One University Initiative–OUI

I take no credit for this embarrassing discovery. A letter in today’s Sunday Maine Telegram by someone I don’t know who lives in Southern Maine pointed this out. “One University Initiative” was touted most recently in announcing the appointment of a new Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs charged with implementing this vision (and I use the term “vision” loosely).

The highly paid outside consultants hired by the System  to implement One University despite widespread ignorance by 99% of System employees as to what it means apparently didn’t pick up on this. Next time, hire still more consultants!

To  be sure, everything that the UMaine System nowadays does is put under the umbrella term of “Mission Excellence.” But I prefer the question repeatedly asked by the late Admiral Hyman Rickover, “Why Not the Best?”

If, God forbid, you are ever pulled over for possible drunk driving in Maine, you could shrewdly tell the officer that you were distracted by the other OUI and so should escape a ticket. Surely worth a try.