BANGOR – Unresolved contract negotiations took up the better part of the University of Maine System board of trustees’ meeting Monday as faculty and staff members from campuses around the state took turns at the microphone to protest an 18-month stalemate.

Speaking for the more than 200 who had participated in a rally outside the UMS office downtown, 21 employees told the trustees that the impasse has been sapping morale and threatening recruitment and retention.

While no one mentioned it during the meeting, UMS Chancellor Joseph Westphal referred in a separate interview to a legislative panel’s vote on Sunday to provide the university system with an additional $4.2 million this fiscal year. Westphal said the additional funding, if approved by the entire Legislature, would be used to boost employee compensation as well as bolster student financial aid and hold down tuition.

Trustees also approved a $463.4 million 2007 operating budget, which includes $173 million in state appropriations as well as $189.7 million in anticipated student tuition, fees and room and board charges based on increased rates announced earlier this month.

About two hours before Monday’s trustees meeting, more than 200 members of bargaining units representing full- and part-time faculty and professional and clerical workers assembled in Pickering Square holding signs and wearing sweat shirts emblazoned with the words “Fair Contract Now.”

Noting in an interview at the rally that contracts had expired last July, Rob Walker, president of the Maine Education Association – the state teachers’ union that represents several of the bargaining units – said health insurance and salaries were the main sticking points.

“We have valued employees here, and the University of Maine System isn’t stepping forward with a favorable proposal that recognizes their value,” he said.

Later, the group marched to the system office entrance on Central Street in downtown Bangor and remained peacefully out front, where they stood holding up their signs until the meeting started at about 2 p.m.

While most of the group dispersed, about 50 supporters attended the meeting, with 21 of them signed up to speak. Those faculty and staff members said, among other things, that the university system isn’t negotiating in good faith, keeping its promise to increase salaries, or providing a livable wage or affordable health care. Many employees are forced to rely on financial assistance from family and friends as well as from the state, they said.

Some said the system should give back to employees a portion of a rebate that it received from its health insurance company while others said trustees should be involved in negotiating with unions instead of “hirelings who have no decision-making authority.” A number of speakers panned the university system’s new reorganization plan, saying its projected cost savings have never been justified. They also labeled the new UMS administrative computing system costly and inefficient.

Although the topic was obviously distressing to the speakers, the discourse was polite and even jovial. Ron Mosley, University of Maine at Machias professor and president of the systemwide faculty union, even posed for a camera shot with his arm around the chancellor, eliciting appreciative laughs from the audience.

“I hope you appreciate how civil and respectful we tried to make this today,” Mosley told trustees after the faculty and staff made their comments.

Said Westphal, “We will take what we heard and work to resolve the contract as soon as possible.”

The board “very much welcomes the input,” said trustee Chairman Charles Johnson III.

Also during Monday’s meeting, the board formally voted to accept Westphal’s resignation as chancellor effective June 30. Westphal plans to remain with the system, teaching and doing research. Trustees appointed Terrence J. MacTaggart to a one-year term as the chancellor’s successor.

Referring to the Legislature’s Appropriations Committee, which Sunday unanimously approved an additional $4.2 million for the university system, Westphal said, “Lawmakers were incredibly supportive to provide the additional money.”

Under the proposal, which will be voted on by the full Legislature before the end of the week, the Maine Community College System would receive an additional $1.6 million. The money would come from a surplus in the account for reimbursing Homestead exemptions to municipalities. Less money was required for the reimbursements than was allocated in the last budget.

“The increase in funding is much-needed,” said Johnson. “That additional funding will help protect the quality, access and affordability of our universities.”

Also at the meeting, trustees elected Margaret A. Weston of Yarmouth as chairman and Barry D. McCrum of Mars Hill as vice chairman. The board recognized fellow trustee James D. Mullen of Bangor upon his completion of 10 years of service, the maximum length permitted by law. Gov. John Baldacci is expected to nominate a replacement for Mullen, a former chairman of the board.