PORTLAND (AP) — The president of Maine’s second-largest university is backing off 12 faculty layoffs that prompted weeks of protests.

University of Southern Maine President Theodora Kalikow said Friday that she is open to alternative ways to find $14 million in cuts.

The university’s faculty senate is due to present Kalikow with a 27-item list of alternative savings and revenue plans by May 5.

University officials last month announced the layoffs as part of an effort to trim 10 percent of school’s $140 million budget by July 1. The Press Herald reported Kalikow did not reverse a decision to eliminate about 30 staff positions.

The university has campuses in Portland, Gorham and Lewiston.

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