Portland Mayor Michael Brennan has offered to support members of Portland’s legislative delegation as they try to come up with solutions for supporting the University of Southern Maine during its current fiscal crisis.
Brennan met with legislators on Friday, providing them with four strategies to consider for addressing fiscal issues and fostering the school’s future as a metropolitan university.
“While these proposals do not address all of the issues facing USM, (they do) offer the university an opportunity to stabilize its faculty and programs and at the same time build for the future,” Brennan said in a press release.
Brennan is asking the delegation to consider proposals that would: provide enough funds to prevent further program reductions or layoffs at USM for two years; provide $2 million to develop a recruitment and marketing program that would stabilize enrollment; target $20 million, either through a bond issue or an appropriation, for research and development projects for the University Maine System; and call on university administrators to re-examine policies related to tuition, fees and financial aid.
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