The University of Maine System (UMS) Board of Trustees (BOT) unanimously approved the University of Maine Strategic Plan proposal on Monday following more than an hour of community commentary. About 30 protestors demonstrated outside the meeting, asking for a delay in the vote, while speakers representing students, faculty and community organizations brought their views to the Board.
Chancellor Joseph Westphal said, “People have heard different viewpoints on what the issues are and I think ultimately, that’s good for Maine. It’s good for our students to know that they are that important that we are having this vigorous debate and discussion about them.”
The Plan calls for a consortium between the Fort Kent, Presque Isle and Machias campuses and an increase in faculty compensation levels. The two most-contested pieces of the plan that day: The merger between the University of Maine at Augusta and USM, and the conversion of the University College of Bangor into a “university park.”
“A vote to approve such a plan without providing the citizens of Maine an opportunity to become fully informed…would be premature and irresponsible,” said Mark Gray, Maine Education Association Executive Director.
He went to note, “You are the current Trustees of the University of Maine system, appointed by the Governor of Maine. But the University of Maine system belongs to the citizens of Maine.”
Many attendees express feelings of disenfranchisement. Don Ansbach, Chief negotiator for the Associated Faculties of the University of Maine (AFUM) told Trustees, “It will take years to undo the damage the administration has done to the relationships between the central administration and the various faculties.”
Following the community commentary section, several board members spoke to the audience. They acknowledging the frustration expressed by the speakers that day and committed themselves to a more inclusive process going forward. Individual Trustees noted the need for moving the Plan forward, despite the perceived lack of inclusivity.
“I think that taking those measures are pretty extreme and that there are some people who are in the extreme. I think those kinds of votes tend to take place when people abuse power through a lack of ethics and integrity” Said UMS Chancellor Joseph Westphal responding to the criticism.
The UMM faculty senate passed a motion of no confidence on Wednesday by a secret ballot vote of 21 to 11. “We the faculty of the University of Maine at Machias state that we lack confidence in the Chancellor and the Board of Trustees of the University of Maine System that produced the Strategic Plan,” read an e-mail forwarded to the Free Press from Bill Steele, AFUM co-Chair at USM.
Less than a decade ago, UMS faculty initiated votes of no confidence in the Chancellor at each of the institutions, ultimately resulting in the ousting of the Chancellor. In 1994 then Chancellor, Michael Orenduff introduced a new program called the “Educational Network of Maine,” or ENM.
While nobody spoke against the program itself, concern was raised with the plans implementation. “Trustee John Dimatteo expressed concern over faculty reaction to the proposal. While he was assured that the faculty participation would come after the resolution was approved as amended, he was troubled by the faculty’s request to defer action,” read the minutes.
In the minutes for the March BOT meeting Ronald Mosely, then associate professor of Business Studies at the University of Maine Machias, “expressed concern about the decision-making process,” in regard to the ENM plan. He is quoted as saying that the process ignored “meaningful faculty participation.”
Another professor from UMM spoke about the “loss of public support due to the polarized communication dynamic within the University of Maine System.”
Following these comments two representatives from student governments and six representatives from faculty governance bodies read resolutions from their organizations. Each resolution was a vote of no confidence in the chancellor.