Hiring records from the University of Maine System show loopholes, waivers and personal connections played roles in the appointments of seven officials into some of the highest-paying nonteaching jobs in the system.
Six of the seven worked for the same state agency during Gov. John Baldacci’s administration, and the seventh, Meg Weston, was a member of the system’s board of trustees.
The current and past chairmen of the board both said that while they believe there was no improper influence in most of the hires, a review of the process is warranted.
And the new chancellor of the system, James Page, said he will add the hiring issue to a review he is doing of recent questions involving system pay raises.
“I take the allegations and concerns very seriously, but I’m not prepared to say what the strengths of those allegations and concerns are,” Page said. “Everything will be looked at.”
For three jobs — two of which oversee multimillion-dollar budgets — the system directly hired former state staffers, meaning there was no customary search for the best-qualified people.
Each of those job openings was given emergency status, which allowed the system to waive a policy that requires openings be advertised and a search conducted.
A spokesman said there is no record on the total number of search waivers that have been granted by the University of Maine System.
Former state officials were given jobs even though they did not have the college degrees the system listed as requirements or were not ranked as the top candidate.
In another case, a member of the system’s board of trustees resigned from the board and a month later applied for and subsequently was given a $137,000 job at the University of Southern Maine. Officials say this appearance of impropriety prompted the board to approve a new conflict-of-interest ethics policy requiring a one-year waiting period.
Excluding benefits, the annual payroll for the seven positions is $898,000.
No ‘inside baseball’
The seven hired are Rebecca Wyke, the system’s vice chancellor of administration and finance; Ryan Low, the system’s chief lobbyist; Ellen Schneiter, vice president for administration and finance at the University of Maine at Augusta; Richard Thompson, chief information officer for the system; M.F. “Chip” Gavin, director of facilities management and general services for UMS; Elaine Clark, former executive director for facilities and real estate at the Orono campus; and Weston, vice president for advancement at the University of Southern Maine.
Most of the seven positions were approved by the trustees, who are appointed by the governor.
Richard Pattenaude was chancellor of the UMaine system while six of the seven appointments were made, some of them by him personally. He retired from the position earlier this year.
“No job was ever created for anyone … all are performing at the highest level,” Pattenaude said.
The hiring questions come on the heels of another personnel controversy in the system. The Portland Press Herald and Bangor Daily News revealed that the system gave millions of dollars in discretionary pay raises in recent years while facing multimillion-dollar budget cuts.
Page, who took over on March 20, has said the pay raise reports troubled him and new discretionary raises were suspended or require his approval while he looks into the issue.
Joe Wishcamper, who was chairman of the system’s board of trustees when most of the seven appointments were made, acknowledged that shortcuts may have been taken to hire people who already were known to the system from their state government work.
Although he believes none were the result of “inside baseball,” Wishcamper said, the hiring process raises “legitimate concerns and those concerns should be aired and reforms and changes made to take them into account.”
The hiring pattern was discovered in documents provided by the system in response to a Freedom of Access Act request by the Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting and the BDN.
UMS hiring procedures not followed
Wyke was hired without a job posting or job search. She had been commissioner of the Department of Administration and Financial Services while Baldacci was governor.
In 2008, Baldacci nominated Wyke to become CEO of the Finance Authority of Maine. When the UMS job became available, she withdrew her nomination and took the system job.
In 2012, Wyke was one of three finalists to be the new chancellor of the system. The job went to James Page.
“Becky was probably the best hire in the system in the 10 years I have been on the board,” said Wishcamper, who was chairman of the board of trustees when Wyke was appointed.
Low was hired as vice president for administration and finance at the University of Maine at Farmington without a posting or search. He held Wyke’s position of state Department of Administration and Financial Services commissioner after she went to the system job.
Low since has been promoted to the system’s chief lobbyist after a job search limited to only other university system employees.
Ellen Schneiter was named vice president for administration and finance at the University of Maine at Augusta after a job search, but her degree is not in the field required by the job description. Schneiter held the Department of Administration and Financial Services commissioner’s position after Low left.
Thompson, the university system’s chief information officer, was hired without a posting or job search. He was hired despite having only a high school education.
Thompson had been chief information officer in the Baldacci administration and won a national award for his work for the state in 2009.
Gavin went from being director of the state Bureau of General Services to director of facilities management and general services for UMS. He was hired despite not having a degree in any of the required fields, such as engineering.
