UMS renews chancellor Malloy's contract despite criticism

BELFAST, Maine (AP) — The University of Maine System chancellor who came under criticism for his handling of staffing and restructuring will keep his job for another year.

Trustees voted unanimously Monday to extend the contract for Chancellor Dannel Malloy despite recent votes of no confidence from faculty at three of the system’s seven campuses.

Trish Reilly, chairwoman of the UMS Board of Trustees, said the outcome that puts Malloy on a short leash balances his mistakes against his previous success in making structural changes for the system to adapt.

“The year will give the chancellor an opportunity to rebuild trust, increase transparency and sustain the momentum of needed change that he has begun,” she said in a statement after the meeting at the University of Maine Hutchinson Center in Belfast.

Hard feelings caused by the former two-term Connecticut governor came to a head with a botched hiring of a president for the Augusta campus.

Malloy declined to tell the search committee about previous no-confidence votes before the hiring of Michael Laliberte at the University of Maine at Augusta. Laliberte withdrew amid the controversy, but the system is on the hook for paying him up to $705,000 over three years.

Malloy said after Monday's vote that he was humbled by the experience. “I am sorry for the turmoil my mistakes have created for Maine’s public universities in recent months,” he said.

Malloy was hired to make some unpopular changes, including implementing a single systemwide accreditation for all campuses. Faculty members expressed worry that the changes were a pretext for consolidation and program cuts.

His contract as chancellor expired on June 1, but there was a temporary extension to allow the full board to vote at its regular meeting.