President Outlines Accomplishments and "Difficult Facts"

President Richard L. Pattenaude outlined accomplishments, "difficult facts" and "specific steps we must take to continue progress on our journey" at the annual opening breakfast. Some 600 faculty and staff attended the event, held Friday, September 1 in the Field House, Gorham.

The "specific steps" include a three-month hiring freeze to address a decline in enrollments and unavoidable cost increases.

Pattenaude emphasized, however, that enrollments and cost increases do not represent a crisis but a "blip, which if we do not attack it will become a trend, wreaking havoc with our academic programs, our operating budgets, and our ability to serve our students."

He reminded faculty and staff, "We are making progress, of which we should be proud." He cited new facilities funded with one-time, dedicated monies; the creation of the SmartStop program to help improve retention; curricular initiatives such as the Writing Collaborative; and the expansion of research, scholarship and related creative activities. USM´s capital campaign, he added, "surges forward to the $25 million mark," including seven gifts of $1 million or above and the earning of a prestigious, $750,000 Kresge Challenge Grant.

But, said Pattenaude, we need to do more. "Why now," he asked, "even at a time when we are making progress that is so obvious to people outside the university?"

Enrollments, he reported, will decline due to demographic pressures, the emergence of the Community College System, a record graduating class, and low retention.

A projected FTE enrollment decrease of 2.5 percent and increased costs are contributing to a $2.5 million hole in this year's budget. The budget, he explained, will increase this year but projected revenues are less than what are needed to meet rising costs.

Budget deficits are nothing new but in the past, said Pattenaude, "I have minimized these problems for you," resolving budget issues "offstage, quietly, out of sight."

This shortfall, however, comes at time when "the world has become more competitive, the margins thinner, the expectations greater and the funding sources more constrained."

Consequently, there will be no time for "planning, plans or punditry" though he stressed that governance procedures will not be bypassed. "It is about working together to do those things that will resolve these issues," said Pattenaude.

He offered a "short and focused list" of seven initiatives to control costs and restore enrollments. They include strengthening admissions with needed positions and operating funds; launching a statewide marketing campaign; redoubling retention efforts; increasing online education enrollments; completing the capital campaign; creating new majors, minors and concentrations; and implementing the three-month hiring freeze. Exceptions to the freeze include positions essential for health, safety and revenue, and searches in the interview stage.

Open meetings have been scheduled on each campus for feedback. The Senior Staff also will begin implementing the actions.

Pattenaude concluded with a quote from his first breakfast speech from August of 1991. "Without your knowledge the university has no knowledge; without your voice the university has no voice; without your heart the university has no heart. I do believe that together we can build a great university."

The full text of President Pattenaude's speech is available at www.usm.maine.edu/pres.