AUGUSTA — Developing a concierge model for student services and creating technology-rich academic offerings will be the top priorities for the University of Maine at Augusta this year.

AUGUSTA — The University of Maine at Augusta will ban tobacco use starting in January, joining a growing number of colleges and universities in Maine and around the country.

HALLOWELL — After several months of discussion about donated money owed to Regional School Unit 2, Team Hall-Dale delivered the $26,000 one day ahead of a deadline set by the district school board.

AUGUSTA — The man who led the University of Maine at Augusta as it expanded baccalaurate education and nearly merged with the University of Southern Maine died on Wednesday.

Augusta School Department Superintendent Cornelia Brown said Wednesday that she applauded scathing comments made by Brunswick Superintendent Paul Perzanoski aimed at Gov. Paul LePage and state education efforts.

Under Maine’s proposal, which is being detailed this week during public forums, schools’ targets would be set and their progress measured based on where they start, rather than holding everyone to a single standard that’s always rising.

PORTLAND — A study from the University of Southern Maine suggests that improving education in cost-effective ways is less a matter of major public policy initiatives than of the culture inside each school.