UMS trustees to meet in PI

    The University of Maine System Board of Trustees will deal with a full agenda of financial, academic and management items when it meets Sunday and Monday, May 18-19, at the University of Maine at Presque Isle.     The Board will meet for the first time since the state finalized its allocation plan for the upcoming fiscal year, which begins July 1. Excluding targeted appropriations for university-based research, the state budget for the new fiscal year funds the University of Maine System at essentially the same dollar amount as the current year. State funding constitutes roughly half of the University System’s general operating budget, with student tuition and fees making up the other half.
    As part of the budget-making process, trustees will discuss and determine tuition rates, campus fees and room and board rates for the upcoming academic year.
    According to System Chancellor Richard L. Pattenaude, “Tuition and fees are the revenue source of last resort and will be adjusted only to the extent necessary to balance budgets and sustain academic quality while protecting affordability and accessibility.” 
    Along with its budget, trustees will consider and act on several other items, including:
• Extension of Donald N. Zillman’s contract as president of the University of Maine at Presque Isle;
• Authorization of renovations to classroom, laboratory and other learning facilities at several university campuses.