This is certainly not the first nor the last blog you’ll receive from your union about the University’s budget woes. In fact, you may feel bombarded by conflicting budget messages coming from PSU Administration and PSU-AAUP. We hoped that the Budget Town Hall and that Monday’s Faculty Senate meeting would answer our budget questions and offer further budget clarity. They did not. Instead, Administration’s budget austerity narrative continues, as does their lack of engagement in true shared governance regarding budget decisions. (For a primer on the PSU budget, be sure to check out the 8-minute PSU Budget 101 video.)
March 9th and March 11th offer us two more OAA provided budget “information” opportunities. We need you to attend and to continue asking good questions and demanding answers. We cannot move forward with performative budget conversations that provide no real answers. Moreover, given remarks at the last Faculty Senate meeting regarding potential layoff scenarios affecting a large number of PSU employees instills fear and anxiety in an already overworked, overburdened, and traumatized workforce.
Tuesday, March 9, 2021 - Academic Affairs Budget Town Hall
3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Zoom meeting link for the March 9 OAA Budget Town Hall
Live stream video link for the March 9 OAA Budget Town Hall
Thursday, March 11, 2021 - Program Reduction Process Forum
3:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Zoom meeting link for the March 11 Program Reduction Process Meeting
Live stream video link for the March 11 Program Reduction Process Meeting
The facts:
- PSU’s bond rating is A1, which means PSU has a “strong capacity to meet its financial commitments.”
- PSU’s net position has improved between 2016 and 2020: upwards of $133 million.
- Administration has been espousing a budget crisis narrative since long before the pandemic, even in years when we’ve finished with a budget surplus.
- Both budget scenarios presented by Administration ignore the latest projections of increased State General Fund revenue of nearly $800 million through the 21-23 biennium, and a 15% increase in state general fund revenue for the 23-25 biennium.
- Both scenarios ignore the very likely expectation of additional federal funding.
- PSU General Fund surpluses accumulated since FY2016 are more than adequate to cover the administration's questionable projected deficits through FY2025.
- Accepting their current revenue projections, including no increase in state funding for the next two bienniums, and allowing for annual current service level increases of 1.0%, General Fund surpluses accumulated since FY2016 are sufficient to cover deficits through FY2025.
- The widely publicized 30% decline in freshman applications for Fall 2021 is now a decline “in the single digits,” as President Percy reported to the Faculty Senate on Monday, yet we have not seen any change in Administration’s budget narrative based on this news.
We are encouraged by:
- Administration's claim that they will center budget decisions on our PSU values;
- the promise to answer all remaining questions; and
- the change in format to the Budget Town Hall based on PSU-AAUP’s request to make it more interactive and allowing for more of a conversation, rather than a pedestal for Administration’s budget pessimism.
We remain discouraged by:
- the normalization and acceptance of language pointing to cut cut cut, as if cut cut cut is the only option;
- the mechanical approach to explaining the budget exhibited by Administrator presenters;
- Administration’s reliance on the same presentation slides and data provided at budget forums past;
- vague, non-committal answers to penetrating questions (e.g. what particular expenses are “discretionary” and why is it used to speak for so much?); and
- the mixed messages of how program reduction decisions will get made. President Percy asserts that it will be a shared governance process, yet Provost Jeffords has announced a Program Reduction Working Group consisting solely of Deans and other administrators.
We urge administration to:
- center students in budget decisions;
- ensure that shared governance is an integral part of the budget decision making process;
- approach the University budget with optimism and creativity, instead of their usual budget pessimism;
- increase the conversational aspects of these budget fora. We appreciate that the open Q&A period for the first Budget Town Hall was created in direct response to PSU-AAUP’s request and was intended to increase conversation and transparency. Yet, it was not enough;
- follow through on promises to center budget decisions on PSU values; and
- follow through on giving concrete answers to all questions posed at the town hall, not vagaries that leave us more befuddled about the University’s budget reality.
Upcoming PSU Events:
Tuesday, March 9, 2021 - Academic Affairs Budget Town Hall
3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Zoom meeting link for the March 9 OAA Budget Town Hall
Live stream video link for the March 9 OAA Budget Town Hall
Thursday, March 11, 2021 - Program Reduction Process Forum
3:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Zoom meeting link for the March 11 Program Reduction Process Meeting
Live stream video link for the March 11 Program Reduction Process Meeting
Upcoming PSU-AAUP Events:
Tuesday, March 9, 2021 -
PSU-AAUP Membership Meeting - Option 1
4:00 p.m to 5:00 p.m.
Zoom link in your pdx.edu inbox!
Wednesday, March 10, 2021 -
PSU-AAUP Membership Meeting - Option 2
12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Zoom link in your pdx.edu inbox!