AUGUSTA (AP) – The proposal to merge the University of Maine at Augusta and the University of Southern Maine should be scuttled, according to a draft recommendation by a task force established by Gov. John Baldacci.

University of Maine System Chancellor Joseph Westphal and trustees originally proposed a sweeping restructuring plan that would, among other things, have folded the Augusta campus into the larger University of Southern Maine.

But the merger was put on hold after political pressure, and Baldacci formed the task force to issue its own recommendations on the matter.

In a draft report delivered Wednesday, the Task Force to Plan for Higher Education in the Kennebec Valley recommended against merging the campuses. It even recommended that the Augusta campus continue to pursue additional bachelor’s degrees.

When the task force formed, skeptics said it was stacked with pro-merger members. But task force members said the draft recommendations were approved by the group unanimously.

“To say I’m ecstatic would be an understatement,” said Jon Schlenker, a UMA professor. “The task force did what the external consultants did not. They saw what we do at UMA.”

Supporters of the Augusta campus hope the recommendations will carry weight with the University of Maine System Board of Trustees since the panel was created by the governor.

Augusta City Councilor Sylvia Lund, a task force member, said “it will probably take a little selling” to get trustees to adopt the recommendations. But she noted it took some of that to get all the task force members to see the importance of a strong UMA to central Maine.

Previously, pro-merger task force members “were convinced there are efficiencies,” in merging UMA into USM but they changed their position after hearing how important the Augusta campus is to the community in central Maine, Lund said.