Kennedy approves UMaine cuts
University of Maine President Robert Kennedy has accepted a recommendation to cut the school's budget by $12.2 million over three years, which will entail major changes to several academic programs.
The cuts, which were recommended by the Academic Program Prioritization Working Group, are designed to help the school close an estimated $25.2 million shortfall by 2014, according to the Bangor Daily News. Kennedy told the paper that Latin and German majors, along with majors in theater and women's studies, will be suspended for the foreseeable future, although instruction still will be available in those areas. He said the department of public administration will be eliminated, as will bachelor's degree programs in aquaculture, wood science, forest operations and forest ecosystems science. The cuts would reduce the number of UMaine colleges from five to four, not including the Honors College.
Maine Public Broadcasting Network reported that Kennedy also announced a new plan he calls "UMaine 150" that involves creating a new Division of Health and Biomedical Science, which would be made up of social work, nursing, food science, nutrition and molecular and biomedical science programs. MPBN also reported the proposed changes would result in 80 fewer faculty positions by the year 2014.
Kennedy's plan will be reviewed this fall by the UMaine faculty senate and then forwarded to the UMaine System board of trustees, which could approve the plan at its January 2011 meeting. The changes would be phased in between July 1, 2011, and June 30, 2014, and students now enrolled would be able to complete their programs, according to the Daily News.
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