Addressing crowds at all three campuses on Monday, President Botman elaborated on how USM will recover from a loss of $2.7 million in state funds: through major cuts to libraries, technology, professional staff, and non-tenured faculty – effective immediately.
In prepared remarks, Botman vowed to see the University through a “storm of epic proportions,” adding that similar or more drastic cuts are almost certain in the coming years.
“Today, I face a responsibility that is as excruciating as it is unavoidable,” she said. “Guiding this academic community through a wrenching adjustment to a new financial reality.”
The most specific information was revealed right away, as she listed funds that have already been revoked and returned to the state.
Among them: $300,000 set aside for travel, $100,000 for online course development and support, $200,000 in upgrades to the school’s website, and $200,000 for “technology and other equipment”.
An additional $200,000 in non-credit activities such as Lifeline and continuing education will be snipped, along with $50,000 in non-faculty hiring searches.
But one of the biggest and most difficult decisions, Botman said, was to strip $300,000 from the libraries’ acquisition budget.
The remainder of the deficit must be recovered by a “drop-dead” deadline of June 2009, and will be acquired through up to 65 personnel layoffs. While declining to specify where exactly these will be made, Botman stressed that professional staff will – as they have in recent years – continue to see dismissals.
“Sadly, reductions in the non-teaching ranks have been and remain unavoidable,” she said. “There are no remaining reserves on either the local or system level to tap.”
She also stressed that the school was making a strong effort to move away from its “reliance” on part-time faculty, while calling on tenured professors to voluntarily increase their course loads. She and other administrators will also begin teaching in the spring.
The final forum of Botman’s tour was held in Portland, where a packed Hannaford Lecture Hall went silent as the the President took the stage – and her soft voice immediately set a solemn tone.
“Today, USM is a very different place than when I became President in July.” she began.
The University was projecting a nearly balanced budget for the 2008-09 fiscal year, a strong turnaround from a situation auditors described as a “mess” just last spring.
At the same time, she portrayed the loss of $2.7 million as somewhat of a bargain after Governer Baldacci’s initial proposal, which threatened to curtail $3.2 million earlier this month.
But with so many careers in the room hanging in the balance, the tone remained dour – if not apologetic.
“This is something that no one at either USM or the University of Maine System Office caused, and for which neither can be blamed,” she added.
Following her remarks, President Botman took questions from the audience of mostly faculty and staff.
Several questioned whether the school was doing enough to save money through energy conservation, prompting only an assurance that it was receiving scrutiny.
Others asked about the viability of the tri-campus system.
“Have you given any thought to downsizing facilities as well?” wondered one audience member.
Botman deferred that and many other questions to the pending results of a strategic planning process, which she initiated upon taking office in July. The process aims at providing research and suggestions toward a five-year plan to restructure USM, though so far no specific possibilities or scenarios have been offered.
“I’m hoping some creative ideas come of it,” she said.
Responding to several other questions, Botman referred to what she called the administration’s guiding principle: “do no harm to the classroom.” One questioner, however, provoked an admission that only the athletics department is actually off-limits in the current environment.
“Some of our athletes are our best students retained from year to year,” she said. “We’ve made a commitment to them.”
While the crowd was dominated by those on payroll, one of the few students on hand – second-year psychology major Brooke Hayne – was prompted to show up when somebody handed her a slip of paper in the computer lab, warning that machines there were at stake.
She left worried about her school’s future.
“This is so bleak,” she said of the president’s address. “Why bother with Wi-Fi on busses, and putting all those ads up everywhere – who would want to come here now?”
The Free Press will have more information as it becomes available, and will be discussing the situation with President Botman and others before the Thanksgiving break.