The University of Maine System Board of Trustees has voted to make the University of Maine School of Law an independent free-standing institution in the UMaine System.Under the new model, the law school's budget will be independent of the University of Southern Maine by the 2022 fiscal year and the law school dean will report directly to the chancellor.
"The dean will, in essence, be treated as a president of that institution," says UMaine System Chancellor Dannel Malloy.
Malloy says the change acknowledges the differences between the operations of the law school and the University Southern Maine, "which is largely, although not exclusively, designed for undergraduate education."
Malloy says the board also authorized a search for a permanent law school dean, as well as a director of academic success and two faculty positions. Law school faculty and staff are also getting a 3% pay increase.
The board was acting on recommendations made by a select committee set up last spring.