“We didn’t need an engineer for this job … The search committee must have looked at this and determined he met the requirements,” said Tracy Bigney, the system’s chief human resources officer.
Gavin also received a mostly critical report from the system’s own search committee.
Clark was hired despite being rated No. 3 and No. 5 in search committee documents. She had been director of general services for the state.
Clark since has left the job managing facilities for the University of Maine.
Weston was hired despite having no professional experience in fundraising. She applied for the job one month after resigning from the UMS board of trustees, prompting a new ethics policy requiring a year’s waiting period for moving from the board to a paid job in the system.
She was appointed to the board by Gov. Angus King and was reappointed by Gov. Baldacci.
Two of the seven officials responded to the Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting’s request for comment. Low and Weston both said they believe they were qualified for their jobs.
Baldacci, responding to questions by email, wrote, “The men and women who serve at the top levels of Maine government are some of the most qualified in the state and have numerous opportunities for employment. I’m proud that members of my administration decided to continue public service when they could have found much more lucrative employment in the private sector.”
Howard Segal, a professor of history at the University of Maine at Orono for the past 26 years, is a member of the Faculty Senate. He said the hires confirmed his belief that at the upper levels of the University of Maine System “education is not the issue — political power is.”
“It’s terrible business-as-usual, and it’s outrageous,” he said. “These are my tax dollars, and I’m infuriated.”
Policies have leeway
The system’s hiring policy manual states, “It is impermissible to hire an individual who does not meet the state minimum qualifications.”
Former Chancellor Pattenaude and Human Resources Chief Bigney said the rules allow leeway, even with the minimum standards policy.
“When you get to a senior level,” said Pattenaude, “experience weighs as much or more than a degree from years ago.”
“We are usually quite careful to say relevant experience can be substituted for education,” Bigney said.
However, none of the job qualification documents provided to the Center by the system’s office state that experience can be substituted for educational requirements.
Wishcamper, who is president of a real estate development firm, likened some of the system hires to his personal experience in business, in which an applicant who you already know is a “lower risk” than other applicants.
“To some extent, decisions were probably made here to take shortcuts in the process rather than the full-blown process the policy called for,” Wishcamper said. “My impression is there was probably someone available who we really wanted.”
Michelle Hood, who is now chairwoman of the UMS trustees, said she is confident the hires were made wisely but she did not recall details of any of the hires except Low.
“I certainly plan to talk with the board and chancellor about some concerns some people might have about this to make sure we’re being as transparent as we can be,” Hood said.
Bangor Daily News reporter Nick McCrea contributed to this story.
The Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting is a nonpartisan, nonprofit news service based in Hallowell. Email: mainecenter@gmail.com. Web: pinetreewatchdog.org.
Great article on the big stink in Pattenaude’s processes. They really smell bad, but should we be surprised? Good thing Page has the clean up job, at least it will be done thoroughly and above board.
LePage cleanup, right! You need look no furhter than the hire of his daughter and see that he is no better!
Page, not LePage.
Reading is FUNdamental.
Isn’t LePage the current governor?
He is, but Page is the current Chancellor and he is the person being discussed here. As StateMachine said above, “reading is FUNdamental.”
Pay no attention to the reading comprehension skills of the left.
It is a symptom of Lepage Derangement Syndrome.
(We’re not sure yet, but methadone may help.)
Uhhhh…you said skills. You sarcasm has been duly noted and liked!!
One a confidential assistant, in a sea of hostility; the others, cronies in a sea of overpaid incompetents.
Anyone who has ever worked for the UMaine system can tell you about the extreme political nature of the system. It’s all about who you know and who scratches whose back. This particularly prevalent on the Orono campus.
That is not a problem if they are capable and can do the job. Your implication is that all “back scratchers” don’t deserve the job they get. I’m not sure that is always true.
It does not matter if a “back scratcher” can do the job or not. There is a hiring policy in place to make the process fair, unbiased, and open. A “back scratcher” who can do the job has no more RIGHT to it than a “non-back scratcher” who can also do the job and has the required qualifications for it. No, the “back scratcher” does NOT deserve the job if another person had more of the qualifications asked for in the job description and is also capable of doing the job. This “back scratching” goes on at EVERY level of hiring, right down to the staff positions.
How the REAL world really works 101 . Grade do not mean anything how hard you work means little . Who you know and know you brown nose is where it is at. I have an issue with this when they take tax payer dollars . It is not any different at the HS. level. It show why college goes up at a rate higher than inflation . They have so much power .
