FARMINGTON – The president of the University of Maine at Farmington unveiled a program designed to prepare students for a professional career in the alpine sports industry at the Titcomb Ski Mountain this morning, a lodge packed with educators, students, residents and industry representatives.
President Kathryn Foster said she was “thrilled” to introduce the 24-credit certificate program, which UMF officials say will be accessible for students of any UMF major. A mix of business and skiing classes, including on-mountain instruction and an industry internship, the Alpine Operations Certificate program is the product of a collaboration of UMF and local ski-industry partners. The program will be available to students next fall.
“This exciting new certificate program at UMF recognizes the skiing and snowboarding industry’s important role in western Maine,” said Foster. “We’re so pleased to be able to offer this opportunity to our students and members of the community as we continue to build on the legacy of UMF’s commitment to the outdoor lifestyle and the region’s recreational bounty.”
“It’s just a no-brainer,” Clyde Mitchell, UMF professor of business said, given the proximity of Saddleback, Sunday River and Sugarloaf.
The certificate was originally proposed in UMF’s strategic plan, approved in September 2014 by the University of Maine System Board of Trustees. In the plan, UMF outlined a goal of better leveraging local resources, including mountain and snow sports, through the implementation of certificate programs.
It builds off the 2009 creation of an outdoor recreation program, an effort that suffered from “sprawl” according to Mitchell, leading to it becoming cumbersome for many students to take. In comparison, the Alpine Operations certificate is designed to be accessible to students in other majors, narrowly focused on the skills valued by ski industry employers. UMF would be tracking student participation, Foster noted, to see which majors showed the most interest in the certificate.
Representatives of all three resorts attended UMF’s presentation, including Saddleback owner Bill Berry, Sugarloaf Director of Marketing Ethan Austin and Sunday River General Manager Dana Bullen. Bullen announced that thanks to a sponsorship provided by Sunday River, full-time UMF students will be provided with alpine and Nordic memberships at Titcomb Mountain. Free ski instruction will eventually be made available to students, through the Alpine Operations certificate programs. The sponsorship began this month and will continue for five years.
This is great! Three cheers to Dana for his ongoing support of Titcomb. Free lift tickets for UMF students should go a long way towards building a solid skier base.
If I remember correctly UMF had a ski industries program a few years ago, it had a total of 14 students….which is why they decided to get rid of it. Is there suddenly a huge interest in a program like this?
How wonderful to take advantage of our amazing local resources. Best of luck! Thnk snow.
Curious…does one need a college degree/certificate program to earn $8-$10 an hour at a ski resort??
jeff, I’m not sure you’re remembering correctly. The program was eliminated as part of budget cuts in 2008, and there certainly were more than 14 students.
Joe, no, at the time the remaining students with a ski industries major graduated there were just over a dozen. Yes budget cuts, cuts targeting areas that showed little interest, like ski industries. I wasn’t trying to be critical, just curious if (in the wake of a UMaine system budget crunch) there is in fact more interest in that program. My memory serves me quite well.
I believe that when one was in the Ski Industries Program, that was your major and most all of your credits were related to the Ski Industries. This new program is 24 credits, so you can have a major of your choice and still complete this Alpine Operations certificate program.
Skiing and snowboarding sports are two of the largest economic engines in our western Maine area. Success of these industries will have far reaching benefits to our local economies. Already our Maine local ski areas are hosting National and local events each winter while serving somewhere around 1 million visitors per year. These visitors have other choices to where they choose to spend their resources. UMF has taken a step forward to developing the multidiscipline work force for today and into the future. Congratulations and Best Wishes to the programs success.
Skiing is one of the biggest segments of Maine’s tourism industry, the state’s largest economic sector. This is great news and will do much to help keep jobs and young people not only in Maine but keep them in OUR part of Maine. I know a certain snowboarding neighbor in Wilton who works at UMF had been working hard on this since last summer. Glad it came to fruition, TD! It’s the kind of thing Maine colleges should be doing more of.
Took lessons from some kids in the old ski industries program at Sugarloaf and they were great! Glad UMF is resurrecting the program in town. Congratulations!