Dive Brief:

• The University of Southern Maine has announced a plan to cut 50 faculty jobs and two of its programs to save $6 million.
• The university’s goal is to cut $16 million this year, according to David Flanagan, the school’s new president.
• The university’s faculty senate has until Oct. 17 to review the proposed cuts and give its response.

Dive Insight:

The remaining $10 million in cuts would come from administration and capital costs, Flanagan said. Southern Maine’s operating budget for fiscal 2015 is $134 million, and it currently has 340 faculty. Three programs were already slated last month for elimination. The new proposed casualties would be a French undergraduate program and an applied medical sciences graduate program. Students in the programs that will be cut will still be able to complete their degrees. The University of Maine System, which includes Southern Maine and six other universities, has a budget shortfall that will leave it $69 million in debt by 2019 if nothing is done, administrators say.