The University of Maine dominated the headlines this month with the news of Harold Alfond’s generosity, but two other Maine institutions of higher learning have received impressive support in the form of grants and donations. Their money, however, will not come without further effort.

Colby College was awarded $150,000 by the National Endowment for the Humanities to establish a professorship to teach its teachers how to teach. The NEH recognized that teaching skills are not being developed at many colleges and universities, where the emphasis continues to be placed on the old “publish or perish” maxim.

The money, part of a total $3.2 million awarded to 13 different schools, will come to Colby in the form of a Challenge Grant. Colby, which NEH liked because of the high priority and emphasis it places on teaching and the human element in the education process (10-1 student-teacher ratio), will have to raise $450,000 in matching funds. It will use the money to rotate faculty members through the professorship for three-year terms.

Unity College has been given a similar challenge, by the board of Central Maine Power Co., which has offered to make a total donation of up $25,000 in a 1-1 match with other private donations of $5,000 or more. Financially troubled Unity this summer is embarked on the first fund-raising campaign ($700,000) in its 25-year history.

CMP’s pledge will test not only the college, which must adopt a long-term financial plan, but also the state’s business community.

The CMP grant gives Maine businesses an incentive to help themselves by ensuring the survival of Unity, Waldo County’s second largest employer, while they provide students with the opportunity for a reasonably priced education in environmental science and natural resource management, an academic emphasis that is quintessentially Maine.