Dear PSU Colleagues,
Today I am offering some more clarity on our next steps on the Article 22-guided retrenchment process and our efforts to address Portland State’s $35 million budget deficit and our ability to continue to serve our students and our community in the future. This is a lengthy message but it includes many important details.
After reviewing the campus comments and the updated details of our budget and financial condition, this morning I formally declare that a condition requiring the reduction or elimination of departments does exist in accordance with Article 22 of PSU’s collective bargaining agreement with the PSU-AAUP academic union. This means that we will move forward in the process. The next step is for the campus community and the affected departments to review and respond to the Provisional Plan which was also released this morning.
In sharing this news, I acknowledge the pain of losing even one treasured colleague in our community. These decisions are monumental, but necessary to ensure the thriving future of PSU and to minimize impacts to our students.
When we first invoked Article 22 in March, we identified three departments facing possible elimination and 16 departments facing possible reduction. As a result of input from the campus community and changes in the departmental needs, the potentially affected departments list has been revised.
The Provisional Plan identifies two programs for possible elimination — Conflict Resolution and University Studies — with assigned budget reductions of $11 million and potentially impacting 26 positions.
In addition, the Provisional Plan identified the following departments for possible reduction, with assigned budget reductions of $5 million and the potential loss of an additional 26 positions as indicated below:
- Portland Center (1 FTE)
- Educator Licensure (5 FTE)
- Leadership, Learning, and Counseling (4 FTE)
- History (3 FTE)
- Philosophy (4 FTE)
- School of Earth, Environment, and Society (3 FTE)
- World Languages and Literatures (6 FTE)
The next steps in our process, in accordance with Article 22, includes a second comment period that is open for 30 days and concludes June 13. Starting two weeks from today, I or someone I designate will be meeting with the affected departments and engaging in discussion about the Provisional Plan, how it may affect their operations and what other options may exist. After considering all of that input, we will issue a Final Plan. The goal is to issue the Final Plan sometime in June.
It’s important to note that any tenured or continuously appointed faculty member affected by an eliminated position will receive a 12-month notice and those notices were issued today in accordance with the collective bargaining agreement. Pre-tenure and pre-continuous appointment faculty and academic professionals have shorter notice periods.
In addition to the AAUP-represented full-time faculty being noticed today, we are achieving savings in other ways — for example, closing vacancies, implementing an MOU with AAUP for phased retirement options, eliminating cost of living increases for unclassified unrepresented staff and university leadership for the upcoming year, and trimming other costs. In addition, we continue to work toward additional reductions across the university, the results of which will be notified according to collective bargaining agreements. An update on the plan for closing our $35 million budget deficit over the next two years will be presented to the Board of Trustees on June 16.
Updated information, including a link to the Provisional Plan and details on the second comment period are available on the Article 22 google site.
Thank you for your engagement on these incredibly difficult decisions. The resilience of our community and our collective dedication to our students provides me with the necessary hope to endure this challenging process. I join the entire campus community in lifting up our colleagues who may be affected by these changes and I look forward to further input through your comments and meetings with the affected departments in the weeks to come.
Sincerely,
Ann Cudd
PSU President