Wednesday, April 9, 2014

UMaine Talks Budget at Public Forum - Morgan Sturdivant, WABI

Around 500 people showed up for two public forums to talk money. UMaine officials discussed their budget for next fiscal year, which has a $10-million shortfall. “It’s been a very deliberative and intense time to work to balance the budget, but I think that the thoughtfulness and the collegiality and the input that we’ve been getting across the campus in terms of the strategies going forward will really serve our students and the state well,” said Janet Waldron, Senior Vice President and Finance and Administration. University officials say they’re not cutting faculty or programs. “We’ve worked really hard to minimize the impact on our employees, and again, no faculty layoffs, retrenchment at all. To the contrary, we’re investing back clearly in the academic area. The professional and classified will see some layoffs, but we’re still working to minimize that and we’re hoping not to have any more than seven layoffs,” said Waldron. http://wabi.tv/2014/03/28/umaine-talks-budget-public-forum/