The University of Maine System (UMS) Board of Trustees (BoT) met on Sept. 28 at 8 a.m. at the University of Maine at Presque Isle (UMPI). The BoT is a 17-member board, 16 of whom are appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Maine State Legislature. The board oversees academic programs, tuition, faculty tenure and system-wide budgets. Concerns over proposed budget and faculty cuts at UMaine were raised during the public comment period.
The meeting started with one public comment by Brian McGill, a professor of biological science at the University of Maine and president of the UMaine Faculty Senate. McGill started his statement by making it clear that he was speaking about the proposed faculty retrenchments. McGill said that he and the BoT share a mutual interest in ensuring that “a transparent and high-quality process of consultation and examination occurs before retrenchments and layoffs happen.”
McGill continues to urge the BoT to play a key role ensuring a smooth process when enacting these types of changes and decisions not only for the faculty, but the university as a whole. McGill also raised the question of alternative actions to faculty layoffs.
Several faculty representatives from various campuses joined the BoT Monday morning, including professor Colleen Marzilli from UMaine Orono, professor Timothy Surrette from UMaine Augusta, professor Clyde Mitchell from UMaine Farmington and professor Michael Curran from UMaine Fort Kent.
With the meeting held at UMPI, President Raymond Rice from UMPI gave a presentation for the BoT entitled “A Historical Overview of UMPI and its Initiatives.”
Rice discussed UMPI’s rebuilt curriculum over the years, and their initiative to remove barriers for potential and current students such as time, money, distance and relevance. Rice also discussed the future of UMPI and how the campus will continue to meet the needs of students, and how their mission will continue to stay barrier-driven and not product-driven.
Following Rice’s presentation, the board heard the chairman’s report. The report started with a reflection on all of the changes the BoT has seen and experienced over the past 58 years, the journey of the system and how they have gotten to the point they are at now. Ryan Low, Vice Chancellor for Finance and Strategic AI Integration and Treasurer, put together a presentation along with his fellow chancellors to highlight some of these changes, challenges and successes. Some of these included statewide coordination, local access and each university’s identity.
The presentation included several timelines of the system’s history of research, including biomedical research and research awards. UMaine President Joan Ferrini-Mundy highlighted some of this research, including the Research Enterprise, which she notes started with the founding of the university. The chairman’s report concluded with updates from university presidents, including discussions of enrollment levels despite demographic changes.
The UMS BoT livestreams its meetings and posts them for anyone to view. Those interested in public commentary and meeting proceedings can watch all board meetings on the UMS BoT YouTube channel.
