University of Maine leaders are proposing job reductions, changes to some employees' annual appointments and consolidation of functions to address a projected fiscal 2028 budget shortfall at UMaine and its Machias campus. The latest public budget letter does not specify how many people would lose jobs.
In the Oct. 21 update, university leaders said cuts and new revenue outside academic affairs would address about $6 million of a $9 million gap in those units. Another $3 million would remain if the targets were met.
That is part of a wider $19 million projected shortfall described in the university's Sept. 17 budget message. Academic affairs, which accounts for about half the university's budget, had separately committed to cutting $10 million from its fiscal 2028 base expenses.
Proposed measures vary by unit
The October letter lists changes to the length of annual appointments and unfilled vacancies as possible measures in student life and athletics. It also identifies consolidation of research centers, tighter overtime controls and combining units in finance, administration and facilities management.
The letter lists those as examples of measures units may implement, alongside layoffs it says will be necessary. It does not give a complete account of final staffing decisions. The letter says changes would follow collective bargaining agreements.
The September message had outlined academic measures including eliminating about one-fifth of vacant positions, consolidating class sections and reducing some additional compensation. That September plan identified about $2.1 million in expense reductions and $2.2 million in revenue from enrollment and retention targets, leaving a $5.7 million academic gap. Leaders said staff layoffs and faculty retrenchments, the university's term for faculty layoffs, would be necessary. They also said closing the remaining $5.7 million academic gap would require cuts beyond normal retirements and voluntary departures unless assumptions changed or other options emerged.
The two letters do not provide a complete list of affected courses, service hours or occupied positions.
New revenue and one-time funds
The October plan combines spending reductions with expected new revenue, including more events and conferences through an expanded Sodexo agreement. Leaders said the expanded Sodexo agreement and a target of a 1% revenue increase in each unit led them to budget $1 million in additional recurring revenue beginning in fiscal 2028. They said one-time funds would again be needed.
University leaders expect to present the proposed fiscal 2028 budget to the University of Maine System in January 2027. The proposed budget would then undergo review and revision before approval by the system trustees. Assumptions about tuition, compensation, state funding and shared system costs remain subject to change.