I’m sure we have all seen the message from Interim President Percy: be prepared for austerity measures to take place for what he expects to be a time of budgetary crisis.
Austerity is a scary word, but the response to the COVID-19 budget crisis must be open, transparent, and participatory. Budgeting is always a process of prioritization, and any COVID-related holes in the budget must be dealt with in a people-centered manner. PSU-AAUP is working with our community to ensure that faculty and student priorities will be part of this process. We appreciate the work that the Faculty Senate is doing on this topic and we are ourselves in constant communication with the administration alongside our academic co-workers in PSUFA and GEU. We continue to emphasize the importance of a community-centered budget to the administration.
Crises are a time when we need to be working together the most. PSU-AAUP, the Faculty Senate, students, and members of our campus community will need to have a voice in the decision-making process to minimize impacts to the core mission of our university.
It is our hope as a union representing core academic workers at PSU -- Faculty and Academic Professionals -- that we will be able to work in collaboration with administration and other stakeholders to ensure that whatever decisions are made, that they are not short-sighted, that they are in alignment with our collective bargaining agreement, that our students will be protected, and that we can maintain the integrity of what makes PSU a special place for our community that serves the city.