The final one-year extension reflects the System’s enrollment and fiscal progress during Malloy’s tenure and the importance of strong, stable leadership during a critical period for American higher education
ORONO, Maine — The University of Maine System (UMS) Board of Trustees has voted to extend Chancellor Dannel P. Malloy’s contract for an additional year. His transformational tenure as Chancellor will conclude on June 30, 2028 — making him the second-longest-serving leader in System history.
The Board’s action at a special public meeting on Wednesday reflects continued confidence in the direction of Maine’s largest educational and economic development enterprise under Chancellor Malloy and recognition that this is a pivotal moment for American higher education that demands strong, stable leadership.
“Higher education is navigating unprecedented demographic, financial and political pressures, rapid technological change and evolving expectations from students and employers. Because of Chancellor Malloy and the extraordinary work of our public university presidents, faculty and staff, the University of Maine System is leading the nation in meeting these challenges and is stronger, more innovative, collaborative, and accountable, and better positioned to serve Maine than ever before,” said Board Chair Roger Katz. “The Board believes continuity is critically important at this time as the System continues to transform lives, deliver an unmatched return on investment to students and taxpayers, strengthen sectors and communities, and ensure a seamless transition to its next leader in 2028.”
Since becoming the System’s 11th Chancellor in 2019, Malloy has led Maine’s public universities through a period of unprecedented change and challenge, including the COVID-19 pandemic, demographic decline, the rise of online education and a fast-evolving federal funding and policy landscape.
During his tenure, the System developed its first comprehensive strategic plan in nearly two decades and became the first in the nation to achieve unified accreditation. That bold structural reform allows Maine’s public universities to collaborate more seamlessly for students’ benefit while strengthening their distinctive missions and identities and reducing duplication.
Under Malloy’s leadership, the System has now delivered eight consecutive semesters of demographic-defying overall enrollment growth despite operating in the nation’s oldest state. UMS has done so by expanding direct and guaranteed admissions pathways for Maine high school and community college graduates, improving retention to historic levels and launching new high-value, high-quality academic programs, including rigorous, competency-based online education for adult degree completers through YourPace (External Site) at the University of Maine at Presque Isle, which is led by President Ray Rice.
UMS also improved its financial outlook, balancing operating budgets without reserves for the first time in a decade while maintaining its workforce and the region’s most affordable tuition. That relative financial stability is a result of unprecedented public and philanthropic investment — including record levels of State appropriation and Congressionally Directed Spending and a $320 million grant from the Harold Alfond Foundation known as UMS TRANSFORMS (External Site) — that reflects confidence in the leadership and direction of the System and is enabling long overdue modernization of its statewide capital plant.
Additionally, the University of Maine, which is led by President Joan Ferrini-Mundy, earned and reaffirmed prestigious Carnegie R1 classification (External Site) during Malloy’s tenure, elevating Maine’s flagship among the nation’s top research institutions and driving external funding and research activity to record levels while creating jobs and strengthening the state’s economy.
Malloy also recruited and has retained a highly effective, committed team of university presidents, including the Chief Justice of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court, Leigh Saufley, who has led a turnaround of Maine’s only law school since becoming its President/Dean on April 15, 2020, Deb Hedeen of the University of Maine at Fort Kent (effective July 1, 2020), Jacqueline Edmondson of the University of Southern Maine (effective July 1, 2022), Joseph McDonnell of the University of Maine at Farmington (effective July 1, 2022) and Jenifer Cushman of the University of Maine at Augusta (effective July 1, 2023).
“I am grateful to the Board of Trustees for its support and partnership, and deeply honored to continue serving alongside the talented faculty and staff who make this System strong. Together, we have made tremendous progress, including by ensuring educational attainment and upward mobility for the more than 44,000 learners we have graduated into the workforce since I became Chancellor in 2019,” said Chancellor Malloy. “Maine’s public universities have never been more important to the state’s people, economy and communities. I look forward to building on our incredible momentum to ensure a stronger, more sustainable future for Maine and its remarkable public university system.”
Malloy became Chancellor on July 1, 2019 following nearly four decades of public service, including as a prosecutor, mayor and two-term governor of Connecticut.
About the University of Maine System
The University of Maine System (UMS) is the state’s largest driver of educational attainment and economic development and its seven public universities and law school are the most affordable in New England. Over the past two decades, UMS has awarded 106,362 degrees and spurred and strengthened thousands of small Maine businesses through its world-class research and development activities. For more information, visit www.maine.edu.
Media Contact:
Samantha Warren
Chief External & Governmental Affairs Officer
207-632-0389 / samantha.warren@maine.edu