The University of Maine at Machias has been operating in the red for years. Too few students are enrolled in classes there to cover the costs of campus staff and infrastructure. Taking an approach that is new for Maine but not other college systems, the University of Maine’s flagship campus in Orono may take over many administrative functions for the Washington County campus. In addition, the two schools will collaborate on courses and research that could see more UMaine students and faculty spend time at the Machias campus and vice versa in areas such as marine sciences.
If this model works, the University of Maine System could apply it to its other small campuses as a way to increase course offerings and research opportunities while differentiating the mission of each campus. It also reinforces the system’s One University plan, an effort to ensure more cooperation and collaboration among campuses, reduce duplication and focus campuses on their strongest programs.
The University of Maine at Machias is the smallest campus within the university system. It enrolls fewer than 500 full-time equivalent students. It has 66 full-time faculty and staff and more than $4 million in deferred infrastructure and energy system improvement needs.
Looking forward, demographics don’t bode well for the Machias campus. Currently, half of its students are from Washington and Hancock counties. But in Washington County, there has been a 30 percent drop in high school graduates in the last decade.
Without a broader population base to draw from, campus operations are not sustainable. Machias’ deficit has risen from $402,000 in 2012 to $1 million — or 10 percent of its budget — this year.
To ease the financial burden, staff at UMaine have begun to take on some administrative functions for the Machias campus, starting with financial aid and admissions. A team from both campuses will review 30 administrative functions to look for places to further integrate the two. A report is due to the system’s chancellor by July.
Another team will look for opportunities for academic integration and collaboration. For example, students in some programs could begin their coursework in Machias and, after two years of adequate academic performance, be guaranteed placement at the Orono campus to complete their degrees.
This 2+2 concept got off to an unexpected start this spring when, for the first time in memory, UMaine has had to limit its acceptance of new students. It has offered some of these students admission to the Machias campus instead. So far, seven have said they will enroll there; most are from out-of-state. While a small number, these seven represent students who otherwise would not have come to Washington County.
With more time and an established structure, a formalized system could encourage larger numbers of students to enroll at Machias and other small campuses in the university system.
For too long, the University of Maine System’s seven campuses have operated as independent entities with too little regard for cooperation and collaboration. The result has been rising costs at a time when state support is essentially flat, tuition rates are frozen and enrollment is dropping at most campuses. Millions of dollars have been cut from campus budgets, resulting in layoffs and the elimination of programs, but a path to sustainability has remained elusive.
Centralizing, instead of duplicating back-office operations, can free up resources needed to support academic programs. The signature programs at each campus can be strengthened by better matching students with the school best suited to their academic skills and interests.
This new model, which thankfully has not met opposition, is an important step in moving the university system toward what it was supposed to be when it was founded nearly 50 years ago — a coordinated and efficient system of campuses.