PORTLAND ( AP) — The University of Southern Maine is under fire for handing out raises as high as 41 percent to 44 employees at a time of fiscal constraint.
The $242,000 in raises this year come to light as the university faces $5.1 million in projected budget cuts in the coming year at campuses in Portland, Gorham and Lewiston.
Faculty and other employees across the University of Maine System haven’t had cost- of- living raises since 2009, and system administrators recently offered the faculty union a 0.5 percent increase after faculty members worked a year without a contract.
Ed Collom, a sociology professor and president of the faculty union, says he is angered by the raises.
President Selma Botman tells The Portland Press Herald the raises were necessary to keep the university competitive.
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