Freshmen aren’t the only new faces on campuses across the University of Maine System this fall.

Seventy-one new professors have come on board, mostly to fill existing positions, and eight new administrators have been hired.

The number of new professors continues to outpace new administrators as the system tries to focus more on students, according to officials. Since 1994 the number of administrators systemwide has dropped by 24 or 11.8 percent, while the number of faculty members has increased by 184 or 12.2 percent.

“There’s definitely been an attempt to … take care of students’ needs first and foremost,” said University of Maine System spokesman John Diamond.

The system has fewer administrators per student and per faculty member than the national average, according to the National Center for Educational Statistics.

There are 120 full-time students per administrator compared to 70-to-1 nationally; 81/2 full-time faculty members to each administrator compared to 4.7 nationally; but 15.2 full-time students to each faculty member compared to 14.9 nationally.

A handful of administrators who have been on board for a number of years also have had their positions and responsibilities reconfigured as part of new academic and social missions.

UMS Chancellor Joseph Westphal said the system will take a more aggressive role in helping K-12 schools comply with state and federal regulations, promoting higher education, attracting new businesses and industry to Maine, pushing for continued growth in funding for research and development, and developing courses that students, businesses and government want.

Among the new administrators are Elsa Nunez, vice chancellor for academic and student affairs, with a salary of $156,000; and Michael Eckardt, vice president for research at the University of Maine, who will earn $135,000.

The University of Maine at Fort Kent hired a new vice president for academic affairs-dean of the faculty, and the University of Southern Maine brought on a new director of university libraries.

There were no new administrators hired at the Augusta, Presque Isle and Farmington campuses.

The new and revamped positions reflect the chancellor’s student-oriented goals.

Nunez’s position, for example, includes, for the first time, responsibility for accommodating nontraditional students – those who have families or work schedules that make college more challenging, or take courses by interactive television.

Also, in his new position as executive director of planning and policy analysis, James Breece – previously vice chancellor for academic affairs – will advise and work with the system administration and the universities on long-range planning and analyzing data and strategies to help with decisions about budgets, tuition, construction and personnel, among other duties. He will earn an annual salary of $125,000.

Diamond, executive director of external affairs – formerly senior director of public affairs at UM -will earn $97,082 to focus on increasing student recruitment, public awareness of the university’ system’s role in educational, economic and quality-of-life issues, and public and private appropriations and grants.

Overseeing media and community relations, coordinating systemwide projects and developing plans for public and legislative advocacy also are among Diamond’s duties.

He will be assisted by newly hired Communications Coordinator Rita Sullivan, who will earn $43,000 overseeing the production of print and electronic publications, managing the university’s Web site, and compiling and preparing materials for trustees, presidents, system-level administrators and employees systemwide.

Other administrative changes at the system office are:

. J. Kelley Wiltbank, legal counsel, who assumed additional duties as clerk of the board of trustees with a salary of $108,000.

. Judy Ryan, chief of staff, who will earn $95,000, three-quarters of which will be paid by the system and the other by USM, where she is executive assistant to the president.

The changes at the system office will increase administrative costs by about $104,000 but will be worth it in the long run, Westphal said.

“It may cost us a little more money, but without the changes … we’d be relegated to just putting appropriations requests together every two years and that’s about it,” he said.

At UM, the turnover of high level positions “is probably a little unusual all at once,” said Douglas Gelinas, associate vice president for academic affairs. Some positions had been filled temporarily by “acting” administrators, he said.

The vacancies have allowed the administrative structure to be “more in line with the long-range strategic plan of the campus,” which puts additional attention on graduate education and research, Gelinas said.

Besides Eckardt, new administrators at UM are:

. Janet Waldron, vice president for administration (the position previously was chief financial officer), who will earn $130,000.

. Deirdre Mageean, associate vice president for research and dean of the graduate school (the position previously didn’t include oversight of the graduate school), $106,000.

. Evelyn Silver, associate vice president for personnel and academic services (some of these responsibilities previously were held by the assistant to the provost), $85,000 for a 10-month position.

. Ann Leffler, dean of the college of liberal arts and sciences, $128,000.

. Luanne Lawrence, executive director of marketing and public affairs, $80,000.

. Harry Payne, director of Equal Opportunity, $90,000; and

. Patrick Nero, director of athletics, $125,000.

While salaries at UM are above average statewide, they don’t measure up to those nationally, according to campus spokesman Joe Carr. “We’re competing for leadership talent with institutions that pay much higher salaries,” he said.

Similar to those of other jobs in Maine, UM salaries are below the national average, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education, and below the New England average, according to a report prepared for the Council of Presidents by the Office of Institutional Studies at the University of Vermont.

Nationally, for example, comparing similar positions, a dean of liberal arts and sciences earns $152,500; a chief research officer, $161,600; a chief administrative officer, $160,000; and a director of affirmative action and equal employment, $86,850.

Among the New England land-grant universities a chief financial officer earns $153,673, on average; a dean of arts and sciences, $161,242; a chief research officer, $162,203; and a director of athletics, $154,267.

Also, beginning this academic year, Elaine Albright, former UM Dean of Cultural Affairs and Libraries, is partially retired and is serving as Fogler Fellow for Library Development, helping raise funds for the library expansion project.

Her position has been eliminated and will be replaced by a new position – director of libraries. Joyce Rumery, former assistant director for public services, has been named interim director of libraries.

At the University of Maine at Fort Kent, Robert Scott was hired as vice president for academic affairs-dean of the faculty with a salary of $80,000.

And at the University of Southern Maine, David Nutty is the new director of university libraries, earning $95,000.