The University of Maine in Orono and its regional campus in Machias plan to lay off staff and cut faculty to address a $19-million budget shortfall projected for next fiscal year, a letter to both campuses on Thursday revealed. 

The reduction in workforce is one of many measures the university is taking to address a budget gap fueled by multiple headwinds, including operating costs increasing faster than tuition and state appropriations, according to the letter signed by President Joan Ferrini-Mundy and Provost Gabe Paquette. Federal changes — such as reduced funding and policies that restrict international students — are also straining the budget, the letter stated.

“We recognize that such personnel actions are painful for those directly impacted and for the overall morale of our entire university community. Until now, UMaine has largely managed to avoid employee reductions, despite deep and widespread budget cuts by peer universities across the country,” Ferrini-Mundy and Paquette wrote. 

The move comes after faculty and staff members raised concerns last December about UMaine’s transparency in evaluating programs through its strategic planning process — an initiative that aimed to both address budget deficits and plan for the university’s future. 

In March, UMaine said in a letter to campus that it planned to address a budget shortfall for the current fiscal year, which started in July, without cutting faculty and by laying off fewer than 10 people. A month later, the Faculty Senate wrote a letter to the university president, system Chancellor Dannel Malloy and the system’s board of trustees, raising concerns about leadership and the university’s future, The Bangor Daily News reported.

It is not yet clear exactly how many people will lose their jobs. University of Maine System spokesperson Samantha Warren wrote in an email to The Maine Monitor that both campuses currently have more than 2,400 employees, not including student workers. The university will cut positions according to any relevant collective bargaining agreement, she said.

Warren said that university leaders have worked hard to both close budget gaps and maintain affordability and academic excellence. Cutting positions has, so far, been limited, she said. Instead, UMaine has reduced operating expenses, found new sources of revenue, saved money through attrition and spent one-time funding resources. 

“Those actions alone are no longer sufficient to achieve the lasting financial stability UMaine needs. As the university develops its FY28 budget proposal, President Ferrini-Mundy and her team are taking a thoughtful, data-informed approach that includes both permanently reducing expenses and growing enrollment and revenue,” Warren said. “Faculty retrenchments and staff layoffs will be part of that process, though UMaine and the System will aggressively pursue all opportunities to minimize them and their impacts.”

UMaine has started drafting its 2028 budget, which would begin on July 1, 2027. The university hopes to reduce its expenses in academic affairs — which amounts to about half of the entire budget — by $10 million. This means that the university will take measures in the short term that include cutting about 20 percent of vacant positions. Long-term measures include possibly closing programs with low enrollment. 

UMaine currently projects about $303 million in expenses for next fiscal year. It only projects $284 million in revenue. 

Warren said a number of factors could change the current projections, such as future contract negotiations with workers, energy costs and future state funding.

“Current and prospective students should be confident that there has never been a better time to be a Black Bear,” Warren said. “Taking difficult action now is an investment in the flagship’s future and the success of its students and our state.”

This story was originally published by The Maine Monitor, a nonprofit civic news organization. To get regular coverage from The Monitor, sign up for a free Monitor newsletter here.