We, the undersigned alumni of the University of Southern Maine, vehemently oppose President Kalikow and the University of Maine System’s (UMS) retrenchment plans. We support the University of Southern Maine and UMS faculty and students, and stand with them to demand a retraction of the recent faculty terminations and department cuts.

We are grateful and full of hope from seeing friends, neighbors, and strangers all over Maine and beyond join together to support and defend USM and the future of public education in this state and nation.

Education is a Public Good

We strongly believe that a comprehensive public education, with a strong foundation in the liberal arts, is a right for all Mainers. We reject the creation of a two-tiered educational system with quality private education for the elite and vocational training for everyone else.

Currently, the average cost of private college is a prohibitive $45,000 per year, and higher still in New England (Collegedata). All Maine citizens deserve access to education, not mere job training. To deny working and middle class Mainers access to affordable liberal arts and social science education is to bar access to knowledge on the basis of class.

USM and the UMS must continue to guarantee an affordable comprehensive public education to all Mainers.

The USM Financial “Crisis” is a Lie

We also reject the economic rationale that provides the cover for this egregious transformation, as given by USM President Theodora Kalikow and UMS Chancellor James Page. A careful examination of the numbers tells us unequivocally that as it’s described, the current University of Maine System’s purported financial crisis is a fabrication.

As reported in the Portland Press Herald, the UMS currently has $283 million in reserves, has increased net assets 115% in the last six years, and has a stellar bond rating of AA- (Feiner 2014). Rather than a financial crisis, UMS had a positive cash flow of $17 million in 2013 alone.

Discrepancies between administrative salaries and professors’ salaries similarly illustrate what’s behind UMS’s supposed financial crisis. Comparatively, bureaucrats are grossly overpaid at the expense of faculty and the university’s overall core mission of educating and serving students. President Kalikow herself is paid more than three times the average salary of the faculty that were fired last Friday ($203,000 compared to $64,399)(USM). These discrepancies show not only a blatant undervaluing of highly trained faculty, but a biased mismanagement of UMS finances.

Though we strongly disagree with the notion that institutions of public education should be conducted as businesses, according to business standards and values, the UMS is not ailing—it’s profitable, and faculty are generating surplus revenue (Uzzi 2014).

Attack on the Humanities and Diversity

In a letter from President Kalikow to faculty sent March 21, USM will hire 7 professors in vocational training departments in the fall (nursing, accounting, counseling, and engineering). Just this week, Chancellor Page announced the launch of a new information technology program at USM (Gluckman 2014). It is clear that liberal arts, humanities, and social science professors are being fired to make room for an expansion in vocational training programs.

Further, 9 of the 12 recently fired faculty were women, including 66% of USM’s total women of color faculty. This shows a flagrant disregard for USM’s mission statement and core values (USM). We assert that faculty diversity is essential to fulfill USM’s mission statement, necessary for a vibrant and accessible university, and must be cultivated and protected—not attacked or disregarded.

Rather than a financial crisis, we recognize that the President Kalikow and UMS administrators wish to repurpose the University of Southern Maine as a place to receive vocational training, rather than a place to receive a comprehensive, quality education. Again, we assert that a comprehensive education is based on a strong foundation of liberal arts and social science curriculum.

Many Alternate Solutions Available

Moving forward, we argue that there are multiple pathways to ensure the intellectual integrity, community accountability, and financial stability of USM and the UMS. This may begin with greatly cutting back and/or greatly reducing salaries of upper-level administrative staff. Recently added, redundant administrative positions that have been created at USM and all UMS campuses within the past five to ten years despite faculty hiring freezes (for example: the associate provost), should face extra scrutiny.

None of these pathways include faculty and departmental cuts. Faculty are a university’s most precious resource—the only employees of the university who actually create revenue and carry out its core mission. They are crucial to Maine’s vibrant intellectual and creative life, an irreplaceable part of our communities. Maine must look to faculty and students for pathways forward.

Kalikow Must Go

President Kalikow’s misleading of Maine’s public, as well as her deflection of good-faith inquiries, shows that she is not good for Maine. Beyond targeting the liberal arts and social sciences, President Kalikow intends to cut departments that have increased graduation rates—and thus, revenue (for example: Recreation and Leisure Studies is slated to be cut, despite a 54% increase in students in 2013) (Andrews 2014).

The lack of transparency and logic behind President Kalikow’s decisions calls for action. By suggesting cuts instead of alternate solutions, she has proven that she lacks the integrity and vision necessary to chart a successful course for USM.

Along with the USM student senate, we have no confidence in President Kalikow’s abilities to lead USM. We assert that the only way to secure USM’s future is to reinvest in faculty and students.

Please Join Us: What You Can Do

Today, Wednesday, March 26th, a group of USM students is accompanying Representative Ben Chipman to the State House in Augusta to meet with legislative counsel members regarding an emergency bill: LR 2883, “Resolve an act to analyze the distribution of funding within the UMaine system.”

This emergency measure calls for a review of the distribution of funds within the University of Maine System. The review will be commissioned by the Department of Education and lead by student and faculty representatives from all seven UMS campuses. The bill seeks to place a retroactive moratorium on recent faculty cuts and program eliminations at the University of Southern Maine. The bill is scheduled to be voted on Thursday, March 27, 2014.

Please call and write today. Time is of the essence.

We ask you, citizens of Maine, to join us in calling upon President Kalikow, the UMS administration, the Board of Trustees, and today, members of the legislative counsel, to stop the assault on public education.

The legislature must know why this bill is important, why University of Maine schools are integral to Maine’s future, and why it is imperative that we work together to guarantee an affordable and accessible comprehensive public education to all Mainers.

It is time for the USM administration and the UMS Board of Trustees to answer to students, faculty, and Mainers. Reinvest in Maine’s future.

We thank you.

Sincerely, the undersigned.

Andrews, Allison. “Letter to the editor: USM cuts hitting home.” Portland Press Herald. 24 March 2014: online. http://www.pressherald.com/opinion/letters/Letter_to_the_Editor__USM_cuts_hitting_home.html?searchterm=USM+recreation

Collegedata, “What’s the Price Tag for a College Education?” No date. Accessed 24 March 2014: online.

https://www.collegedata.com/cs/content/content_payarticle_tmpl.jhtml?articleId=10064

Feiner, Susan. “Maine Voices: Top-heavy university takes low road.” Portland Press Herald. 16 March 2014: online. http://www.pressherald.com/opinion/Susan_Feiner__Top- heavy_university_takes_low_road_.html

Gluckman, Nell. “UMS trustees approve facilities improvements, information technology program at USM.” Bangor Daily News. 24 March 2014: online. http://bangordailynews.com/2014/03/24/education/ums-trustees-approve-facilities-improvements-information-technology-program-at-usm/

University of Maine System Office of Human Relations, “University of Maine System Salaries of Regular Employees.” November 2013. http://www.maine.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Public- Info-November-2013-main.pdf

University of Southern Maine. “About USM: Mission Statement.” 15 November 2010. https://usm.maine.edu/about/mission-statement

Uzzi, Jeannine Diddle. “Letter to the editor: Laying off USM faculty akin to cutting profits.” Portland Press Herald. 26 March 2014: online. http://www.pressherald.com/opinion/letters/Letter_to_the_editor__Laying_off_USM_faculty_akin_to_cutting_profits.html