BANGOR (AP) — The University of Maine System gave $7 million in individual pay raises over the last seven years, a time of tight budgets in the seven-campus system.

Chancellor James Page halted the portion of the raises which were discretionary after the Portland Press Herald reported on pay raises at the University of Southern Maine.

The raises, some as high as 64 percent, were granted under the Salaried Employee Compensation and Classification Program. There were a variety of reasons, including pay equity and new duties, for 1,022 people who received raises during the seven-year period. Several received multiple pay raises.

Page, who’s been in office for two weeks, is currently reviewing the pay increases.