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UMaine System public commenters urge trustees to delay USM retrenchment and respect shared governance
Summary
Faculty members and USM community speakers asked the Board of Trustees to hold off on a vote to eliminate a USM program, arguing the action violated shared-governance procedures and citing arbitration precedent and the need for a teach-out plan.
Several faculty members and other public commenters urged the University of Maine System Board of Trustees to delay action on the proposed elimination of a University of Southern Maine program and to restore a fuller shared-governance review. Lydia Savage, a professor at USM and president of the Associated Faculties of the University of Maine, told trustees the decision was “something about us without us,” arguing the program elimination had been carried out in a way that violated the system—s shared-governance document and petitioning the board to return the matter to campus-level deliberation and the faculty senate.
Paul Johnson, who identified procedural and arbitration concerns, urged trustees to consider system policy 305 and cited a January 30, 2016 arbitration decision. "On page 45, it talks about the fact that you can't retrench faculty and then hire faculty part time," he said, adding there was no teach-out plan in place. Commenters pressed for adherence to the established administrative-procedure timeline and collective-bargaining obligations and warned of the morale and enrollment consequences of retrenchment.
Administration and the USM president responded that the Academic Program List (APL) and collective-bargaining processes had been followed, that impacted faculty were notified in accordance with labor agreements, and that teach-out plans and options (recall or severance per contract) were being implemented. President Edmondson said the faculty senate leadership received written responses and that administration remains committed to shared governance while noting the low enrollment numbers that prompted the proposal.
Outcome: Despite public concern and requests to delay, trustees later approved the program-elimination action for USM (see board vote summary). Administration said all students in the affected program will be able to complete their degrees through teach-out arrangements and that faculty have the contractual options enumerated in the collective bargaining agreement.
