Borst candidate for president at University of Maine, Farmington

Charlotte Borst, Katie Jenkins-Moses, Marietta College, News, University of Maine - By Katie Jenkins-Moses on Thursday, March 22, 2012 - 04:18

The University of Maine, Farmington (UMF) announced on Friday, March 16 that Whittier College’s Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of Faculty Charlotte Borst was one of three candidates in the search to replace current UMF president, Theodora J. Kalikow. Borst will visit UMF for an on-campus interview on April 3-5.

Borst is elated for this opportunity. “I am excited and very honored to be a finalist,” Borst said via e-mail. “UMF is Maine’s ‘public liberal arts college,’ and it has a mission much like Whittier’s.”  

According to the UMF’s website, the university was established in 1864 and was Maine’s first public institution of higher education. UMF also only has a total of maximum of 2,000 students enrolled.

The Bangor Daily News in Maine reported that the two other candidates are Special Assistant to the President Christopher Ames from Washington College in Maryland and Kathryn Foster, a visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution based in Washington, D.C.

A 14-person presidential search committee that was formed last year when Kalikow announced her plan to retire will make the final decision.

Last semester Borst was announced as one of three finalists for the position of president at Marietta College in Ohio. Borst traveled to Marietta for on-campus interviews in early November, but was not selected for the position.

Borst will learn more in the upcoming weeks about whether or not she will be chosen for the position; however, in the meantime her focus remains on Whittier and it’s community. “I love being at Whittier—I love the faculty, staff and students here,” Borst said via e-mail. “Serving as a college president is a much-desired professional and personal goal, and I was fortunate to have this opportunity presented to me.”