FARMINGTON -- The University of Maine at Farmington will be forced to make cuts in light of the state's poor financial situation.

The seven-campus University of Maine System's financial pressures, stemming from losses in investment revenue, have resulted in an overall $8.4 million cut. This is in addition to the $19.1 million in earlier, self-imposed budget cuts, said Chancellor Richard Pattenaude.

"Overall, it is clear the global economic crisis has created far greater financial stress on public higher education than could have been predicted," Pattenaude said in a statement. "Like most households, businesses and the state itself, the University of Maine System is experiencing the damaging consequences of the global financial crisis."

In Augusta on Wednesday, Gov. John E. Baldacci directed state agencies to cut spending in the current fiscal year by almost $80 million. Slightly more than half of that figure represents cutbacks to education-related programs.

"Our country faces a dangerous recession," Baldacci said, "and Maine, like a majority of states, must deal with declining revenues."

University trustees learned more about the cuts when they met this week on the Farmington campus to review next semester's plan. The Farmington campus expects to trim $748,119 from this year's approximately $28 million budget to cope with the reduced revenue.

"We want to thank the governor for working hard to minimize the impact on our students and on our university's ability to help improve Maine's economy," UMF president Dr. Theodora Kalikow said Wednesday.

Kalikow has a 35-member advisory task force that provides input on resource management and cost-cutting efficiencies. Measures already taken in 2008 included lowering building temperatures and postponing staff-replacement plans. Employee-merit raises, travel expenses, printing and mailing costs and employee overtime have all been sharply cut.

"We can take figures from the full-time equivalent head count for all the courses, and, based on the tuition costs for those credit hours, predict our revenue," said John Diamond, University of Maine's director of external affairs, on the Orono campus. "But that's a small part of this bigger picture."

The Farmington campus had 1,964 students enrolled this year, compared with 2,002 in the previous year, but UMF increased the number of its out-of-state students from 359 last year to 374, said William Geller, UMF's chief financial officer.

Assistant Director of Admissions Eileen Reading was optimistic about the adaptability of the staff. "Theo (Kalikow) is a leader in encouraging creative thought," she said. "She asks us to find ways to develop win-win situations."

"We're just worried," Reading said, "that students will have the resources to be able to afford to go to college."