News

Proposed funding increase for UMS ‘long overdue’

Baldacci plans to give system $14.4 million in additional funds

By Tony Reaves

Posted on Feb. 05, 2007, at 12:00 a.m.

Over the next week, Maine legislators will begin considering Governor John Baldacci’s proposed $14.4 million budget increase for the University of Maine System over the 2007-08 and 2008-09 fiscal years. According to university officials, the extra money will help but it won’t be enough to make up for years of state underfunding.

If Baldacci’s proposal is approved, the statewide university system will receive an additional $5 million next year and another $9.4 million for the following year over the current annual state funding of $175.2 million. UMaine gets 48 percent of that money.

According to Orono representative and UMaine graduate Emily Cain, prospects are good but there are variables in the legislature’s opinions of Baldacci’s proposal. “The school consolidation plan is very controversial,” Cain said. She said an increase in state funding was “long overdue” and necessary for the system.

“We’ve been under-funding our university system and our community colleges for a long time,” Cain said. “In a lot of ways we’re always playing catch-up. I hope to support what the governor has proposed and hopefully even more.”

The $14.4 million will go to employee compensation and offsetting health care costs and energy costs, according to John Diamond, external affairs director for the UMaine system. Diamond said he hopes the system will be able to “hold the line” against tuition increases for students.

Diamond agreed that state funding for the system is far behind the its needs and attributed the shortage to the system getting “relatively small budget increases or budget cuts over much of the last 17 years.” He said the system administration is working with members of the legislature to explain the unmet needs of the UMS and how greater funding would benefit the state as a whole.

“We’re grateful that the governor put in additional money for the university system at this point,” Diamond said. Currently, state funding constitutes 31 percent of the system’s revenue, compared to 32 percent from tuition and fees for room and board.

In previous years, budget shortages have led to a sour relationship between the university administration and the various unions representing the staff. Last September, negotiations that had lasted for more than a year were resolved with an 8 percent salary increase over two years coupled with a 12.5 percent increase in health care costs.

This year, both the administration and the union are hopeful that negotiations will be quicker. James McClymer, an associate professor of physics and vice president of the UMS faculty union, said employee relations improved under the outgoing chancellor, Terrence MacTaggart.

“Chancellor MacTaggart has been wonderful to have back and the board has been much more responsive and willing to have discourse,” McClymer said. He said the union is keeping its target for the increase under wraps, but said he’s not worried about having the level of contention that characterized the last round of salary negotiations.

Instead, he’s worried about other shortages the university faces as a result of underfunding. The governor’s proposal is “enough for our salaries, but it’s not enough for the university,” McClymer said. “I think we’re going to see some real big budget cuts here on campus.” He said that vacant faculty positions were not likely to be filled, leading to larger classes.

The faculty union is one of six bargaining units that begin negotiations this month with the system. According to Diamond, Chancellor MacTaggart intends to have the contracts settled much quicker this year so that the university can move on to other business.

This week, the legislature will also consider a $3 million increase for the current year to fund a new high-speed Internet line connecting the university system to research institutions and universities in the Boston area. Jackson Laboratories, a genetic research lab in Bar Harbor, has pledged to contribute another $1.9 million to have the high-speed line connected to them.

So far, the appropriations committee has unanimously approved funding for the high-speed line. Cain expressed confidence that the legislature would pass the $3 million supplement.

“This is such a no-brainer,” Cain said of the high-speed line.

Campus Currents: John Baldacci