You know since most young UMaine grads can only find a decent paying job by leaving the state , maybe we should just close all the UMaine campuses south of Portland and at least prepare our grads for the realty and save some money in the state budgets as well? Compare what a 1st year nursing student from UMaine is offered at EMMC her in Bangor and say at a Duke Medical? Case closed!

Now here I sit

Trying to decide

What to get for my Wife

For a Xmas Present

oh, I just remembered

It depends what I can find at the Goodwill Store

For Cutting back is the only smart thing to Do

And even though I can afford a lot more at any Store

It sure IS fun to watch the Maine University System

Whine and Complain WHaaa We cannot do W / Less>WHaaa OMG To Funny

As far as I`m concerned I am leaning towards

A middle Gound with ((( fredrogers ))) ABove

The issue is much larger than cuts and losing faculty positions. The goal of the prioritization committee is to produce a list of programs that the university should focus on and eliminate the ones of lessor priority. Thus, on January 8th thousands of students are going to be told that their programs are not a top priority at umaine. How many of these students will decide to jump ship next fall and go where they are valued? The university seems to think that it can eliminate programs and still maintain a commitment to the students in those affected programs and allow them to complete their majors. Who will teach the courses? The faculty in those programs identified for elimination will begin looking for jobs elsewhere by the end of January. Who would want to wait and live with that kind of uncertainty. For those students that decide to stay their courses most likely will be taught by graduate students. And that is if the university can find graduate students willing to stick around.

The other question that really needs to be asked and pursued is "why are academics taking the largest hit?" The reason a university exists is for academics! The current administration is leans more toward protecting sports programs. Sports at UMaine are protected from any cuts! They will not be touched is what the prez said last August.

I note from the previous posts that some think it dandy and fun to watch these cuts. Well, what you are ultimately enjoying is watching the children of your friends and colleagues leave the state and pay 35% more in tuition because they can't get an education at home.

Well My Friend

I Can Only Go By What A Good Friend

That Worked in the University System

For Many Years Told Me

The Waste in the Maine University System

Is Just beyond Your Imagination<>Like the Sports Programs You Talk About

And Many More Wasteful Things

So, Do I care Yes I Do

But, Maybe the Kids Should Look Elsewhere

FOR A Education

They already Have to Leave the State

For A JOB

Why NOT Go To School in the Same State With JOBS

But To BE Absolutely Fair<>Freakin Waste Is Everywhere in OUR State

Perhaps if the State did not have to support seven (redundant and expensive) campuses the level of cuts would not be so great?

I agree Mainecommentater. There are redundant programs throughout the system. Were it not for the local politics in the hometowns of some of these small university campuses many would have died a quiet death long ago and perhaps the current (and future) crisis could have been averted. Maybe the state can appeal to the federal government to borrow more "Stimulus" money to defer the problem into the future. That seems to be general policy now.

Dr. Kuhns-Hastings and the Senate executive committee are quite right in their assessment of the damage cuts of this magnitude will do to the University. The University, as it currently exists, will essentially be destroyed. In its place will be a much lesser institution, one that in all likelihood will neither be the research university it currently is nor that can meet the educational needs of Maine citizens. Instead, it will become a very weak regional state school, weaker even than USM currently is (although probably not as weak as it will be, once cuts wreak havoc there, too).

There does seem to be an element of glee in some of the comments -- those overpaid professors will be getting what's coming to them, by golly! While professors at UMaine may make more, in some (but certainly not all!) cases, than the average salary for Mainers, they are hardly overpaid when compared to UMaine's peer institutions. In a market economy, if you pay less, you get less -- Mainers are paying good salaries to UMaine's professors to get good professors for their children, and to get the kind of research that can power the future economy of Maine. People who chortle about professors getting fired are really laughing at their children and their state being deprived of a community resource that can help ensure their future. Besides, the professors will find jobs elsewhere, often with better pay than what they are currently making. The only people truly losing here are Mainers in general.

And yes, the "seven unique universities" in the System's motto is a perversion of the meaning of "university". UMaine, and possibly USM, are the only universities in the state. The Five Other Things aren't. One may be a decent four-year college, and another may be a good community college, but that's about it. With the exception of Augusta, which is bloated from the Bangor campus, all of the Five Other Things are smaller than one of UMaine's colleges, which are ably administered by deans. Why, then, have the added expense of presidents and all the other administrative layers at the Other Things? Why not admit the reality of the situation, do away with the System entirely, and have all the other campuses (except USM) be just that: other campuses of UMaine, administered by a dean each? That would go a long way toward closing the budget gap in higher education, I think.

http://saveumaine.blogspot.com

Well said, SaveUMaine. Universities are only as good as their faculty. To prioritize administration and fiefdoms over academics and research is absolutely crazy. Maine has got to change.

It's all about the overhead. I wonder how much they could save if they closed the Alfond and cancelled the hockey program?

Are all the U Maine programs equally necessary? I teach Vet Tech, which is necessary for students to get real jobs in the community. But is Philosophy really necessary?