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As budget uncertainties and financial instabilities continue to challenge all levels of education in the state, the University of Maine System remains steadfast in its goal of revitalizing and reinforcing the missions of its member universities.
However, some members of the University of Maine faculty are at odds with steps being taken to meet that goal.
Recently, some on the UMaine Faculty Senate have raised concerns over the University of Maine System’s plan to move ahead with its Academic Program Alignment Strategy. The program comes as part of an earlier effort known as the New Challenges, New Directions Initiative.
In 2009, as the system faced a four-year, $42.8 million deficit, the New Challenges, New Directions Initiative was announced. It was designed to increase the quality, efficiency and financial stability of all University of Maine System institutions.
The system’s announcement also coincided with a separate UMaine effort to shore up a $25 million budget gap expected at the end of 2014.
At the time, reaction to the system’s initiative was mixed, and many aspects are still greeted with skepticism today.
As the initiative moves forward, one system official said the Academic Program Alignment Strategy is a vital part of its goals and success. The strategy calls for aligning the needs of Maine’s economy with all of the system’s academic programs.
The University of Maine System will review those programs with five or fewer graduates per year, develop new programs based on the state’s needs, work closely with Maine businesses and monitor the progress of its seven member campuses on a frequent basis, among other things.
Despite its intentions, Michael Grillo, president of the UMaine Faculty Senate, views such measures as compromising UMaine’s independence and, more importantly, its role as the state’s flagship campus.
“We see this [Academic Program Alignment Strategy] as weakening the shared governance powers of the administrations and faculties of each campus, under a centralizing control that, in the name of efficiency, quality, and relevance, in fact homogenizes, dilutes, and undermines each campuses’ fulfillment of its unique mission,” Grillo wrote in an email to members of the faculty senate, which was forwarded to The Maine Campus.
“These are the sentiments of the executive committee, but they are articulated by me,” Grillo said, in responding to questions about the email. “I understand the motivations of this program, but my words are a caution to all the players involved that we must be more conversant with these types of issues.”
Grillo’s concerns, and those of his colleagues on the senate, are nothing new in the relationship between UMaine and the University of Maine System, which over the years has often been tenuous.
Established in 1968, the system is the only financial and academic enterprise that oversees public postsecondary education in Maine. It consists of seven universities and nine outreach centers and boasts an annual operating budget of more than $200 million, the majority of which comes from tuition and state appropriations.
UMaine is the system’s largest campus. Its enrollment of 11,501 dwarfs the six other universities. Because much of the system’s revenue streams are derived from tuition, UMaine has much to gain or lose when the University of Maine System chooses to pursue measures like the Academic Program Alignment Strategy.
“There’s a sea-change going on right now, both in Maine and across the country, and I think this really frightens people,” said James Breece, vice chancellor of Academic Affairs for the system, who will oversee the alignment strategy. “Faculty at UMaine have questions and that’s fair, but we have not rang the bell yet, and I don’t view this as a clash. We are still planning things, and I am more than happy to discuss these sorts of things with everyone involved.”
For Grillo, a dialogue is important.
He said what is at issue with the alignment strategy is UMaine having to redefine itself according to what the system wants, which does not always align with the perspectives of officials and educators at UMaine.
“No one is arguing with the pressing needs of this university, but we need to ask ourselves what is the best way to coordinate our efforts on these types of issues,” Grillo said.
“This is sometimes overlooked at the system level; I recommend we organize the faculty in each discipline, at each university, and have them speak with one another. Then these concerns can be brought to the [system’s] board of trustees and from this collaboration, the mission can grow more effectively,” he added.
In addressing Grillo’s concerns over UMaine’s place in making its own decisions, Breece was emphatic about how the alignment strategy will work.
“This is not a mandate. I’m more of an air traffic controller. I simply get the plane off the ground and those at UMaine will fly it,” Breece said. “I’m asking the university to look at their own programs and ask the right questions to determine what is needed to grow them and move them forward. I put the spotlight on these things. I don’t care what they do — they just need to do something.”
Breece said, at this point, the alignment strategy is just beginning, and that there will be more discussion and planning before implementation takes place. There is no timeline for results, and beyond that he said a framework is just shaping up.
Breece is now taking his case to each university and traveling across the state to discuss the alignment strategy and hear any grievances officials may have.
The faculty senate has also yet to discuss the matter, and Grillo said in the coming weeks that its members will review the alignment strategy, which will serve as a starting point for what he hopes will be “an in-depth discussion with productive senate motions that can address its concerns by offering clearer and better grounded alternatives.”
“None of us, underline, none of us want to do strategic planning,” said UMaine President Paul Ferguson, in speaking with members of faculty senate last Wednesday. “But we’ve got to strengthen our development and build our revenue streams, and the University of Maine System is here to push us along.
“We must go forward into the 21st century.”
Bangor Daily News