Five adjunct faculty members from around the state are recipients of the Maine Part-time Faculty Association’s first professional development stipends, PATFA announced Nov. 14.
PATFA launched the Michael Burke Professional Development Fund this fall to meet a growing need for the 2,000 part-time faculty members in the University of Maine System. The fund is the brainchild of Michael Burke, longtime president of PATFA and a longtime professor of English at the University of Maine at Farmington in a continuing, untenured position.
”Adjuncts are seldom eligible to apply for funds available to full-time faculty. We’re happy to see Michael Burke’s project come to fruition for the first five winners of the award,” said Michele Cheung, PATFA president.
The awards of up to $250 each are for use in professional travel or in creation and presentation of scholarly and creative work.
A five-member selection committee awarded stipends to:
Joseph Bjerklie, who teaches in the behavioral sciences at the University of Maine at Fort Kent, to assist with his travel to an education conference in Boston.
Jane Ellingwood, who teaches English at the Bangor campus of the University of Maine at Augusta, for a talk in January on the novel Room by Irish writer Emma Donoghue.
Lisa Giles, who teaches English at the University of Southern Maine, for use in curating and presenting a poetry reading in February.
Leonore Hildebrandt, who teaches at the University of Maine, Orono, for assistance with a series of readings Oct. 22-Dec. 11 in Down East Maine from her new poetry collection The Next Unknown.
John Mehrmann, who teaches music at the Augusta campus of the University of Maine at Augusta, for assistance with production of a CD of his original piano compositions in November.
Deadline for a second round of applications is Jan. 30. An application is available here.