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January 12, 2009

Historic changes in store for UMaine

By The Mainebiz News Staff

The University of Maine System must undergo the broadest and deepest changes in its 40-year history to remain financially sustainable, according to its chancellor.

Richard L. Pattenaude on Sunday told the system's board of trustees, gathered at the University of Southern Maine campus in Gorham, that the system needs to cut spending by about $42.8 million within the next four years to balance its budget, according to the 16-page plan, available on the Mainebiz website. Pattenaude said the seven-university system needs "transformative changes" above and beyond incremental to be sustainable. To that end, a 12-member task force has been formed to examine how to lower operating costs. Its members will deliver recommendations by June 2009 to Pattenaude, who will present his final report to trustees on July 13. The goal is to begin phasing in changes by September.

Driving the need to reduce costs, Pattenaude said, are the global economy's effect on investment income, the system's flat enrollment numbers, a drop in the number of high school graduates, the need to control tuition increases, and rising energy, health care and salary costs.

In related news, looming budget cuts at the University of Southern Maine have led administrators and employees to pursue cost-saving alternatives to 65 anticipated layoffs, a move designed to cut the university's budget by $2.7 million, the Portland Press Herald reported.

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Reader comments

From Jon

Hmmm... five months until a committee comes up with recommended cuts in expenditures and another four months before those cuts begin to be phased in. Where is the sense of urgency to respond to the most significant financial crisis this country has seen in 70 years?

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