October Budget Update: Sharing Divisional Targets

October Budget Update: Sharing Divisional Targets

From Andria Johnson, PSU Vice President of Finance and Administration

Dear Colleagues,

I am writing to you today to provide an update on our progress addressing Portland State’s budget deficit and securing our financial future. But before sharing those details, I want to acknowledge the stress and uncertainty many of us are feeling right now. It’s important to prioritize your well-being during this time, while also being patient and understanding with your colleagues and our students, as they are likely experiencing similar challenges. Remember, resources like the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) are available to help you navigate issues that impact your work, home or family life.

Bridge to the Future Plan Overview

To fully realize PSU’s Future in Focus strategic plan by 2030, we must first regain our financial footing. The Bridge to the Future plan, introduced at a September Town Hall and the Oct. 16 Administrative Briefing, addresses a projected $18 million E&G budget deficit by July 2025. Our approach focuses on making financial adjustments in four areas: program revitalization and curricular stewardship, operational excellence, retirement incentives and net revenue growth. For more details on this plan, I encourage you to visit the Bridge to the Future website.

Divisional Budget Targets

Every area of the university will play a role in closing the budget deficit. Each division is following its own timeline to meet its budgeting goals, so if you have not heard from your division leader or supervisor, you can expect updates in the near future.

Here are the preliminary financial sustainability targets that I recently gave to each division. They can achieve these targets by a combination of budget reductions and immediate net revenue opportunities:

*The President’s Office Division includes University Communications, Global Diversity & Inclusion, General Counsel, Government Relations and Institutional Research in addition to the Office of the President.

I want to emphasize that the numbers alone do not tell the full story. Here are some important points I’d like to highlight as you view these divisional targets:

• Each target was based on realistic outcomes such as potential faculty retirements, staff vacancies, cost savings from under-enrolled programs and increasing enrollment in high-demand areas.

• These adjustments primarily affect Academic Affairs, the largest division at PSU, with Operational Excellence being applied to all divisions. Note that Academic Affairs not only includes our colleges and schools, but our support services such as the Office of Student Success, Academic Advising, Registrar, Student Affairs, and the Library, just to name a few.

• In delivering these targets to the divisions, I’ve asked them to do everything they can to find budget savings before any layoffs. For example, I’ve encouraged them to eliminate one-time items that they’d built into their budgets, find savings in vacancies and look closely at the make-up of some positions (full time v. part time, 9-month v. 12-month).

For more detailed information about the numbers and the process behind them, please visit the Divisional Targets section of the Bridge to the Future webpage.

What’s Ahead

In the coming weeks, some of our faculty members will receive a Retirement Incentive offer from the university. And our colleagues in Human Resources, Finance, and Marketing and Communications will begin hearing about opportunities to engage in the multi-year process we will follow to achieve Operational Excellence.

In the meantime, the Bridge to the Future website is a resource that will be continuously updated throughout this process. Incremental updates to the website will be shared in Currently, PSU’s weekly employee newsletter, while more significant updates will be communicated through emails like this one.

In closing, I am confident that by following our financial sustainability plan, PSU will not only regain its financial footing but also emerge even stronger and more vibrant. I understand that this process may bring uncertainty, but it will also empower us to serve our students, employees and community partners better than ever. I’m grateful for your engagement along the way.

Take Care,

Andria Johnson

Vice President, Finance and Administration

Portland State University