On April 9, PSU-AAUP filed a grievance in the current Article 22 retrenchment process. The grievance says the administration failed to follow the contract when it presented its financial case to AAUP and to Faculty Senate.
Under Article 22, the University had to give AAUP and Faculty Senate a full explanation of the university’s financial condition before this process could move forward in a meaningful way. Our grievance argues that it did not do that. The administration said reserve-based alternatives were not available or not appropriate, but did not provide the calculations, assumptions, and supporting materials needed to evaluate that claim. It also presented too narrow a picture of the university’s overall finances.
This matters because AAUP and Faculty Senate are supposed to have a real chance to review the administration’s case before academic cuts move forward. That can’t happen when key financial information is withheld.
The grievance asks for two main remedies. First, it asks the University to give AAUP and Faculty Senate a complete financial presentation, along with the supporting materials needed to assess it. Second, it asks that the Article 22 comment period start over once that information has been provided.
We filed this grievance because the administration is asking the university to move toward layoffs and academic cuts, and members have a right to a process that follows the contract and gives the union and Faculty Senate a real opportunity to respond.
There are several important things members can do right now.
First, vote in the no-confidence election if you haven’t already done so. This grievance is one part of a larger pattern of failed leadership and failed process, and there are more violations on the immediate horizon. Please find your ballot from ElectionBuddy, cast it, and encourage your colleagues to do the same.
Second, RSVP here to join over 60 unions and immigrant rights organizations on May 1st, International Workers’ Day, at 1:30 on the South Park Blocks and build the connection between immigrant rights and workers rights. With so many unions so close to campus, May 1st will be an important opportunity to expand solidarity around opposition to President Cudd’s disregard for our rights and our contract. May 1st is a very important moment to find our collective voice and connect our opposition to austerity, the dismantling of public higher education, and the downsizing of this university to the larger labor community and the larger struggles of labor.
If you haven’t voted already, we encourage you to find your no confidence vote ballot from ElectionBuddy in your inbox, cast your ballot today, and encourage your colleagues and coworkers to do the same. Electronic ballots were emailed April 6th. Voting closes in just 6 days.
See our case for a no confidence vote here. In part:
First, the administration is pursuing irreversible academic harm without first building and funding the work of recovery. PSU has an enrollment and tuition problem. The university’s own materials acknowledge thinly funded and underbuilt recruitment, marketing, transfer, and student enrollment infrastructure. Contraction is being proposed as the answer to a problem of underfunding. Austerity is being offered as the only antidote to previous cuts and divestments.
Second, the administration has failed to present a funded path to growth. The university continues to speak the language of retention, transfer, civic partnership, and strategic investment, while moving concretely toward layoffs and program cuts. Those are not the same thing. Members have no confidence in leadership that asks the university to absorb damage before it has seriously invested in concrete steps toward future renewal and recovery.
Third, the administration has not pursued public and legislative solutions with the urgency this moment requires. State-level avenues remain open. A serious university leadership would be in Salem, in HECC, and in the public sphere all year, pressing for stabilization and a different future for PSU.
Fourth, the administration’s processes have not earned confidence. Members have been asked to participate in compromised and demoralizing exercises while outcomes appear increasingly settled in advance. Shared governance has been weakened rather than strengthened.
Upcoming events to help stop the cuts and push the administration to fight for funding:
Spring Administrative Briefing
ASRC 515 – 1812 SW 6th Ave
Wed. Apr 22, 2026 3:30 PM – 5:00 PM
RSVPSpring PSU-AAUP Membership Meeting
SMSU 296/8 – 1825 SW Broadway
Tue Apr 28, 2026 12:40 PM – 1:30 PM
In Person RSVP / Email us for the Zoom RSVPMay Day Rally and March
South Park Blocks – 1436 SW Park Ave
Fri May 1, 2026 1:30 PM – 4:30 PM
RSVPFaculty Senate Meeting
Cramer Hall, room 53
Mon May 4, 2026 3:00 PM – 5:00 PM
RSVP