PRESQUE ISLE – Maine Technical College System trustees approved programs Wednesday that are aimed at teacher aides and pharmaceutical technicians, and they OK’d a recommendation that the state boost the system’s funding by 3.5 percent a year for the next two fiscal years.

In a separate event, Timothy D. Crowley, 49, of Caribou was inaugurated president of the Northern Maine Technical College.

Trustees unanimously approved two programs for the coming year at Eastern Maine Technical College in Bangor and Southern Maine Technical College in South Portland.

The Bangor program is a two-year degree in paraeducation. The program is designed to help the state’s teacher aides meet new federal certification requirements. The Bush administration’s No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 requires all teacher aides to hold an associate degree or pass a competency exam by 2006.

The South Portland proposal is a new program for pharmaceutical technicians, the first associate degree in the field offered in Maine.

The board, without comment, approved the recommendation of system President John Fitzsimmons to submit a so-called current services budget request that calls for 3.5 percent increases for each fiscal year of the next biennium.

The proposed budgets total $44,588,969 for 2004, and $46,149,583 for 2005.

For so-called new and expanded services, the approved budget request is $437,850 for 2004 and $495,450 for 2005.

The trustees did not have a dollar amount for capital projects, but a budget will be proposed for mandatory repairs and construction.

In a ceremony the same day at Northern Maine Technical College, Crowley was formally inaugurated president.

He was appointed president in April after having served as interim president since January. In 14 years with the institution, Crowley also has served as dean of student affairs and vice president.

Northern Maine Technical was launched in 1963 with four programs and 78 students. This fall, the campus, one of seven in the Maine Technical College System, opened its doors to 1,000 students and offered 29 associate degrees, as well as diploma and certificate programs.

“I appreciate the opportunity, and it means a great deal to me,” Crowley told about 300 people Wednesday morning. “It is a humbling experience.

“Our focus has been and will be on students,” he said. “Change is about us, and we must reach out and find new ways to educate people.”

He said the campus needs to align its programs with the economy of Aroostook County and its resources in computers, forestry, agriculture and tourism. He said he wants to support the economy and people of the region.

Fitzsimmons, president of the system, said Crowley “comes to us at a critical time … when we are in transition to community colleges, a missing link in Maine’s higher education.”

“He will lead this institution to even greater heights,” Fitzsimmons said. “The future of Aroostook County will depend on his decisions.”

A native of Lewiston, Crowley graduated from Fort Kent schools before acquiring bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Southern Maine.

He also completed a development program in higher education at Harvard University in 1991 and is within months of acquiring a doctoral degree from the national Argosy University.

Crowley has been in education for 27 years, 14 of them at NMTC. He has worked as a guidance counselor and director of student affairs in Bridgeton, Caribou, Windham and Madawaska. Before going to NMTC, Crowley worked at the University of Southern Maine in student housing and at the University of Maine at Presque Isle as director of counseling, career planning and placement.

In the community, Crowley has been a member of the Aroostook County Action Program for 14 years, serving three years as chairman; served on the United Way of Aroostook for 13 years; was president of the Maine Association for Counseling; and was appointed to the Governor’s Task Force on Learning Results.