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The University of Maine no longer has an associate director of the Maine Marketplace and retail services. Student employees of the Marketplace have not yet been informed as to why Marty Kahler is no longer their supervisor, as management was informed Friday afternoon, according to Edward Nase, director of Dining Services.
Although Nase could not confirm the circumstances surrounding Kahler’s departure, he did say Kahler was no longer employed by UMaine or UMaine Dining Services.
“Any official word wasn’t released until [Friday] afternoon,” Nase said. “Mr. Kahler will no longer be employed as associate director.”
Any word released was only to management, leaving students to speculate as to the reasons surrounding Kahler’s absence from the Marketplace.
“If [students] know anything, they’ve got it from management and conversation in the Marketplace,” Nase said.
Rumors have begun to fly among employees, some wondering if Kahler was fired.
“I was in the office picking up my paycheck and there were people going through his desk or something,” said Jonathan Hillier, a Marketplace employee. “One guy said ‘Do they know he’s been fired yet?’ and the other guy said ‘No, they think he’s on vacation or taking a trip or something.’”
According to Nase, Kahler was a full-time, salaried employee whose responsibilities included managing in the day-to-day operations of the Marketplace, the Oakes Room and M.C. Fernald. Kahler’s responsibilities will now fall on the shoulders of Nase and the rest of his management staff.
“We will take responsibility for directing and managing until this position is approved [for posting and filling],” Nase said.
Although Kahler’s position was “vital,” Nase said, it will ultimately be up to Dr. Richard Chapman, vice president for student affairs, to determine if the position will be filled. But Kahler’s former position may be vacant for longer than expected because of hiring freezes UMaine has been forced to employ due to budget cuts.
As of press time, Kahler’s salary was not available and Kahler could not be reached for comment.
Hillier commented that Kahler never seemed to be in touch with day-to-day activities – the same task Nase said was his primary responsibility.
“I wouldn’t describe him as the most effective person,” Hillier said. “I got the impression he did what his supervisors told him and not much else.”
“Whenever you saw [Kahler] you just had to keep busy,” said Andrew Eldridge, a former Marketplace employee. “He really didn’t talk directly to us. He was more of a figurehead type thing. If we had any questions we went to other managers,” he said.
Eldridge said he worked in the Marketplace for about a year before he “got sick of it” and decided to quit. Eldridge said he got the feeling the product was more valuable than the employees and that managers were unappreciative as a whole.
“Not just Marty,” Eldridge said. “But managers as a whole … most of the managers were like that.”
