Dear faculty and staff,
As we begin FY27, I want to take a moment to thank everyone across the University of Maine and University of Maine at Machias for the extraordinary effort that went into closing the FY26 budget and developing a balanced FY27 budget.
We were able to close FY26 without using unbudgeted reserves. That is an important accomplishment, but it was not easy. It required difficult decisions, additional work, and a willingness across our university to find ways to reduce expenses and increase revenue. Departments shifted additional expenses, as appropriate, to gift funds. Auxiliary Enterprises provided support for additional costs within events and hospitality and stepped up to cover 50% of the cost of the Black Bear Orono Express — . All units worked to manage hiring and, based on feedback from both Faculty Senate and the Administrative Excellence Committee, made improvements to appropriately streamline the critical hire process. Each of these actions is helping us navigate the ongoing financial challenges that our university faces.
I recognize that many of these decisions came with real effort. I am sincerely grateful for the flexibility, creativity, stewardship, and partnership demonstrated by so many faculty and staff. This was a collective effort.
The FY27 budget reflects that same commitment. The budget approved by the UMS Board of Trustees and now in effect enables us to move forward with meaningful investments in our employees,students, and infrastructure, including funding for increased compensation and benefits and for making progress toward addressing deferred maintenance. At the same time, we must acknowledge that it relies on one-time resources and vacancy and attrition savings that were necessary as we continue developing longer-term solutions, including the FY28 budget development now underway. Our continued focus on student success and retention, research and revenue growth, and ideas coming from our Strategic Re-envisioning initiative gives us a strong foundation for that work, which began this summer with the President’s Cabinet and will soon expand university-wide with the rollout of a budget timeline and opportunities for your participation. A budget town hall will be held later in the fall.
Thank you again for everything you have done—and continue to do—to support our students, our colleagues, and the future of the University of Maine and University of Maine at Machias. Sincerely,
Jenny Boyden,
Vice President for Finance and Administration & Chief Business Officer
University of Maine and University of Maine at Machias
