BANGOR – The uncertain future of the University College at Bangor caused dozens of supporters gathered at the campus Wednesday to emphasize the vital role the college plays and to ask to be included in shaping the University of Maine System.

“We need to find a way to keep what’s special about the campus,” said City Manager Ed Barrett, speaking during a public forum on the proposed UMS strategic plan.

He applauded the system for “taking on this monumental task” of creating a comprehensive integrated education plan for the state.

“We should have done it 20 years ago,” he said.

Among other things, the proposal calls for shifting all two-year programs to the community college system, obviously calling into question the future of UCB, which offers primarily associate’s degrees.

The plan also calls for reorganizing the seven universities into four.

UMS Chancellor Joseph Westphal assured the audience that the system would work with faculty, staff, students and the community to fine-tune the plan.

He said he understands people’s frustrations with not knowing UCB’s future and said the system would try to work quickly to find answers.

But he said there needs to be more discussion with the governor’s task force on a statewide education system before final decisions are made.

Under some scenarios UCB could be part of Eastern Maine Community College or even Husson College, Vice Chancellor Elsa Nunez said.

Pledging the city’s support to work with UMS, Bangor Mayor Dan Tremble pointed out that some members of the Bangor Police Department are graduates of UCB’s criminal justice program. He reminded higher education officials that students choose the campus not only because of its accessibility but because they may feel intimidated by larger institutions.

The college is a real economic boon to the area, said Nelson Durgin, vice chairman of the Bangor Region Chamber of Commerce. He said 150 area employers have hired UCB graduates.

“We produce men and women who will go to work, stay in the community, hold down good jobs, raise families and contribute,” said Durgin, a member of the UCB community advisory board.

UCB Professor Anita Kirth took issue with the system’s plan to transfer its two-year programs to the community college system. The idea is “based on the assumption that they’re comparable,” she said. “We don’t think they are.”

“As part of a university, UCB has strengths in faculty, transfer, preparation, advising, support services, cultural opportunities and academic programs,” she said.

System officials refuted some people’s comments that UMS was “picking on” the Bangor campus.

Professor Robert Klose said he believes UCB was targeted for closure because it was the “only free-standing campus” and the “easiest thing to do.”

“We have been told our future is uncertain when we should be held up as a model” for efficiency, he said.

But Margaret Weston, UMS trustee, said the strategic plan chose to emphasize baccalaureate and graduate degrees because of the proximity of other institutions such as Eastern Maine Community College in Bangor and the University of Maine.

“We can’t be all things to all people,” said Westphal.

Dean Tracy Gran said he was concerned that UCB would become “a stripped down educational service station with little, if any, identity.”

“For most of us, the reorganization plan for UCB could be a prescription for our funeral. We don’t deserve this demise,” he said.

Gran suggested developing a UCB task force composed of education and community leaders “charged with establishing positive educational linkages among UCB, the community college system and the university system.”

Retired University of Maine Professor Jerry Herlighy offered an impassioned plea to keep the campus open. “Don’t exclude us. Let us have our two-year programs the way we’ve developed them. We’re doing just fine.”

Meanwhile state Rep. Matthew Dunlap, D-Old Town, said the system was taking “a rather fatalistic approach” by stating in the proposed plan that state funding for higher education isn’t expected to increase much in the foreseeable future.

Sen. Mary Cathcart, D-Orono, said she “couldn’t just stand by and let the campus shut down unless we know the education you provide here will continue with the same type of students and faculty.”