Cronyism is alive and well in Maine, nothing has changed nor will it ever!! Most of these people were failures at all of their previous positions, so why should we expect any change. but as it has always been in Maine “its WHO you know -not WHAT”.
I always wondered how Ms. Wyke came to be the “Vice Chancellor for Finance & Admin” and “Treasurer” for the system. I question whether she’s qualified to prepare my kid’s 1040EZ- what, with her political science background and all- but, with regards to setting the financial tone for a 40,000 student college system, she’s clearly perfect……I guess.
Wyke is an arrogant hack who Baldacci appointed commissioner of DAFS. Wyke was largely responsible for Richard Thompson’s ascension to the state CIO position for which he was eminently unqualified. He loved to call himself the “non-technical CIO”, bragging as it were about his own lack of knowledge of the state personnel and other public resources for which he was responsible. He played a critical role as the head of the Bureau of Purchases in overseeing the acquisition of the failed state Medicaid payment system and then institutionalized that failure during his time as the state CIO. A reasonably objective hiring process would never have allowed someone with only a high school diploma who is technologically illiterate to even interview for the UMS position he now fills.
Probably learned maths’ from SELMA BOTMAN.
Excellent, very informative and in-depth article.
The Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting does what the mainstream media has largely forgotten to do – investigations. Such reporting is essential for a healthy and just society.
With respect to the University, the UMS System is stocked with Baldacci plants. Three UMS trustee terms expire on 5/26/12 – Fournier, Grieshaber and Wishcamper. At that point, Baldacci’s appointees will represent exactly 50% of the Board, which makes all the important decisions.
There is one Trustee, a Baladacci plant, who needs to go. That is Kurt Adams, Baldacci’s former chief coundel and PUC Commissioner. As PUC Commissioner he paved the way for the wind industry and higher electricity rates for Maine and Maine businesses as a result of wind and its required massive transmission. While at the PUC he took over $1 million in stock options from First Wind, a company he interviewed with for months while at the PUC. He then became their Director of Transmission. Citizens called for an investigation of what seemed a blatant conflict and Baldacci’s Attorney General Janet Mills conducted a secret investigation and lo and behold, Adams came up smelling like a rose. “No conflict at all here” ruled Baldacci plant Mills. This was the same sort of infuriating response citizens got from Mills’ sister, Dora Mills, the Maine CDC director and another Baldacci plant, when complaining about the proven negative effects of giant wind turbines near residences on human health. “Wind turbines are fine and have no effects on health” said Dora Mills in essence, conveniently ignoring a global body of research that says otherwise.
When Baldacci nominated Adams for a UMS trustee position, at his hearing before the Education Committee in the legislature, he was asked if his job at First Wind was a conflict with the Univesrity’s forays into wind power. He responded that his company was just a “terrestrial” wind company, implying that the University’s efforts were all offshore.
This ignored the facts that:
1. The University has invested over $ 2million in its failed terrestrial UMPI turbine experiment. (Adams, as PUC chair, personally handed them a $50,000 check for the UMPI debacle) Additionally, the University assists land based wind projects.
2. First Wind and Deepwater Wind have the same owners. Deepwater’s website states:”Deepwater Wind is the United States leader in development of renewable, offshore wind-power projects.”
http://dwwind.com/about/company
Folks, these people work for us.
“The hiring pattern was discovered in documents provided by the system in response to a Freedom of Access Act request by the Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting and the BDN.”
Move along people, no corruption here, nothing to see…. (tongue in cheek)
Summarized at MA-NE.net.
Also, more of the same at http://wot7.com/?p=14…
Using the money of taxpayers and members, the president and chief executive officer of MPBN paid himself $187,021 last year, over four times what the rest of us make on average.
In fact, he and the senior vice president and chief technology officer and the vice president of administration and chief financial officer together earned a whopping $389,573 in one year, more than many of their listeners make in a lifetime.
You could always apply for his job and offer to do it for 1/4 the salary. I’d take you up on it.
You own MPBN?
Huh.
That thing you call a web site is a travesty. I’ll be needing some eye bleach.
corruption!!!! At it best!!
““No job was ever created for anyone … all are performing at the highest level,” Pattenaude said.”
________________________________________________________________
Flawed logic there. My translation of this, “Um, even if we circumvented our own procedures, it is ok because everybody is “performing at the highest level.”……….well they must be, right? How convenient.
Now, can the next article be on some of the bogus hiring practices employed by school districts?
