By The Associated Press

University of Maine System trustees are angry over what they perceive as legislative meddling in the restructuring of public universities, and some are threatening to resign, said the board’s vice chairman said.

A new law prevents the board from ever changing the names – or the structure – of the seven campuses without the Legislature’s approval.

The Legislature’s action represents an “unprecedented intrusion” into the board’s mission of running the university system without political interference, said Wickham Skinner, vice chairman of the UMS Board of Trustees.

“We can no longer make changes of a major nature without permission of the Legislature,” Skinner said.

Sen. John Martin, D-Eagle Lake, drafted the language in the Senate that that was approved along with Gov. John Baldacci’s state budget. It stipulates the number, names and locations of University of Maine System campuses.

The trustees can blame themselves for the Legislature’s decision to step in, Martin said, because they failed to consult lawmakers before deciding to move ahead with a reorganization plan without greater legislative involvement.

“I hope they have learned from their mistakes,” Martin said. “In the future, the strategic plan of a public institution should be conducted in public and not in a private room somewhere.”

Rep. Arthur Lerman, D-Augusta, submitted a similar measure in the House. Martin and Lerman serve on the Appropriations Committee.

Sen. Karl Turner, R-Cumberland, said the Legislature’s actions were irresponsible and that lawmakers should let the 15-member board do its job without political interference. Trustees are appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Legislature.

“We need to let that system work,” Turner said. “Otherwise, why do we need trustees when we can run the university system through fiat, with 186 trustees who also happen to be legislators?”

As long as the Legislature controls the University of Maine System, Turner said, there will never be any reform. He said legislators will always protect their local “pork” and block any changes that might cost people their jobs.

The trustees’ strategic plan aimed to close a projected $102 million budget gap over the next five years.

It called for consolidating administration and transforming some universities into satellite campuses of other universities. It also called for a study to see if the names of the universities should be changed to eliminate confusion.

When the plan was released in March 2004, it called for the universities in Fort Kent, Presque Isle and Machias to merge into one. That measure was later scuttled in favor of greater collaboration, and the chancellor recently agreed to discuss alternatives to the merger of the University of Southern Maine and the University of Maine at Augusta in response to concerns raised by lawmakers from Kennebec County.

In a March 22 letter to Senate President Beth Edmonds, University of Maine System Chancellor Joseph Westphal warned that adoption of the provision would “create a very disturbing precedent.”

But the provision enjoyed strong support from a group of Kennebec County legislators who opposed the plan to merge the Augusta campus into the larger USM.

House Majority Leader Glenn Cummings said he and Senate Majority Leader Michael Brennan didn’t favor the change but they moved forward because they couldn’t pass the budget without the Kennebec County Democrats.

Martin said the university system is supported by public money and should be subjected to public oversight. “There are some trustees who think they’re running a private corporation,” he said.