Eastern Maine Community College faculty, along with faculty at the state’s other community colleges, soon will have easier access to doctoral education opportunities, thanks to a plan created by the University of Maine and the state’s two southernmost community colleges.

Starting this fall, Southern Maine Community College and York County Community College administrators and faculty members will enroll in UM’s Higher Education Leadership doctoral program.

The university will tailor specific work for these students in the context of a program serving college and universities in every corner of the state, so they can work together over five to six years to earn their degrees.

Staff and faculty members at Maine’s other community colleges also will have access to the program and opportunities to join colleagues in the southern portion of the state as part of a statewide student group.

The doctoral experience will help build networks across higher education sectors in the state facilitating long-term collaboration.

“UMaine and the state’s community colleges are key partners in educating Maine citizens and preparing them for a brighter future,” UM President Robert Kennedy said Monday in a news release. “By providing doctoral-level education to these talented and dedicated higher education professionals, UMaine can assist them in further enhancing the community college experience for large numbers of Maine people.”

Kennedy pointed out that this arrangement grew from discussions initiated last year by Southern Maine Community College President James Ortiz.

“As community colleges work to increase access to higher education for more Mainers, we are developing more partnerships with the state’s universities,” Ortiz said in the same release. “Arrangements like this will help our state move toward having more citizens with college degrees, increasing aspirations and setting the stage for further developing Maine’s economy.”

UM will deliver the program through a combination of distance education classes and on-site courses taught by UM professors with supplemental coursework through universities in other parts of Maine.

EMCC President Joyce Hedlund and Kennebec Valley Community College President Barbara Woodlee were involved in planning the UMaine program’s original curriculum.

The UM doctoral program began in 1999, and has 20 students enrolled.

“One of UMaine’s unique characteristics is its capacity to offer doctorates in a wide range of fields, and to deliver them in innovative ways,” Edna Mora Szymanski, UM’s senior vice president for academic affairs and provost, said in the release.