UMA and UMF could both see differences in the way they operate.
A proposal to reorganize the University of Maine system would affect schools in central Maine.
Under the plan released Friday, Chancellor Joseph Westphal said the University of Maine at Augusta, which has a campus in Lewiston, would become part of the University of Southern Maine.
No universities within the system would be allowed to grant associate’s degrees. The University of Maine at Farmington would strengthen its mission as a liberal arts college and would get a new name to match the system’s reorganization.
“It’s a vision for the future,” Westphal said. “It’s an attempt to address a number of issues we believe are critical to education, higher education, in Maine.”
The full plan, released on the university system’s Web site Friday, calls for a major restructuring of the entire university system. Without it, Westphal said, the university system is facing a $40 million budget deficit by 2008.
He predicted the changes could save the system $15 million a year, once implemented.
In a move that would consolidate seven schools into four, the universities in Fort Kent, Machias and Presque Isle would merge into the University of Northern Maine and the University of Southern Maine would take over the University of Maine at Augusta.
That would mean USM’s Lewiston-Auburn College and the University of Maine at Augusta, which share a Lewiston campus, would merge. The new USM would not grant associate’s degrees.
Westphal said the University of Maine at Farmington would strengthen its liberal arts niche, but offered few details. He said the school would also change its name to match the new system organization, with the University of Southern Maine, University of Northern Maine and University of Maine.
Westphal acknowledged that UMF alumni would likely be upset about the change, but said, “Eventually, I think people will turn around.”
No new name had been chosen for the school.
University officials have been working on the reorganization plan for six months. They discussed the proposal with some lawmakers and university system staff on Thursday during an unpublicized meeting with the Legislature’s Education Committee. On Friday, Westphal toured the state to talk about the plan.
He said the reorganization would become essential if student enrollment dropped during the next decade, as some have predicted.
University officials are expected to discuss the proposal with students, alumni and university employees over the next several months. Westphal said he hopes to have approval from the Board of Trustees by November. If approved, the reorganization could take five years to complete.
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