FORT KENT, Maine — The University of Maine at Fort Kent will resolve its portion of the $36 million systemwide budget gap by a projected increase in enrollment and leaving six full-time equivalent faculty and staff positions open, according to President Wilson Hess.
The university has been tasked with cutting $1.8 million or about 12.4 percent of its budget to resolve a shortfall that system officials say was caused by flat funding from the state, frozen tuition rates and rising costs.
Hess said that the university has budgeted for an increase of $200,000 in tuition revenue because of a projected increase in enrollment, particularly from out-of-state students.
“We count our blessings,” Hess said. He does not anticipate that the university will be forced to lay off any faculty or staff.
Hess added that the University of Maine at Fort Kent’s financial situation is aided by a $2.6 million federal grant that the university received from the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 2011. The grant money is going toward the construction of a biomass facility that will heat buildings at both the university and local high school.
Construction has begun, and four of the 12 buildings that will be affected are already being heated by the new facility, Hess said. The university expects the project to be complete in August.
The University of Maine at Fort Kent has 164 employees, according to a headcount report dated Nov. 7, 2013. This spring, 1,058 students are enrolled, according to an enrollment report released by the system.
