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The University of Maine System is going through some changes right now, as budgets are slashed from the state level down to the student level. The chancellor has recommended a task force to assess ways to scrimp and save, most likely through administrative consolidation. There are more dramatic and much more effective ways to save money. Though nobody will like to hear them, it has to be brought up at some point.
We must ask ourselves: Are seven University of Maine campuses necessary anymore? UMS officials insist the system is unique because of its accessibility, but in today’s society, most people measure accessibility in terms of dollar signs, not miles. With advances and availability of services such as high speed Internet, one or more of the University of Maine’s campuses may have become obsolete.
Nobody likes to be the bad guy, and nobody likes the restructuring that comes from hard economic times like the ones we seem to have stumbled upon. As unfortunate as it is, such changes must inevitably be made in order to protect the long-term interests of the institution. Life goes on; people get over it, and in enough time everyone will probably forget the way it once was.
I’m not indifferent to the arguments against consolidation. Each school does have its own specialty programs and atmosphere, and there is certainly nothing better than face-to-face instruction. But is it necessary to have, for example, a campus in Fort Kent and another fewer than 60 miles away in Presque Isle?
The hardest part of consolidation is ensuring the smallest amount of damage is done to essential support services. Closing any UMS campus would have a profound impact on the community in which it is located, as well as on its nontraditional students. While most students could relocate without much of a problem, older students, especially those going back to school, would lose a large number of resources if UMS didn’t already have an impressive network between the different campuses.
Closing a campus could actually increase accessibility because more classes would be offered online and via virtual classrooms all throughout the state. Many non traditional students have already come to prefer online courses, since they are much easier to fit into already busy lives.
It’s time for the system and the state to come to their senses. The cost of a college education has been rising quickly for years, and with Maine’s depressed economy, families who might have barely been able to afford an education for their children a few years ago will no longer be able to send their sons and daughters to college. Action must be taken quickly to identify the least-effective campus and eliminate it, and then use the savings to lower system-wide tuition. It sounds like a drastic step, and it is, but with the economy and the advent of new technologies, it is not feasible nor reasonable to maintain seven universities in such a small state.
William P. Davis is Web editor for The Maine Campus.
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