Following a June report, the university system has now published draft goals for its Maine Economic Improvement Fund.
The University of Maine system has published its draft goals for the Maine Economic Improvement Fund, worth around $15m per year.
The publication follows a report from June 2014 by the Office of Programme Evaluation and Government Accountability, criticising the university system’s lack of “measurable goals and objectives”, which are required by statute.
Two goals have been outlined in the draft. The first creates an overall threshold for the funds, and the second wants to increase the percentage of funding leading to commercialisation and licensing.
The fund was set up in 1997 by the Maine government, with the aim of supporting research and development at the state’s public universities. It compliments existing funds throughout seven industry sectors, and is managed by the University of Maine system.
Since 1997, the university system has been given more than $209m, with a major share then allocated to the University of Maine in Orono, and specifically projects at its Advanced Structures and Composites Centre as well as the Forest Bioproducts Research Initatives. In 2013, for example, $11.7m out of the $14.7m allocated to the fund went to Onoro.
