FARMINGTON – An organizational change at the University of Maine at Farmington will eliminate four positions and reduce three others to part time as administrators begin implementing a long-range strategic plan, President Theodora J. Kalikow announced Thursday.

In addition, the work of five faculty members and two staff members will be changed to include teaching or a reassignment of what they teach to reduce the strain on the part-time budget. A 10 percent reduction in some departmental operating costs will be implemented and she and three vice presidents will not receive expected pay increases, she said.

The changes reflect approximately $1 million or 4 percent of the university’s $28 million budget.

Kalikow refrained from stating whose positions would be eliminated because the university, she said, is a small community within a small community and those affected have just recently been notified. The cuts will be effective at the end of the fiscal year in June, or in some cases, at the end of the teaching year in May, she said. Severance pay and benefit packages as well as help from the university’s human resource department will be available to help people in transition, she said.

“With the number of high school graduates going down and competition for those graduates going up, we can’t stay the same,” she said Thursday. “It’s sad about the people but UMF is important in the community and needs to stay strong.”

The number of part-timers who teach will be brought under control but not eliminated, she said, because of the expertise some bring to the classroom.

The university will also slow some desired projects but will move ahead on the Emery Arts Center, she added.

“The changes will be fairly transparent,” Kalikow said, responding to student reaction and their questions of what they would see differently at UMF. “Most were concerned about their education but realized the place was getting better, which would make their degree more valuable.”

The plan includes actions to improve pre-professional programs in law, business and health, expand opportunities for undergraduate research, enhance student support services and co-curricular programs and offer a master’s in education.

The university is in the first year of a three-year budget plan, she said.

Concerns about state funding, and last year’s loss of about 50 out-of-state students are part of the financial picture. Fifty out-of-state students represents a significant amount of money, she said.

If the shortfall in state funding isn’t as bad as anticipated, she added, any extra money will go into financial aid for students.

Meanwhile, UMF has no red ink in its budget and is being preemptive about this, she said. “It’s harder to get out of a deficit than to avoid getting into one.”

“These changes are hard decisions to make when people’s livelihoods are affected. In our efforts, we have tried to minimize the impact on the people at UMF while keeping an eye on the quality of the institution. We know that the strategic plan is the road map to our future,” she said.