The University of Maine System has renewed the contract of the president of the University of Maine at Augusta for an additional year, days after faculty took a vote of no confidence against her, the Sun Journal reported.
President Jenifer Cushman, who was hired in 2023, will now serve in the leadership position through June 30, 2027.
Faculty members primarily objected to being left out of discussions about the implementation of a mandatory 90-credit degree structure and about selling Handley Hall, a four-story building in downtown Augusta that is home to the school’s architecture program, according to the Sun Journal.
University officials said the building, which was given to the school, is too costly to maintain.
In a May 4 letter to administrators, faculty said they attempted to give feedback after learning of the planned sale but were ignored, in a breach of shared governance obligations, according to the Sun Journal.
The faculty senate to the vote of no confidence on May 15. In a May 27 response, the newspaper reported that Chancellor Dannel Malloy and UMaine System trustee Roger Katz said Cushman has their “full confidence and support.”
The board of trustees noted Cushman’s efforts to increase enrollment at the school, the addition of academic programs and improved partnerships with the community and employers, the Sun Journal reported.