In Maine, it is not what you know, it is who you know. Another Baldacci pile that someone has to clean up.
Do you think LePage can handle it? Maybe Paul has another relative that needs a job!
Nice try.
Two years from now, when it is clear that LePage either will not run (my bet), or that he will not win re-election (a given), his appointees and enablers will be looking for their next jobs. Unfortunately for them, they will be unemployable because they represent all that is wrong and corrupt with the LePage administration. It will be very interesting to see where these people land, and what strings are pulled to get them there. Either that or they will all have to leave the state.
Cleaning out 30 years of corruption, cronyism, patronage, and sweetheart contracts is going to take another term.
The last thing Mainers’ want is a return to the ‘happy days’ under Baldacci where the incompetent loyalist was given $100,000 jobs….how can anyone forget that treasurer who lost $25 million on the purchase of derivatives from a Cayman Island P.O. Box that collapsed two weeks later? Or the Barnes collection of valuable houses? or Chip, her agent? or the Pat McGowan-Jack Cashman connection? Or the GREEN ENERGY ALLIANCE scandal? or the MTA? or MSHA?
..SO MUCH ACCOMPLISHED, SO MUCH MORE TO DO.
In the meantime, how about Maine gets about cleaning up the failed hireing system put in place under Democrat leadership.
I’ll continue to hold my breath, however, for you to find as much fault with University hireing decisions under Chancellor Page and Gov. LePage.
Gee, do ya’ think Page and LePage are really brothers who changed their names in order to fool we Mainers about their heritage?
I went to UMaine both their Bangor and Orono campus and I think they should be investigated for more than just illegal hiring practices but also some of the unfair and biased grading that some of the professors and instructors do. Seems that you letter grade isn’t based on what you know so much as who you know and how well they like or hate you.
Yet more shady-dealing shenanigans from the Baldacci administration and a partisan hack Democrat hiring system for his cronies and political buddies? I would like to say I am shocked….riiiiiiiight.
What about the Judicial Branch hiring a Chief Technology Officer that has absolutely no technology experience Whose previous job was as a Director of Special Projects at the DEP but was never able to successfully manage a project.
Sounds a little loosey goosey.
And we wonder where and how our kid’s get their priority’s and ethics from. Maine GOP or Maine Democrat, both have managed to make a monumental leap of idiocy in showing that what is supposed to be ethical and legal in Maine is, in fact, nothing more than a piece of Charmin when someone decides that their judgement is superior, frequently to the point of arrogant narcissism, to what has been painfully, and repeatedly, shown to be neccessary. Should the Maine Legislature ever truely decide to make a statement that declares that Maine is a State of Law, Due Process and Equal Opportunity, not a ‘Who-You-Know’ or ‘What-You-Can-Get-Away-With’ feudal kingdom, then it would be hard pressed to find a better opportunity to make that statement publicly. That both The Office of The Governor and the Legislature has allowed this to get to this point is bad enough. It’s time that Both Side’s of the Legislature come together, like they did in passing the Budget over Paulie’s temper tantrum, show some leadership, not to mention decisive outrage, and clean up this mess by revamping the ENTIRE UM SYSTEM and putting into place both a Board of Oversight, and, exercising direct legislative control thru the formal implementing of a Due Process System that EVERYONE has to go thru before they get hired. No more of these so-called ‘Emergency Waiver’s. Please, gag me with a snowshovel ! For all hire’s, ALL OPENING’S GET A 14 DAY ‘WINDOW’ OF ANNOUNCEMENT, period ! And everyone gets rated by the same criteria, period. Whether UM knows it or not they have managed to set-off a Due Process arguement that is, if someone ever get’s cranky enough, going to wind up in the Court’s, State or Federal, and lay open to public scrutinty the shenanigan’s that have been going on for years. And when it’s shown that Due Process was the 1st thing to go out the door as far as HR Policy’s and Practice’s go, well, whoever is head of Administration might as well start packing now to avoid the rush.
And no more Buddy-scratch-Buddy’s back nonsense. The Board of Oversight either see’s it going on or finds out about it and whoever came in that way is gone, THAT DAY ! Same for whoever helped them. You want ethics and integrity restored, then you do it the hardway and you make it public. Like in the Old West, you find a cattle thief, you hang’em on the spot and leave the body swinging in the wind. Nothing makes the arguement for ethics and integrity better than an abject lesson out there for everyone to both see , remember and profit by.
