The University of Maine System, proposing its most dramatic reforms ever, released on Thursday a draft strategic plan that calls for, among other things, reorganizing the seven universities into four, phasing out all two-year programs, and enhancing the prominence of the flagship campus in Orono. How many jobs would be lost is unclear.

The goal of the strategic plan is to reorganize the system and reallocate funding and resources to better fit the economic and academic needs of the state. The plan also is designed to bring cohesiveness to a system that has, for a long time, been divided.

“Now we’re not a system, but a loose federation of institutions in competition with each other,” said Elsa Nunez, vice chancellor of student and academic affairs, who has directed development of the plan since last September when the effort began.

Under the proposal, the Machias, Presque Isle and Fort Kent campuses would be merged into the University of Northern Maine to become a “rural, comprehensive” university. All three campuses would remain open, but there would be one administration and one faculty providing bachelor’s and master’s degrees to the northern and Down East regions.

The University of Maine at Augusta, which offers the majority of the system’s associate degree programs, would become part of the University of Southern Maine to provide bachelor’s and some graduate programs in public policy and business administration.

The University of Southern Maine would remain the state’s comprehensive, urban campus, involved in limited research and building “on the potential of its Portland setting.”

And the University of Maine would be strengthened as the system’s flagship, land grant institution and the state’s premier research facility in an effort to give it a stronger presence nationally and internationally.

Also according to the plan, the University of Maine at Farmington would continue as the state’s public liberal arts college with strong teacher training programs and a capped enrollment.

In addition, the system would shut down its 100 independent distance-learning sites in favor of using advanced technology already available and underused at local public schools. University College centers in Calais, East Millinocket and Dover-Foxcroft would be eliminated, while other outreach centers would be affiliated with one of the four remaining universities.

The much-anticipated plan seeks to strengthen academic programs, increase cost efficiency, utilize new technologies to a greater degree, and hold university presidents to a higher level of accountability.

It aims to increase collaboration and reduce competition among the universities by requiring them to bring in new programs only if they are connected to their newly defined missions and to phase out those that are not.

System officials estimate it will take about five years to implement the plan and save about $15.5 million by reducing administrative positions, centralizing business operations and avoiding duplication of services.

Pointing out that the University of Maine is “best poised for significant enhancement,” the plan says the flagship campus merits more attention.

“This plan is focused on making sure we don’t undermine the core educational institution in Maine,” said Chancellor Joseph Westphal on Thursday.

“We have not been investing in the University of Maine,” he said, noting that Orono takes the brunt of state appropriated cuts and spreads them throughout the campus instead of “strategically investing in the future.”

UM “needs reform and change … in its culture and its direction,” Westphal continued. “People there need to be excited about the place and we need to give them the tools to get vitality back to the institution.”

Size is not the sole factor here, he said. “The issue is how good is the faculty, how productive is the faculty, and how strong is [UM] in performing its mission.”

Vice Chancellor Nunez said that besides herself, the strategic planning process was led by the chancellor and the UMS board of trustees and also involved the presidents of the seven universities as members of a task force trying to identify, among other things, the strengths, weaknesses and missions of each campus. Campus visits by Nunez also allowed faculty, students, administration, staff and members of the community to express their views on individual universities, on the system as a whole, and on the role of public higher education in Maine.

The draft report was initially scheduled to be unveiled this month, but on Monday the UMS board of trustees agreed to withhold the release until September at the request of Gov. John Baldacci, who wanted to wait until a broader vision for education could include kindergarten through 12th grade and the Maine Community College System. The timeline for releasing the UMS strategic plan again changed Thursday, according to Westphal after “we got a lot of questions. People were anxious. It was time to get it out.”

He told the governor, “I think it’s the right thing to do. He agreed,” the chancellor said.

Much of the concern had been registered by faculty, staff and students worried over the potential for lost jobs and programs.

UMS spokesman John Diamond said the system has not yet figured out the number of positions that could be eliminated “nor do we think that at this point in the plan it’s appropriate.” But he said most positions would be lost through the centralization of administrative and business services.

“The system will do everything we can to minimize the impact on any individual or group of employees” by not filling positions that become vacant either through early retirement or through people voluntarily finding jobs elsewhere, he added.

UMS has no choice but to change the way it does business, officials said. Despite short-term cost-cutting measures, the system will face a structural gap in finances of at least $50 million during the next two fiscal years and a projected gap of $85 million within four years.

The predictions could be less dire with an increase in state appropriations or tuition, but the system cannot offer the level or quality of courses it believes it should, “without making significant changes in our structure,” said Diamond.

