Barely three weeks into fall term at Portland State, faculty members are already receiving notice of possible layoffs. Nearly 100 non-tenure track faculty got notice Tuesday. And the union that represents them, PSU’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors, is expecting dozens more this week.
Portland State University campus in Portland, Ore., on June 29, 2024. The university is facing an $18 million budget deficit in the 2024-2025 fiscal year.
Anna Lueck / OPB
AAUP believes most of the notices will be sent out by the end of Tuesday, as the university attempts to meet a 60-day notice of layoff prior to an official letter of termination - a notice required by the faculty contract. The second notice, which would go out on Dec. 15, must come at least six months before an AAUP member’s last day on the job.
“Workers were asked to dream big for PSU this year,” PSU AAUP president Emily Ford said. “I don’t understand how workers, how the faculty can dream big when they might not have a job in June.”
The union is currently in contract negotiations with the university. Its contract, which covers over 1,100 faculty, staff and researchers at PSU, expires on Nov. 30.
AAUP represents nearly 350 non-tenure track faculty at Portland State, with more than half of those positions categorized as regular, permanent jobs. The union predicts a majority of people in these jobs will receive warnings of impending layoffs this week.
Among the first to get notices were the entire AAUP represented non-tenure track faculty - 22 people - in PSU’s University Studies program, according to Ford. Faculty within the University Studies program teach required general education courses to all PSU students except Liberal Studies and Honors college students. Last school year, university administrators cut PSU’s Intensive English Language program and sent layoff notices to the 12 staff in that academic unit.
Portland State University American Association of University Professors president Emily Ford (left, with bullhorn) rallies union members on June 5, 2024. Ford expects a majority of non-tenure track faculty members will receive layoff notices.
Tiffany Camhi / OPB
“Portland State University’s structural deficit requires us to make difficult trade-offs this year in order to fulfill our mission,” said a PSU spokesperson in an emailed statement. “Potential layoffs are one part of a comprehensive financial sustainability plan that includes a process of academic program revitalization, curricular stewardship, administrative operational adjustments, a focus on revenue growth opportunities and retirement incentives.”
These notices come as the university faces a continued decline in enrollment and a budget deficit of $18 million this fiscal year. It also follows a rocky first year in office for Portland State President Ann Cudd. Her inaugural year at PSU, and in the city of Portland, was marked by disruptive and sometimes violent student-led protests against the war in Gaza on campus. The demonstrations led to Cudd managing sharp divisions around safety and free speech at the university.
Armed with a new strategic plan, this year Cudd is focusing on bringing long-term sustainability to PSU.
“I have no doubt that this year will be a challenging one for PSU, as we get serious about financial sustainability and roll up our sleeves to become the institution that the future needs us to be,” said Cudd in a Sept. 27 board of trustees meeting.
An analysis from AAUP disagrees with the numbers in the university’s budget. The report compiled by a Western Michigan University accounting professor contends that Portland State is already on solid financial footing.
The university’s bid to develop participation in a city effort to address seismic problems at the aging Keller Auditorium is another sore spot for some PSU staff. Preliminary costs for a combined project, which would renovate the existing Keller building and construct a new venue at PSU, were forecast to be in the $600 million dollar range. Ford said the university should spend as much time on advocacy and fundraising for the Keller project as it does on keeping faculty and staff employed.
“Concrete and steel won’t do anything for Portland State if there’s nobody left to provide the mission critical services of the university, which is teaching and learning,” said Ford.
Faculty and staff in PSU’s other unions are also questioning the board and administration’s cost-cutting decisions. The Portland State University Faculty Association, which represents adjunct faculty, said mass layoffs would translate to an increased workload for remaining staff and larger class sizes for students.
“PSUFA stands in solidarity with AAUP against the PSU board and administration’s shortsighted plans to slash programs and terminate longtime faculty,” said a PSUFA spokesperson in an emailed statement. “We wholeheartedly agree with our full-time colleagues in their observations that such actions will have negative impacts on our entire educational community.”
And while no final decisions on layoffs have been made by university administration, faculty and staff say they are still bracing for more notices to come down the line.