UMaine trustees offer chancellor short-term contract extension, delaying decision on his future with system

Trish Riley, chair of the University of Maine System board of trustees, addresses the state Legislature’s Education and Cultural Affairs Committee over Zoom on Thursday morning. Screenshot via Zoom

The University of Maine System board of trustees has extended Chancellor Dannel P. Malloy’s contract, which was due to expire at the end of the month, until mid-July.

Trish Riley, the newly appointed chair of the trustees, announced the short-term renewal at a meeting Thursday morning of the Maine Legislature’s Education and Cultural Affairs Committee.

Riley said the board renewed Malloy’s contract by mutual agreement until mid-July so it can be discussed at a July 11 meeting of the trustees.

Margaret Nagle, spokesperson for the system and its trustees, acknowledged the agreement Thursday, but declined to specify when it was made, despite several inquiries from the Kennebec Journal.

The decision did not involve a vote, Nagle said, and Malloy can “continue to serve in his current capacity” until the July meeting.

Chancellor Dannel P. Malloy of the University of Maine System. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal file

Malloy, who was recently the subject of no-confidence votes by faculty members at three of the UMaine System’s seven campuses, has been undergoing a regularly scheduled comprehensive review this year. That process takes place in the third year of a chancellor’s employment, and every four years from there on out, according to the university system’s policy. Malloy was hired in 2019.

The UMaine System trustees heard part of Malloy’s review May 22 during an executive session, which is not open to the public, and are to continue the review at their meeting next month.

“We are reviewing his (contract) review and discussing the future of his contract,” Riley told state lawmakers.

Nagle said the short-term contract extension is tied to ongoing turmoil within the UMaine System.

“Recognizing that recent events created additional considerations for that review, the chancellor and (chair of the trustees) agreed to extend his contract until that work is completed,” Nagle said.

Legislators have asked Malloy and Riley to address a variety of questions related to issues raised by faculty members, including concerns about the troubled search for a new president of the University of Maine at Augusta.