Maine-Augusta President-Elect Withdraws

The man who had been named the next president of the University of Maine at Augusta will not take office. Michael Laliberte’s candidacy has been controversial with faculty members because of a no-confidence vote against him in his previous job as president of the State University of New York at Delhi. The Faculty Senate at Augusta this month issued a no-confidence vote against the University of Maine system chancellor, Dannel Malloy, and demanded a new search. Malloy had not informed the search committee of the no-confidence vote at Delhi.

A joint statement by Laliberte, Malloy and Sven Bartholomew, a trustee of the system, said, “After collaborative discussions and by mutual agreement, Dr. Michael Laliberte, the University of Maine System, and the University of Maine at Augusta reached the decision that it is in the best interests of all parties that Dr. Laliberte voluntarily withdraw from his current contract to be the next University of Maine at Augusta president. This has been a difficult process for all involved and although we believe that Dr. Laliberte has the skills, talent, and integrity to lead UMA, we have decided that it is best that we listen to and support the UMA Faculty Senate in their desire to revisit the search for the next UMA President. We also want to repeat here that we all should have ensured that the entire UMA presidential search committee was fully informed, during the interview process, about the October 2021 SUNY Delhi College Senate vote of no-confidence. This was a mistake and has understandably caused a deep mistrust of the search process within the University of Maine at Augusta community. We regret this outcome, but believe that this resolution is the right decision for now.”