Education watch

Spring break may be on the minds of college students, but administrative changes dominate Maine's university and community college news here. Among them:

James Page, CEO of engineering and mapping consulting firm James W. Sewall Co. in Old Town, has been appointed the new chancellor of the University of Maine System. Page was selected over two other finalists for his experience in academics and business operations, according to a press release from the UMS board of trustees. He currently serves as an adjunct professor in UMaine's Department of Philosophy. He begins his job March 20, succeeding Richard Pattenaude, who is stepping down to return to teaching. Page's annual salary will be $277,500, and he plans to step down as CEO of James W. Sewall Co. Page, a Caribou native, received his bachelor's degree from the University of Maine at Fort Kent and has a master's degree in philosophy from St. Andrews University in Scotland and a doctoral degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

After 25 years in Maine's community college system, Washington County Community College President Joyce Hedlund will retire on June 30, according to the Bangor Daily News. Hedlund became president of WCCC in Calais in 2010 following a 16-year stint as head of Eastern Maine Community College in Bangor. She told the paper she plans to travel around the United States with her husband, a retired Bangor High School teacher, and pursue hobbies in art.

Barbara Woodlee, president of Kennebec Valley Community College, has decided to stay in her post after a national search failed to find a suitable replacement. Although Woodlee announced her plans to retire in July 2010, two national searches did not produce a candidate for a new president, according to the Kennebec Journal. She told the paper she plans to address her retirement with system President John Fitzsimmons at a later date.