LEWISTON — As University of Southern Maine President David Flanagan works to cut millions from the budget, he said Tuesday he expects Lewiston-Auburn College to remain part of USM.

“The configuration of courses and number of people here at LAC may change, but there will be an LAC,” Flanagan said. “There will be a dean. There will be a robust array of courses to serve the students here.”

Changes next year will include realigned programs, with one or more eliminated, and cuts in faculty and administration.

They must be made, said Flanagan, 67, best known for his days as head of Central Maine Power.

Flanagan was asked in July to become USM president on an emergency basis to make cuts and changes, eliminate a deficit and create a fiscally sound university.

USM’s annual budget is $140 million; the deficit is $16 million.

Like many colleges and universities, the University of Maine System, including USM, has been hit by fewer students from a declining birthrate, increased competition from nonprofit and for-profit colleges and universities and a lousy economy that’s left many graduates underemployed and mired in student debt, encouraging others to forgo college.

Enrollment at USM’s Lewiston-Auburn College is down 6 percent this fall, as it is across USM. In the past four years, enrollment at USM has fallen from 8,500 to 6,500.

The numbers mean costs aren’t covered.

After assembling what he called a strong team, Flanagan will pitch a plan to the University of Maine System board of trustees Monday, Sept. 22, in Fort Kent.

Flanagan will share specifics after that. In an interview at Lewiston-Auburn College, he offered an outline.

His plan will “identify the magnitude of cuts we think we need, some areas we think we need to reinvest to grow. You can’t cut your way out of trouble. You have to think about where you’ll grow and develop, as well.”

USM will upgrade technology to offer more online courses. It will ramp up recruitment to attract and retain more students. “Our graduation rates are not very good,” he said. Students will get help finding internships to kick-start careers.

In January, Flanagan will back his plan with a balanced budget presentation. “Our mission is to provide an accessible, affordable, quality education that’s relevant to Maine and our communities. Affordability is the key word. That’s why we have to control our costs.”

Higher tuition will not be part of the budget. USM tuition is $8,000 per year for in-state students, $23,000 for out of state.

The price has prompted more high school graduates to attend Central Maine Community College in Auburn or another Maine Community College System campus where tuition is about $4,000 per year.

Flanagan said he understands costs have turned some away.

“Maine’s average income lags behind the country,” he said.

Flanagan said he wouldn’t recommend cutting tuition but will work to provide more scholarships and other opportunities for students to enroll at reduced costs.

As to which programs will disappear, Flanagan said USM has to prioritize, keeping programs that are mostly self-supporting or critical to society, including nursing and programs that will fit a new model of relevance.

In the mid-1990s USM made the mistake of offering “as wide of offerings as anybody,” he said. “It’s just not feasible.”

Programs will be redesigned, Flanagan said, citing LAC’s “leadership and organizational structure that is in some ways a model for the direction other parts of the university should be going in.”

Businesses want graduates with high communication skills who can think critically. Programs will combine needed skills and offer more online options and flexibility.

“Some of our majors are too rigid,” he said. “They require too many credit hours. People drop out. They’re stuck with loans and don’t have a degree.”

He acknowledged there’s a lot of anxiety among faculty and students about the coming cuts. “The best I can do is tell people the truth. There’s been too much rhetoric and not enough reality.”

Asked what Lewiston-Auburn College would look like a year from now, he said there were two possible routes. The Lewiston college could go on its own, “or integrate with Portland and Gorham. I’m for going the route of integration. That gives LAC the most diversity of opportunities and exposure to the different courses.”

He hopes USM five years from now will be “truly accessible, truly affordable.”

Employers will regard a USM graduate “as someone who’s done the work and deserves consideration. It will be a place people will have a lot of pride to graduate from,” Flanagan said. “They do now. I want it to be more.”

bwashuk@sunjournal.com