This story will be updated.
Four finalists will visit the University of Maine at Augusta’s two campuses next week as part of the renewed search for the institution’s next president.
A new search committee led by University of Maine System trustee Roger Katz has whittled down the search to four finalists: current University of Maine at Presque Isle President Raymond Rice; Jennifer Cushman, chancellor of Penn State Beaver; Roxanne Gonzales-Walker, provost and vice president for academic affairs of New Mexico Highlands University; and Jason King, chief compliance and ethics officer of the University of Texas System, Katz said in a press release Thursday.
The University of Maine System was forced to restart its search for the next president of UMA after the selected candidate, Michael Laliberte, withdrew from the job in May 2022.
Laliberte’s withdrawal followed revelations that he had been the subject of votes of no confidence at his previous institution in New York and that those votes were never disclosed to the search committee, even though the committee’s chair and Chancellor Dannel Malloy were aware of them.
In December, the system signed a deal with a new search firm, ZRG Partners LLC, and gave the company close control over how the search plays out and limits the role of the search committee made up of students, faculty members, trustees and community members.
Katz said the four candidates will meet next week with various members of the UMA community and the search committee will reconvene April 5 to decide who they will recommend to Malloy, who will make the final selection.
Laliberte’s withdrawal from the position before his contract started has cost the university system $205,000 so far. As part of Laliberte’s departure he struck a deal with the system that guaranteed him the full payment of his three-year salary if he could not find other suitable employment.