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The University of Maine is exploring the possibility of changing its academic calendar, its workweek and the number of campus buildings kept open during breaks in an effort to save costs and energy, according to an announcement made during the Dec. 17 Faculty Senate. It also approved a plan to replace the degree in environmental management with two new concentrations.
Because of the tightening budget, the Academic Affairs committee announced it is looking at extending the January term in 2009, re-aligning UMaine’s breaks to closer match kindergarten through grade 12 calendars and moving to a four-day workweek in order to contain costs.
“It’s not an easy issue for sure,” said Dianne Hoff, president of Faculty Senate.
The Academic Affairs committee said it is reviewing suggestions and that nothing has been decided.
Another suggestion is reducing the number of open classroom buildings on campus during break. Sen. Kathryn Slott recommended against it, saying it might disrupt the ongoing research in many of those buildings, despite the savings in heating costs temporarily closing them might provide. It costs approximately $1,000 to shut down and restart an on-campus building at the start and end of break, according to the Academic Affairs committee.
Vice President for student affairs Robert Dana added that UMaine maintains only five residence halls in-between semesters. He said UMaine intends to “further limit those opportunities” by reducing the number to two or three in an effort to save money. UMaine expects 140 students to remain on campus during winter break this year, Dana said.
Associate Provost Susan Hunter announced the University of Maine System’s chancellor’s plan to restructure the system’s operating model, which he plans to submit to the UMS board of trustees later in the year.
“The chancellor and all the [UMS] presidents believe that the systems’ current operating model cannot be sustained financially,” Hunter explained.
The chancellor was vague in his description of the plan because the UMS isn’t at the point of “concrete announcements,” Hunter said. The restructuring is the result of declining high school enrollment in Maine, a trend expected to continue for eight years, Hunter said. Other factors include the continuing economic struggle in the state and new problems arising, such as falling investment revenue.
The Program Creation Review and Reorganization committee announced its operating manual, which had been approved at the previous senate meeting, had been rejected by President Kennedy’s office because of disagreements over committee authority and the definition of an academic program. The committee plans to report back to senate in a few weeks after talking with the president’s office.
A motion to eliminate the bachelors’ degree in environmental management and replace it with a concentration in “resource and environmental economics policy” and another in “recreation and business management” passed unanimously.
A second motion to have the faculty senate’s executive committee write to Gov. John Baldacci and Maine’s elected representatives asking them to push the creation of an energy college grant system in Maine was tabled until Hoff could draft a formal letter for the senate to comment on. The energy college system would create a federal grant similar to the university land grant program designed to make an energy-friendly college system.
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