National Political Crisis? We Seize State-Wide Opportunities

by José A.Padîn, President

The locus of sane policy-making for education is decisively moving to the states. A good case for this can be made at a time when national government seems in disarray.
 
Here in Oregon, AAUP-Oregon is incredibly active in the legislative session in Salem, looking after the interests of college students, faculty, the academic class, public higher education more generally. In just over a month, we’ve reviewed over 1,500 bills, identified over 100 that impact us, and offered legislative testimony on a few. The issues we’ve acted on, or are under review, are quite varied; from PERS reform, to cultural competency requirements, to student loan insurance.
 
Our members have also been active visiting legislators in two lobby days sponsored by the Oregon Student Association, and the A Better Oregon coalition, and attending Ways and Means Committee “roadshow” events.  Read More Here
 

Legislative Update

PERS Cuts Proposed--Take Action Now

by Margaret Butler, Executive Director

As I’m sure you have heard in the media, there are many proposals floating in Salem to make changes to PERS. Senate Bills 559 and 560 were heard in the Senate on February 13^th, and AAUP-Oregon President José Padín testified for us, along with many, many others from a wide range of organizations.  Read José's testimony here.According to the PERS coalition, these bills are extreme, unfair, and illegal.

Learn more and contact your lawmaker at KeepOregonsPromise.org
 

SB 559 proposes changing the way PERS calculates the final annual salary by using a five year average as opposed to the three year average currently utilized. This breaks the agreement made when our members where hired and reduces retirement benefits for current and future employees. The Oregon Supreme Court has said that benefits already earned cannot be taken away.  Read More Here

More Draconian Cuts at the UO
by Michael Dreiling, President, United Academics at UO

As the University of Oregon enters its second spring under the helm of President Michael Schill, we face another round of deep cuts to the faculty who advance the university’s core mission of educating Oregon’s students. Last year saw more than 75 faculty members severed from the university’s ranks. This year, a similar number of faculty will have their employment, in many cases long-term employment, terminated by the university administration. Over the course of two years, the university will lose more than 10% of its instructional workforce.

If these cuts were being made strategically in areas where faculty were not needed, we might understand. Unfortunately, the decisions to terminate many of the university's faculty are not being made to trim excess staff or strengthen our education and research missions. In fact, many of the proposed cuts will damage these missions and make it harder for UO faculty to continue providing Oregon’s students with a quality education. Read More Here