The University of Maine System board of trustees executive committee voted unanimously Wednesday morning to confirm the extension of Chancellor Dannel P. Malloy’s contract to July 11, following concerns about a lack of transparency around the deal.
The vote, held publicly, came almost two weeks after board Chair Trish Riley informed state lawmakers of the arrangement.
“We are asking the trustees to confirm that action in full transparency,” Riley said before Wednesday’s vote.
Riley and Malloy had agreed privately to the short-term contract extension, which allows Malloy to remain chancellor — and continue to be paid — until the next board meeting, scheduled for July 11. The UMaine System trustees are expected to decide at that meeting if they will renew Malloy’s contract for a longer term.
The University of Maine System board of trustees executive committee has confirmed the extension of Chancellor Dannel P. Malloy’s contract to July 11, following concerns about a lack of transparency around the deal. Above, Malloy in April at the University of Maine at Augusta. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal file
Malloy is to receive almost $10,000 during the eleven-day extension. His annual salary is $350,000.
Malloy’s original three-year contract was set to expire June 30. The trustees have been quiet about whether they will extend his contract after many within the UMaine System said they had lost faith in his leadership. Faculty members three of the seven UMaine System campuses have requested Malloy’s resignation.
Wednesday’s vote by the executive committee, a nine-member subgroup of the 17-person board of trustees, occurred just after 9 a.m., following an hourlong executive session away from the public eye.
Members of the executive committee are Emily Cain, Beth Dobson, Mike Michaud, Jim Donnelly, Lisa Eames, Roger Katz, David MacMahon, Kelly Martin and Riley.
As is standard practice for a chancellor in his or her third year with the UMaine System, Malloy has been going through a formal review by an outside consultant since the beginning of the year. Trustees discussed the review for the first time during their May 22 meeting.
Because of the votes of no confidence and the recent events involving the UMaine System, including the botched presidential search at the University of Maine at Augusta, there were additional facts to review, system spokesperson Margaret Nagle said.
After Riley’s announcement to legislators June 16, Nagle said Malloy and Riley reached a “mutual agreement to extend the contract until that work is complete.”
Since the last board of trustees meeting at the end of May, three new members have been appointed to the board: Donna Loring, Patrick Flood and Barbara Alexander.
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