We just need to be careful not to fall into the trap as Mainers of saying, “The only good people for the job are “from away”” Having served on search committees I will tell you there are a lot of very highly qualified people from Mass. and NY that apply for these jobs merely to become “double-dippers” and retire (aka coast on their prior accomplishments). If that is what you want then just say so. Dr. Page is a great example of looking/hiring within and we shouldn’t lose sight of the benefits of making it easier for your own people to advance when they are already part of your system…IF then can step up and do the job effectively.
Ms. Wyke is the widow of the late Joe Mayo, foirmer Democrat House Spkr.-enuff said!!
FYI Ms. Wyke is the widow of he late Dem. House Spkr, Joe Mayo-enuff said!!
Forgot to include Mary Lou Cormier an entrenched hack put on the board of trustees at the Maine Maritime Academy.
By Baldacci…
Good old boys network in action. And, for Gov. Baldacci to say they could have found more lucrative positions in the private sector tells me they should prove it.
No matter how much spaghetti you got from Baldacci, you only got two meatballs.
Nice one!
Chorus: “BUT! LePage’s daww-terrr….”
Best post ever, man
BUT! BUSH did it….”
Now if they could look into the golden parachute practice of the “system professors” where former administrators stay on and “teach” to the tune of 100k a year in an unadvertised position…
I wonder what it was that forced the BDN to publish this story,anyone know?
I didn’t see this news story on the the Maine Heritage Policy Center’s news site, I guess the BDN out-scooped them.
LOL, I expect that there is more to this than is printed or that I can figure out at this time.
The big question is how does LePage reform UMS? Can Dave Flanagan do the job that Peter Mills did at the MTA or is slowly being done at DHHS and eventually at MSHA?
The first step in the solution was the hireing of Jim Page as Chancellor.
No
The first step in the process was electing LEpage as governor.
Otherwise all we would have heard from the previous administration is…………crickets.
um, was it the stench from Orono that no amount of press releases could clean up?
There are other parts of the state hiring system that are flawed as well. It is fun to travel to Augusta for an interview for a position that was probably be filled by an “insider”. The interviewing people show up knowing your name and that is all. No copies of your application or resume at all. I had more information with me and I was the applicant. This way someone could say perhaps with a straight face we did the process and the only qualified was our “friend” Joe.
I’m SHOCKED, shocked I tell you!
LOL
I am not a Governor LePage fan, but this is clearly not his fault and why it is good to switch political parties in charge once in awhile. It is getting more and more difficult to hide and that is good for all of us as we make choices; or at least for me. ;)
Let us now do report on hiring practices at the Maine Center for Public Interest. I’m sure we can create a non-issue out of our agendas too. Dirt is everywhere and skewed “facts” can be interpreted into anybody’s agendas.
Periodically – well, at least once or twice, the BDN inserts a section that is a knock-out. It’s the one that shows the salaries of all U of M faculty and staff. Who says Mainers are the lowest paid people in the country?
The university’s ads for caretakers, all around fixer-uppers, or, whatever are fun to read. Fixing boilers, painting, gardening, shingling and slating roofs, and must be able to carry 40 lbs aloft, is the way some of the ads read – all for $12 an hour.
No doubt, politics will buy your way into some of these best paying jobs in the state. For those who can carry 40lb packs of shingles up on a roof – just knock on the door.
Its all who you know…Ive learned that the hard way during a lengthy job search.
Funny, no mention of corruption from the Governor’s office…
any appointments that favor wind industry in Maine are against what Maine stands for.
Well connected political hacks get plush jobs in the University System. What a surprise.
Abel Mann said: “Wyke was largely responsible for Richard Thompson’s ascension to the state CIO position for which he was eminently unqualified. ”
I am not defending anybody listed in the article, but for the fairness…
I can testify that Dick Thompson is a really gifted man. Really. I have seen several CIO’s over the years, and Dick has the greatest talent to bring people together and get things done. His position does not require any programming, it is more of a project manager. When Dick came to UMS there have been many more accomplishments in System IT than with people of multiple degrees who were previously in charge. Maybe we need to accept the fact that the formal degrees do not matter much on this level of administration and it is all about the personal talent? I hold a lot of respect for Dick. Steve Jobs also had only a high school diploma, so what? Sorry, I realize that my post is not in line with most of you… but this is what I see in real life.
(Former Chancellor Pattenaude and Human Resources Chief Bigney said
the rules allow leeway, even with the minimum standards policy.
