In any given corporate business meeting or professional conference across the state of Maine, there is a high probability that there will be at least two Thomas College alumni in the room. With strong roots in business, several high executives across the state are graduates of H. Allen Ryan School of Business at Thomas College, impacting the talent in the state.
In the last two decades, Thomas College has expanded its impact beyond the business world into education, criminal justice, psychology, and cybersecurity.
Historically, 73 percent of Thomas College students stay and work in Maine after graduating with a 99% job placement rate. And they’re not graduating into just any careers, but fields that are in desperate need of skilled workers in Maine.
More recently, Thomas College has made intentional changes to its academic programming to maximize its impact on cultivating Maine’s talent pipeline, including a new initiative providing customized, on-site professional development and organizational growth programming called Corporate Campus, and new and evolved offerings in clinical mental health, biology, and education.
Expanding Training to Leaders in the Field
Thomas College is known for its expansive graduate programming in business, cybersecurity, criminology, and education, which is now offered accessibly online. The College also offers online self-serve online certifications as well. Beyond this, Thomas College recently launched Corporate Campus, an initiative providing customized, on-site professional development and organizational growth programming.
“We train our students to become talented leaders in the community. Corporate Campus is our way of extending this service to businesses in the community by offering something specific to them to make their business grow and thrive,” said Thomas College Executive Director of Business Innovation and Corporate Campus, Nate Pelsma. “Corporate Campus is Thomas College’s organizational development practice. We help organizations build the people, infrastructure, and leadership capability to grow well. We do that by working alongside each organization, learning the business, the culture, and where it’s headed, and building something that moves it forward.”
Thomas College’s first partnership with Corporate Campus is with Central Maine Motors. Over the past several months, Thomas College’s Nate Pelsma has delivered customized leadership and workforce training to approximately 130 employees at Central Maine Motors. As the first official Corporate Campus collaboration, the partnership between Thomas College and Central Maine Motors demonstrates the program’s employer-focused approach to workforce and leadership development.
Central Maine Motors owner Chris Gaunce praised the program for helping the growing company maintain its people-first culture while supporting employee satisfaction, retention, and long-term success.
“As we continue to grow, Thomas College and Nate have given us an answer to how we scale without losing who we are,” said Gaunce.
Leadership at businesses and organizations who are looking for a way to build their team and grow their success are welcomed to work directly with Nate at Thomas College to build a professional training program that fits their needs.
Filling the Gap for Mental Health Needs in Maine
This fall, Thomas College will welcome the first cohort in the new master’s program in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. This program will address the urgent mental health care needs in rural Maine and be a pipeline for licensed clinical mental health counselors in the state of Maine, especially in rural areas of the state.
Vacancy rates for mental health clinicians in Maine’s health organizations have reached 21 percent, and 45 percent of independent providers plan to retire within the next five years.
Thomas College will help fill this gap by offering a two-year graduate pathway to licensure in clinical mental health counseling. The low-residency format will make the degree accessible to working adults.
Developed in partnership with professionals at Kennebec Behavioral Health and local hospitals, Thomas College’s new degree is uniquely designed to serve the needs of Maine.
“At Kennebec Behavioral Health we are very excited to support Thomas College’s new Clinical Mental Health Counseling program,” said CEO of Kennebec Behavioral Health Tom McAdam. “As a provider of mental health care in Maine, we are challenged with the ongoing and increased demand for requests for our services, and we know that Thomas College’s new program will help to train more professional counselors. This in turn will help our workforce shortage, especially here in rural Maine. The need for this program is huge, and we believe the timing is optimal to improve access to care.”
Addressing the Teaching Shortage
It’s no secret that K-12 Maine schools do not have enough trained teachers.
That’s why Thomas College has updated its teaching preparation program to get trained educators in schools faster and stay longer.
Instead of just a semester of student teaching in their final year, Thomas College education students complete the last two years of their degree while working in paid full-time roles in Maine schools. Throughout the experience, students are paired with expert Thomas College faculty mentors for weekly support and guidance.
By embedding aspiring teachers in local schools earlier, and supporting them with high-quality mentorship, the Thomas Teaching Cooperative aims to strengthen the pipeline of career-ready educators and increase retention in the profession.
“At a time when schools across Maine are struggling to fill classrooms with qualified, long-term educators, the Thomas Teaching Cooperative offers a proactive and sustainable solution,” said Thomas College Lunder School of Education Chair Dr. Katie Rybakova. “We’re not just preparing future teachers—we’re putting them into schools, with mentorship and support, while they learn.”
More Medical Professionals in the State
Two years ago, Thomas College added a professional biology program that will help fill the need for more medical professionals in the state. This new program was supported by adding faculty, labs, and opportunities.
And it attracts talented young scientists like junior Alexis Spencer, who is one of only three students in the country who was accepted into a National Science Foundation (NSF) SuRE (Summer Undergraduate Research Experience) summer research program. Spencer, a psychology and biology major from Sabattus, Maine, is spending her summer interning with an NSF SuRE program at North Dakota State University in the Department of Coatings and Polymeric Materials. Acceptance rates for NSF summer research programs range from about two to ten percent.
College of the Future
Thomas College is a leader in their efforts to be the College of the Future by thinking outside of the box about higher education and what it means to build a pipeline of talent in Maine.
“At Thomas College, we are committed to developing the talent Maine needs today and in the future. Through the introduction of new academic programs and the continued evolution of existing offerings, we are creating pathways for student success while supporting the workforce and economic needs of communities throughout the state,” said Thomas College Provost Jeremy Qualls.
Whether helping students find their path to new careers, providing mid-level career professionals access to more knowledge and training in their current professions, or helping a Maine CEO or manager grow their business through corporate training, Thomas College is helping Maine communities thrive.
