Print
E-mail
The University of Maine has laid off 32 employees and reduced hours for 31 employees, according to a press release sent Friday morning.
In addition, 77 vacant positions were eliminated, for a total of 140 positions affected. The salary and benefits savings associated with eliminating or reducing these positions totals $5.8 million.
UMaine reduced its operating costs further by reducing travel, supplies, maintenance, equipment and related expenses by $1.7 million, according to the release. An additional $1.3 million will be eliminated through conservation at the administrative level.
All totaled, UMaine reduced its expenditures for the next fiscal year by $8.8 million.
In an interview, UMaine President Robert Kennedy said “hundreds of people were involved in making the decisions”. According to Kennedy, every department and program head was involved in the process. “Those decisions were made in the colleges and in the other service units,” said Kennedy. “The units tried to do it strategically to make as little impact, as negative impact on our programs as possible.
According to Kennedy, 43 faculty positions will be left open to accommodate the cut. In order to cover the gap in the number of faculty some colleges will hire adjunct professors to teach, whereas full-time faculty get money for research, class sizes may increase and in some cases classes may be scheduled less often.
In addition, the university has been able to use private money to hire for positions previously funded by public funds, according to Kennedy.
Fifteen of the layoffs come from UMaine’s salaried staff, including 10 positions at the Cutler Health Center. Four coaches were eliminated with UMaine’s volleyball and men’s soccer programs, and one faculty member who primarily worked with Cooperative Extension. The remaining 12 layoffs were hourly workers, including eight at Cutler Health Center. The Cutler Health Center layoffs came during the transition from a university-operated center to a center owned and operated by Eastern Maine Medical Center. Vice President for Administration and Finance Janet Waldron estimates six employees were hired back by EMMC after the transition.
Most of the reduced hours resulted in converting positions from 12-month positions to 10-month positions.
Related Posts:- UMaine wrestles with ’09 – ’10 budget (September 14, 2009)
- Panel announces presidential criteria (January 18, 2005)
- Student dancers showcase mid-year work December 13 and 14 (November 19, 2007)
- UMaine announces Hartman recipients (October 16, 2003)
- Chancellor: Layoffs are coming (March 23, 2009)
