PORTLAND – Despite a hiring freeze, the University of Southern Maine is still putting more people on its payroll.

USM hired 69 employees during the first four months of this fiscal year at an annual cost of more than $3 million in wages and benefits.

USM interim President Joseph Wood says campus officials are showing more restraint this year than they did last year in hiring because there’s a more rigorous process in place for reviewing vacant faculty jobs.

The University of Southern Maine is now in the red for a fourth consecutive year.