Gov. Paul LePage has nominated three people to serve on the planning and governing board of the University of Maine System.

Susan Dench of Falmouth is among the three nominees to the system’s board of trustees, a 16-member panel that authorizes financial, educational and public service policies for the university system. Dench is a conservative blogger and president of the Informed Women’s Network, a group with 10 chapters nationwide that promotes conservative policies.

She and her husband, Bryan Dench, an attorney for Skelton, Tainter and Abbott, have donated to a number of political campaigns, including $2,600 to LePage’s re-election committee.

The governor also nominated James Donnelly of Brewer and Samuel Collins of Caribou.

Donnelly, a former state representative, is executive vice president of Machias Savings Bank.

Collins is the brother of U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine. He owns S.W. Collins Co., a lumber and building company in Caribou that has long been part of the Collins family legacy. The company has donated $1,000 to LePage’s re-election committee.

Members of the board of trustees, who are not compensated, serve five-year terms. LePage has named nine trustees since taking office in 2011. All of the appointments have been unanimously confirmed by the Maine Senate, the final arbiter for most gubernatorial appointments, after vetting by the Legislature’s Education and Cultural Affairs Committee.

Steve Mistler can be contacted at 791-6345 or at:

smistler@pressherald.com

Twitter: stevemistler

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