LEWISTON – University of Maine System schools need to become a tighter system – with better use of technology and a leaner work force – or they risk running out of money, Chancellor Richard Pattenaude warned Friday.

Revenues simply aren’t keeping up with spending, he said.

“I have the same sense of urgency that President Obama has,” Pattenaude said.

The sour economy has cost the system millions in lost investment income. Enrollment at the seven state-run universities has flattened. State support has fallen.

On Jan. 11, Pattenaude released a 16-page report to trustees, calling for the formation of a task force. The group will be charged with making recommendations to the trustees for widespread changes.

“All options are on the table,” Pattenaude said. “The universities may look different. They may be put together differently.”

For Pattenaude, who served as the University of Southern Maine president for 16 years before his promotion to chancellor 18 months ago, the move marks his first major attempt to steer a new course for the system.

He had little choice.

The state universities need to cut $42.8 million over the next four years to balance their budgets.

Already, the school system has had layoffs and left positions unfilled to help meet an immediate $8 million cut requested by Gov. John Baldacci.

“There are more layoffs to come,” Pattenaude said.

In the longer term, the school system needs to adapt to a recurring money gap, forecast to be around $6 million.

“That $6 million gap goes on forever,” Pattenaude said.

He hopes the task force’s recommendations can fill the void.

Pattenaude believes it could be done without raising tuition or lessening the product: “educating people for lives and careers.”

“We are asking ourselves, ‘How do we do what’s best for the state and the students?'” he said.

One answer is a change in technology, he said.

Though the university system has been delivering classes remotely for more than 20 years, the use of such tools as the Internet, streaming video and specially designed educational software has been sporadic.

In part, many of the faculty are still unsure whether they ought to use technology in the classroom and to what extent. Currently, about 40 percent of instructors use computers or other technology, he said.

It some cases, students may be able to serve part of their class time at a home computer and part in the classroom, he said.

The trick is finding how much is proper for a particular class. It’s not the same for every class, course or discipline, he said.

Another means of efficiency may be found in collaborations among the campuses, Pattenaude said. Already the system offices oversee purchasing and payroll for all seven universities. And in some cases, smaller campuses have contracted with larger ones for computer work and even operation of a school bookstore.

“The system is a little too loosely structured,” Pattenaude said. “We need a little more system.”