According to the plan, presidents would be held accountable for the amount of funding their campuses receive. Universities would be rewarded financially for meeting certain goals having to do with student enrollment, retention and graduation rates, budget management and external fund raising.

Each campus now gets a proportion of the state allocation based on such things as mission, student population and the physical size of the facility. UM gets 50 percent, in part because it has some of the most expensive programs.

The plan does not include details about the future of the University College of Bangor, a satellite campus, which once was affiliated with UM but currently is aligned with UMA.

“Because of its unique role within the system, no decision has been made on how or where it will be affiliated,” said Diamond. “Our feeling is that those details will be addressed in the implementation phase.”

Based in part on a dozen models in other states, the plan is “intellectually defensible,” said Nunez.

The new northern university would result in stronger programs and more interaction among professors, officials said.

“You can’t build an academic program with one or two faculty members.” Nunez said.

There would be “a whole different kind of faculty,” she said, noting that professors “could spend a year at Machias or a semester at Fort Kent.”

Under the most likely scenario, the administration for the new northern university would be centrally located in Presque Isle, while a member of the president’s leadership team would manage the other two campuses.

If campuses have a program disconnected from their mission, it is to their advantage to phase it out or eliminate it so they’ll have more resources to funnel into their primary areas, Diamond said.

He said the system would act as an arbiter to determine whether a course fits within a campus’s mission.

Phasing out its two-year programs, the university system aims to replace the 2,903 students currently working toward associate degrees with more students seeking bachelor’s or graduate degrees.

“We’ll encourage people looking for an associate’s degree to consider the community college network,” Diamond said. “The transition will be done with some level of collaboration with the community colleges.”

The UMS strategic plan dovetails in other ways with a broader vision of education being developed by the chancellor along with John Fitzsimmons, president of the Maine Community College System, and Susan Gendron, commissioner of the Maine Department of Education.

For example, the UMS plan would allow universities to put more funds and people toward a partnership with the kindergarten through grade 12 community, providing teachers with professional development and with assistance in complying with federal and state requirements, Diamond said.

As the proposal is implemented, officials anticipate reinvesting savings in the universities in a number of ways including:

. Increasing by $11 million student financial aid.

. Increasing by $10 million the amount of state matching funds available to the university system through the Maine Economic Improvement Fund – enabling UMS to leverage an estimated $100 million in federal and private research and development money.

. Increasing by $10 million the salaries of faculty and professional employees by 2008 to bring those wages to 90 percent of the national average.

The plan has the “flexibility” to adapt to potential revisions that could be made by Fitzsimmons and Gendron as they work with Westphal to develop a “seamless” kindergarten through college educational system, officials said.

The plan will be posted Friday on the UMS Web site at www.maine.edu/spp. Opportunities for campus and public comment will be scheduled for April and September, and a revised version of the plan is expected to be submitted to the board of trustees next fall.

Convenience for nontraditional and homebound students won’t be comprised, officials said. Under the plan, the system envisions using advanced Internet and video technology already available in public schools across the state to provide interactive courses to those students.

The plan also calls for creating a statewide electronic library, which would be managed as part of an agreement between UM’s Fogler Library and the Maine State Library in Augusta.

While he expects some opposition, including from lawmakers “who will be very concerned,” Westphal said there is a need for change.

“I’ve been talking about this for a long time,” he said. “More and more legislators are saying you’re on the right path.”

What’s important now, he said, is to have a discussion.

“Change is hard, but if you don’t look at the future and plan and make an effort to address the budget issues and demographic issues, then I think you’re undermining the future of the state,” he said.

What the University of Maine System would look like

Based on a University of Maine System Strategic Plan draft

The institutions

The University of Maine, Orono

includes the Hutchinson Center, Belfast

University of Northern Maine

Fort Kent Campus

Presque Isle Campus

Machias Campus

Houlton Center

Ellsworth Center

University of Southern Maine

Gorham Campus

Lewiston-Auburn Campus

Capital College for Professional Studies (former UMA)

Rumford-Mexico Center

Thomaston Center

Bath-Brunswick Center

Sanford Center

Saco-Biddeford Center

Oxford-Hills Center

University of Maine at Farmington

What would change

University of Maine System Strategic Plan proposes the following changes:

UMFK, UMM and UMPI to become University of Northern Maine

UMA reconceptualized with reporting structure under University of Southern Maine

University College outreach centers reorganized with centers to report to campuses

Calais, East Millinocket and Penquis Centers closed

100 independent distance-learning instructional TV sites eliminated in favor of relying on Maine Department of Education and Cultural Services classrooms

Centralization of services

Projected savings

$15.5 million

On the Web

For a complete draft of the University of Maine System Plan visit www.maine.edu/spp