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In the face of mounting statewide budget shortfalls, the restructuring of the University of Maine System is no longer in question. Now is the time to make hard decisions about the restructuring process.
The most recent meeting of the UMaine Faculty Senate raised valid concerns about the transparency of this process. Furthermore, Faculty Senate is justified in questioning the premise of the UMS chancellor’s proposal for centralization altogether.
As the flagship university of UMS, the Orono campus is underepresented in the current one-”vote”-per-school system. In times of financial crisis, this is all the more apparent: It is simply nonsensical for our school, the largest in UMS with 12,000 enrolled students, to be representationally outnumbered by Fort Kent and Presque Isle campuses, which each serve less than a tenth of Orono’s student population.
There is no evidence to suggest that fiscal solutions that work for those campuses would benefit our campus, which is distinct in its research leadership.
The 2003 proposal for a rural consortium of Fort Kent, Presque Isle and Machias might shed insight into options for centralization of services for universities with similar missions and goals. UMaine has very little overlap with these institutions, and its sovereignty should be respected.
The final point of the Faculty Senate recommendations is most prescient: The size and oversight powers of the system office does not attract research grants, quality faculty or top-notch students. The lifeblood of the state educational system flows through the heart of its flagship campus.
We urge the chancellor and the consolidation panel to take the recommendations of the Orono faculty and to engage in a contentious process openly and transparently.
