course, Business Planning for Producers. His research and educational programming are broadly concerned with the economic and environmental sustainability of farm businesses in Maine. He can be reached at brett.w.johnson@maine.edu or by phone at 207.342.5971

Final exams begin
2025-05-05
