The head of the University of Maine System on Monday will reveal a plan for the restructuring of the seven campus university to offset an estimated $42.8 million deficit over the next four years.
Chancellor Richard Pattenaude will present his plan to the UMS Board of Trustees Monday morning. The news comes after three reports were released this summer proposing changes to the way the university system is structured.
“The Chancellor was asked to consolidate the three system reports: The report that dealt with Academic Affairs, systemwide services, and the report that was done by the Flanagan task force, as it’s known,” said Caswell.
The plan may call for the combination or elimination of some system serices, and the centralization of system-wide services through technology, according to a spokeswoman for the UMS.
“I haven’t seen it, I don’t know what form or shape it will take,” Caswell said. “I know each of the presidents have been in touch with the Chancellor’s office. It’s been a topic of conversation,” he added.
USM adminstrators have been focused on the University’s Strategic Plan: USM’s mission statement for the next five years.
University officials will hold eight public forums on University of Maine campuses and at the System office after Pattenaude’s plan is announced.
“When he presents it to the trustees, it’s not necessarily a done deal,” said Caswell. ?