ORONO (AP) – Goals for the University of Maine’s new president include creation of a medical degree as well as better retention of students.

Robert Kennedy, who was formally installed Friday, announced that UMaine is joining with the University of New England to offer a joint doctorate of osteopathic medicine. It will be the university’s first medical degree, he said.

He also announced that he’s forming a task force to look at improving the university’s retention and graduation rates.

“Success in this area can have a tremendous effect on the university but its most important benefit will be to the students themselves,” he said.

Kennedy, a former second-in-command and interim president, will oversee about 1,200 faculty and 11,400 students at the University of Maine System’s flagship campus. He replaces Peter Hoff, who resigned last year.

Kennedy was told by Robert Edwards, former Bowdoin College president and a member of the University of Maine’s Board of Visitors, that he’ll face several challenges, including raising money to offset declining state support. Other challenges include raising the aspirations of Maine students, Kennedy said.

Kennedy, a plant biochemist, grew up in Minnesota and graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1968. After serving in the Army, he earned a doctorate in botany from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1974.

He previously worked at the University of Iowa, Washington State University, Ohio State University, the University of Maryland and Texas A&M University.

He came to UMaine in 2000 as a provost and vice president, and he had been serving as interim president since August when Hoff resigned.

He was formally elected by the University of Maine System Trustees last April.

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