“When you get to a senior level,” said Pattenaude, “experience weighs as much or more than a degree from years ago.”
“We are usually quite careful to say relevant experience can be substituted for education,” Bigney said.)
I’m sorry, but for top level administrators at a public institution of higher EDUCATION, the ridiculous rationalizations (quoted above) used to justify a blatant disregard for the UMS Board of Trustee approved hiring policy is outrageous. In essence, they are making the argument that the product that they offer (a college education) is not necessary and therefore…….they are not necessary.
To be clear, it appears that policies were ignored (search/EEOC/credentials/etc), and now heads must roll.
Abel Mann wrote: ” Wyke was largely responsible for Richard Thompson’s ascension to the state CIO position for which he was eminently unqualified. He loved to call himself the “non-technical CIO”… ”
Sorry, people, if my post is not in line with your beliefs but…. I am not going to talk “in general”. I have seen several CIO’s at UMS, but Dick definitely got a real talent. I know, it is hard to accept that someone “with just a high school diploma” is more talented than ourselves. Since Dick came to UMS (not long ago, BTW) I see a lot more things done in UM System IT than with any other distinguished and renowned previous CIO, who had multiple degrees. Dick manages to bring different (and often antagonistic) groups together and resolve a specific problem– and you see real results, not just a line in a useless report. Maybe we need to accept that the formal degree is not everything for taking a position like this… His position does not require any programming skills – but he is a talented project manager, who gets things done. The whole climate changed since he became CIO, groups from different universities started working together rather than fighting with each other and with the “system’s office”. I do not work with other administrators mentioned in the article, so I won’t say anything. But Dick is a hard-to–find gem. All of us can throw stones at Dick, as many other people bash Steve Jobs for not having his formal education.
P.S. I am not administration’s paid lap dog. I simply think that we need to look deeper, than the diploma and that the picture painted in the article is somewhat distorted (or biased)…
I can’t argue with your experiences, but a “minimum standard”, when hireing, should be just that.
If the administration doesn’t like it… change the standards formally… don’t make beleive they don’t exist.
More evidence of the influence peddling failed Baldacci administration and the “fleece the taxpayer” attitude that was so prevelant for eight years.
That doesn’t surprise me.. I called the number for The University Of Maine in Orono asking about how I start the Math Placement exam and the woman didn’t have a clue about what I was talking about..
What is worse of all, is that this totally undermines the concept that higher education and academic excellence is the pathway to high paid jobs, making all public education worthless to hard pressed students and destroying any semblance of a meritocracy in a PUBLIC university.
I once learned the hard way that the best way to find buyers for computers was not at an office desk, but a tennis club locker room…..it’s not what you know, but who you know!
True that! That is a political fact of life. Start networking…
One wonders how many ‘easy hires’ are hidden in the Democratic Bond Package of $14.3 million for UMS & UMO?
…grease me up baby, it’s a bond issue!
Look up Becky Wyke’s resume on the UME System website and see the misuse of “principle” vs. “principal” re her current handsomely paid post. A disgrace not to know the difference. And she nearly became the highest educational official in the state.
This is corruption. Let’s remove and start fresh with, honestly and fairness.
The entire UM system needs to be put under a microscope. There is so much waste in Administration. Look at the salaries posted online. Some people get 6 figures just to twiddle their thumbs all day. Not to mention they were GIVEN the job because of political ties than qualifications. Thanks Baldacci and King for the mess you left the State in and the mess you left the UM system in.
Interesting, how we get into the political agenda even when discussing poor policy by the University of Maine system. Most of these positions were hired to former politicians, which is i guess why it is being brought up. It truly disturbs me when we have two stories in less than three months about the UMaine system, first in millions of dollars for pay increases, and now this unfair labor practice, which lead me to believe that the entire University system is corrupt. How many presidents have we had in the past 10 years….More than most colleges, that is for sure. Why are we just now hearing about this, and why praytell, do we keep hearing poverty pleaded by the University, yet Tuitions keep rising, while the quality of education there is not adequate to the debt incurred(#2 in the country). The scary thing is we are going to have to rely on the government to investigate this and do something about it? If i were some of teh major contributors which provide private funding such as Mahaney, i would be screaming for some answers.
I’m glad they’re looking into it and I hope something good comes of it, and that it doesn’t end up a “strategic plan” gathering dust like most of them do.
UMaine in the papers again? Hmmmm now aint that special.
UMaine in the paper again. hmmmm aint that special.