LEWISTON — The University of Southern Maine’s undergraduate nursing coordinator will soon become the top administrator at the Lewiston-Auburn campus.

As the incoming director of USM’s Lewiston-Auburn College at 51 Westminster St., much of Netty Provost’s focus will be on developing relationships with community partners “to place L-AC strategically in Lewiston, Auburn and the surrounding communities” to meet the needs of students and employers in the region, she said.

The college is in the midst of a redevelopment process as it aims to strengthen its undergraduate and graduate health care programs and redefine its role in the Lewiston area.

Provost said she is particularly passionate about working with underserved and first generation students, something which drew her to the director role.

“One of my goals personally with L-AC is to do our best to tailor our offerings to the interests, but also the lifestyles of the students that come to the campus,” she said, with particular consideration for nontraditional students.

Even as the college’s new director, Provost will also continue to oversee USM’s undergraduate nursing program. In this position, she spends much of her time coordinating educational partnerships with local health care providers.

“(It) kind of dovetailed nicely into the L-AC director position,” she said. “In a lot of ways, this is an expansion of my current role to a full campus level and with more majors to look at.”

She believes USM has the greatest opportunity to grow its nursing program at the Lewiston campus.

“It fits in kind of nicely that I can build both out at the same time,” she said.

After beginning her new role in July, Provost will split her time between the Lewiston and Portland campuses.

Provost is a Maine native and a graduate of the University of Maine. She holds a doctorate in philosophy from Purdue University in Indiana.

“I’m a philosopher they’re letting run a nursing program,” she joked, adding that some of her teaching and research interests pertained to medical ethics. “(It) ties in nicely to the health care side of things”

Provost will be the first director of the college since the top position was reconfigured a few years ago, she said. In the past couple of years, USM Vice President of Corporate and Workforce Engagement Jeanne Paquette has overseen the college.

“The Lewiston and Auburn community is really special because it has so much diversity, it has so much there,” Provost said. “I think the Lewiston-Auburn campus for USM could just help Lewiston further its own goals as a community.”

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