PORTLAND, Maine — The University of Maine System (UMS) Board of Trustees approved the budget for the 2023 fiscal year on Monday, a UMS news release says. The meeting was held at the University of Southern Maine's Portland campus over two days.
The fiscal year 2023 budget is up $30.8 million compared to last year's, with a total budget of $616.7 million. The total budget includes all of the individual budgets for each university in UMS, including the University of Maine School of Law (Maine Law), the news release stated.
The budget aims to improve infrastructure and facilities, as well as new spaces, space renewals, and renovations within UMS.
"New facilities and much-needed renovations and maintenance for our existing ones will enhance the quality of life for students and employees across the University of Maine System," UMS Chancellor Dannel Malloy said in the news release. "We have embraced our board's charge to ensure that we have top-notch infrastructure at our universities, which we hope will support our ongoing efforts to increase student enrollment and recruit and retain great faculty and staff."
Combined, the University of Maine at Farmington, University of Maine at Presque Isle, University of Maine at Fort Kent, and Maine Law are being allotted $6.5 million to balance their 2023 fiscal year budgets, the news release stated.
While the University of Southern Maine and the University of Maine at Augusta already have balanced budgets, the University of Maine will use $11.9 million from its campus reserves to balance out their 2023 fiscal year budget.
"Overall, universities and the system are addressing a combined $18.8 million in budgetary gaps with campus reserves and UMS budget stabilization fund transfers," the news release stated.
In early May, Malloy retrenched the positions of nine faculty members from the University of Maine at Farmington to help relieve UMS' budget crisis, leading to no-confidence votes from four faculty senates within UMS.
"Although a system special retirement incentive for faculty will lead to savings at all system universities in the next fiscal year, larger operating gaps existed at UMF, and system reserves were not sufficient to stave off the loss of nine faculty positions to balance that university's FY23 budget," the news release stated.
