Correction: The photo originally published with this article pictured the wrong building for the Office of the President. The photo has been changed to show the correct building for the office, located in Alumni Hall. The Maine Campus is committed to responsible journalism and to fixing errors.
The University of Maine’s Faculty Senate sent a letter addressed to President Joan Ferrini-Mundy, Chancellor Dannel Malloy and the Board of Trustees (BoT) on April 3 expressing dissatisfaction with university leadership. The document claims that university leaders have broken their commitment to shared governance through a lack of communication with faculty. This comes after all UMaine departments were asked to cut their budgets by 7%. Faculty and leadership expanded on key issues raised in interviews with the Maine Campus.
According to the survey outlined within the letter, a majority of the senate recorded concerns about leadership not embracing shared governance policies outlined in previous agreements. For instance, it states that “policies and statements on shared governance have repeatedly not been followed” given that “collecting faculty input does not itself constitute shared governance…[that] requires not merely solicitation of feedback but its genuine consideration, transparent response and meaningful incorporation into decision-making.” The letter also shares that failure to address concerns has “eroded faculty confidence in leadership.”
The joint statement added that leadership has struggled to retain staff, due in part to a lack of a shared plan to reduce instability.
“The President has failed to maintain a stable and effective leadership team evidenced by the current reliance on appointments…for six critical positions,” the letter stated. “[With] the turnover of ten Chiefs of Staff in eight years… [there is] no formal shared plan to resolve this leadership instability.”
One example of administration failing to embrace shared decision making connects to the March 2026 appointment of Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs Gabriel Paquette.
“Recently, the President appointed a Provost without faculty consultation or prior communication, which is a direct violation of both shared governance principles and tradition of how these positions are filled. Rushing to fill positions through a poor process is as bad as having these positions open,” stated the letter.
Brian McGill, a member of the Faculty Senate, expanded on the issues raised in an interview. He emphasized that even though the agreement of shared governance has legal weight, administrators have sidelined a joint process when making decisions. He added that the faculty are also supposed to have a say in non-academic matters, which is a primary area of concern.
“There’s been an awful lot of kind of tell us what was decided, or ask us and then completely ignore the process, [with administrators] often asking us very late in the process after decisions have already been made,” said McGill.
McGill added that the faculty were concerned about the university budget, citing a crisis despite a record high for enrollment in 2022 and an increase in grant money.
“People are having a very hard time computing how we got into a crisis and I think there needs to be much better communication if they’re gonna want buy-in about responding to this crisis, potentially in some pretty drastic ways,” said McGill.
As a result of a lack of confidence in leadership, Faculty Senate members added in the letter that UMaine faculty are “unable to fully execute their jobs, lack support and are deeply concerned about the leadership leading us into an unsustainable and poorly planned future.”
The letter also included survey data showing widespread discontent from 314 faculty members, demonstrating low confidence in administrators as well as stated low morale. Finally, the letter contained a request for Ferrini-Mundy to acknowledge its receipt at an open Faculty Senate meeting on April 15. Faculty Senate President Henri Akono also reported at the April 15 open meeting that the letter has also been endorsed by the graduate student government.
Ferrini-Mundy complied with this request and made a formal acknowledgement of her receipt of the faculty statement during a brief speech at the open Faculty Senate meeting.
She elaborated on her thoughts surrounding the letter in an interview with the Maine Campus following the meeting.
“[I had] a sense of really being pleased to be able to understand concerns in a clearly laid out way, and to give us kind of the beginnings of a roadmap, as you heard [the Faculty Senate] say, for moving forward,” said Ferrini-Mundy when asked about her thoughts upon first receiving the letter. She added that “a lot of communication and a lot of collaboration” is the key to improving the university.
Ferrini-Mundy said she intends to address the concerns with a formal report to the next Faculty Senate, expected by May 31, detailing plans for an official hiring process for university leadership positions.
“There’s an actual expectation of a report at the end of May that we will provide, of course, but really, our work is ongoing and very integrated,” said Ferrini-Mundy. “A lot of this is really using the mechanisms that we already have to just keep doing more communication, more transparency and making sure that we’re using all of those mechanisms well.”
Meanwhile, Malloy and the BoT have already issued a response to the Faculty Senate letter expressing their support for Ferrini-Mundy as president of UMaine, but also a willingness to increase collaboration between administration and faculty.
“We want to be clear and unequivocal: President Joan Ferrini-Mundy and her Cabinet have our full confidence and support.”
The response letter addressed the issues of shared governance, the hiring process for administrators, communication and transparency. It remains to be seen whether the letter will open new lines of communication to reduce tensions between faculty and the administration, with the next meeting in May potentially offering clarity.
