A tuition raise at USM is likely in 2003 school year as costs rise across the entire University of Maine system. Officials cite rising insurance and benefit costs and flat funding from the State of Maine as factors in the budget crunch. A tuition raise is likely to be small, which would follow a long precedent of 1 to 2 percent increases each year. No figures are final until May 5, the deadline set by USM President Richard Pattenaude for a final proposal.
The bulk of USM’s new expenses stem from rising health care and insurance costs as well as a new personnel-management software system called PeopleSoft. Samuel Andrews, chief financial officer, said that healthcare is going up 23 percent this year. Along with other factors, especially the state’s flat funding, the budget looks like “a two-legged stool without some kind of tuition raise,” he said.
The amount of the healthcare and insurance premiums paid by unionized employees is determined in negotiations with their unions. Unions span the entire UMS system. There are many unions at USM, all of which must be dealt with separately by the administration. It is also unknown whether the unions will negotiate wage increases or other additional benefits.
The state’s flat funding is vexing to budget makers. Even when the state legislature decides on a figure, the money is not guaranteed to be available for the entire term, Andrews said.
“[The state] took about $900,000 from USM this year,” he said, which included a $425,000 retraction in April and another in March. He says this happens when budget problems at the state level trickle down to the University’s budget.
“State revenue isn’t what they hoped it would be,” Andrews said.
Pattenaude announced in an e-mail that a series of meetings and forums will be held in the upcoming weeks and months and invited faculty and students to voice their concerns. “Flat funding will not address our increased operating costs,” he wrote. “It’s critical that we all have a say in the decisions ahead and I encourage you to share your feedback with your respective deans, vice presidents, or with me.”
Development on new and existing buildings throughout the campuses will continue because they have already been paid for. The parking garage on Bedford Street, for example, is being funded by $8 million in state funds, and the rest is being funded by bonds. The top floors in the Glickman Family Library are being funded largely by gift money from the Glickman family, Unum, and Verizon. The bio-wing addition to the Science Building is being funded by state bonds, research and development bonds, and University bonds. The new John Mitchell Building in Gorham is being built with $4 million in state bonds, $2 million in federal funds, and an additional $2 million is being covered by the University
John Bronson can be contacted at [email protected]