ORONO – In the next five years, half the people who work for the state of Maine will become eligible for retirement. That could leave a huge void in state government.

As part of an effort to plug that hole, the University of Maine Department of Public Administration offers graduate courses to current state employees enabling them to fill the management jobs that will become vacant in coming years. Many classes are taught in the Burton Cross State Office Building, next to the state capitol in Augusta.

“More and more, our students are nontraditional. Where better to reach them than in the work place,” said Carolyn Ball, director of graduate programs in public administration at UMaine. “We are in Augusta because it is the state capital.”

Recognizing the need to replace its aging managers, the Maine Bureau of Human Resources has worked closely with the university to ensure that its work force remains high quality despite the pending retirements. Last fall, classes were offered in the State Office Building, home to many state agencies, for the first time.

Derek Davidson took all of his MPA classes in Augusta while working full time for the Department of Environmental Protection. He went back to school, he says, because as he rose through the ranks of state government, it became obvious that he needed management training in addition to his undergraduate biology degree. “The master’s degree program did two things. It gave me the skills to handle management and it gave me the qualifications to get interviews, and ultimately, a job,” said Davidson, who is now the director of the consumer assistance division at the Maine Public Utilities Commission.

The UMaine public administration department has been offering classes leading to the master’s degree in public administration since 1968 in both Augusta and Orono.

The MPA is an important degree for those who work in management and administrative positions in state and local governments, health care and the nonprofit sector.

The MPA degree she received in 1988 didn’t necessarily get Jody Harris a job, but it certainly helped her get a foot in the door.

“That’s because people in Maine understand the value of the degree and the quality of the people who go through the program,” said Harris, who is the strategic planning coordinator for the State Planning Office.

An undergraduate degree in public administration from UMaine enabled Harris to become the town manager in East Millinocket at age 23.

The master’s degree she received six years later helped her to move from town to state government.

Harris also serves on the public administration department’s advisory board. The board, made up of 15 members from municipal, state and local government, health care institutions and the nonprofit sector, guides the academic department in program development and recruitment.

“We provide the real world view,” Harris said. In another effort to take courses to where they are most needed, the UMaine public administration department coordinates the offering of health care classes in local hospitals.

During the spring semester, a graduate course in health policy will be taught live at Acadia Hospital in Bangor. The class will be broadcast live to Millinocket Regional Hospital, The Aroostook Medical Center and Inland Hospital in Waterville.

The course is part of a health care administration certificate program sponsored by the University of Maine College of Business, Public Policy and Health and Eastern Maine Healthcare.