Details on the Final Retrenchment Plan
July 21, 2026
Dear Campus Colleagues,
After careful consideration of all submitted comments, meetings with all potentially affected departments and many conversations with our academic union partners in PSU-AAUP, we have reached a Final Plan for Retrenchment. Today, I am sharing the Final Plan with you, completing an essential step in the often painful process that we’ve been engaged in as a campus community since March.
The Final Plan, available for review in its entirety on the Article 22 site, reflects the changes we will make to academic departments to help address the university’s projected $35 million deficit and create a stronger and more resilient PSU that will continue to serve students and provide a pathway to opportunity for generations in the future. The conclusion of the Article 22 process coincides with the midpoint of our larger financial sustainability effort, Bridge to the Future 2.0.
I am heartened that the Final Plan reflects the efforts of many campus partners in achieving all of our required deficit reduction goals while minimizing the number of involuntary academic position reductions. Affected departments submitted creative alternative recommendations, colleagues stepped up to offer voluntary retirements, and our finance team identified time-limited, one-time funds targeted for financial sustainability to support additional voluntary retirements proposed by the units and the PSU-AAUP in their alternative recommendations.
The Final Plan maintains the two program eliminations identified in the Provisional Plan: Conflict Resolution and University Studies, and the reductions in academic personnel in Portland Center, Educator Licensure, Leadership, Learning, and Counseling, History, Philosophy, and World Languages and Literatures.
As a result of voluntary retirements, there will be no layoffs in the School of Earth, Environment, and Society. In all, we were able to reduce the number of involuntary academic personnel reductions from 52 to 36 full-time positions plus three positions that will be reduced to part-time. Additional details of impacts to each unit and changes made from the Provisional Plan can be found in the Final Plan.
In addition, the University decided to extend the final date of employment for all instructional faculty who received notice of layoff on May 14, 2026, to June 15, 2027. Further, the final date of employment for all academic professionals who received notice of layoff will be extended to December 15, 2026.
I am deeply grateful for our colleagues who volunteered to retire and/or reduce their hours in order to retain the jobs of their colleagues. While all of these decisions were incredibly difficult to make, I was impressed by how the PSU community came together to minimize the impacts. As much as I would like to see none of our colleagues impacted by necessary cost-cutting measures, it is not a realistic scenario.
I know how difficult these changes have been for everyone. Thank you for all of the campus participation in this process and I commit to continued collaboration as we work together to write Portland State’s next great chapter.
Sincerely,
Ann Cudd
PSU President