FARMINGTON — University of Maine School of Law President/Dean Leigh Saufley and University of Maine at Farmington President Joseph McDonnell will delay planned retirements and remain in their roles through June 30, 2028, the University of Maine System said last week in a news release.

The UMS Board of Trustees’ executive committee accepted Chancellor Dannel Malloy’s recommendation last week and disbanded the search committees that had been formed to find successors for the two presidents, who had previously planned to retire on June 30, 2026, according to the release.

“Leadership matters,” Malloy said, citing “growing student enrollment, new programs and partnerships, and progress toward fiscal stability” at both campuses. Board Chair Trish Riley said the presidents have the board’s “full confidence and support.”

Since Saufley’s 2020 appointment, Maine Law has relocated to downtown Portland, cracked U.S. News & World Report’s top-100 law schools, grown to 291 students — its highest headcount since 1998 — and posted a first-time bar passage rate near 90%, the highest among New England peers, the release said. Saufley credited students, faculty and staff and public and philanthropic investment, adding she aims to strengthen finances and expand practice-ready legal education.

At UMF, McDonnell, appointed interim in 2022 and president in 2024, has expanded early college, graduate and online offerings, transitioned UMF to a three-credit model, and partnered with University of Maine at Presque Isle’s fully online YourPace platform. UMF welcomed its largest incoming class since the pandemic and reported the highest residence-hall return rate in 20 years, the release said. “By better serving all types of learners, we are closing our budget gap,” McDonnell said.