PSU finalizes academic restructuring plan

Today, Portland State University issued the Final Plan in the comprehensive process to realign its academic programs to meet the evolving needs of current and future students and to address the urgent issue of PSU's financial sustainability.

After hundreds of hours of campus community engagement, careful financial review and considered and creative decisionmaking, PSU is moving forward with the elimination of two academic departments - Conflict Resolution and University Studies - and reductions across six other departments including the Portland Center; Educator Licensure; Leadership, Learning, and Counseling; History; Philosophy; and World Languages and Literatures.

Through negotiations with the academic union, PSU American Association of University Professors (PSU-AAUP), voluntary retirements and reduction in hours and other creative approaches, PSU was able to achieve the necessary cost savings, $16 million, while minimizing the number of involuntary academic personnel reductions.

In all, the Final Plan calls for academic personnel reductions of 36 full-time positions plus three positions that will be reduced to part-time, down from 52 full-time reductions proposed in the Provisional Plan that was announced in May.

The Final Plan is the culmination of a lengthy, iterative process required by the PSU-AAUP Collective Bargaining Agreement that involves faculty and administration working together closely to achieve the necessary budget reductions with as few involuntary layoffs of faculty as possible.

"I am deeply grateful that our PSU community was able to come together in this way to reach the best possible outcome for a tremendously difficult process - achieving the costs savings necessary to ensure a strong future for the university while keeping involuntary position eliminations to the absolute minimum," stated President Ann Cudd.

The Final Plan is just one part of PSU's coordinated two-year plan for financial sustainability, which includes a range of cost-saving measures across all aspects of university operations. PSU is taking this action now to address a looming $35 million deficit and create a stronger and more resilient PSU that will continue to serve students and provide a pathway to opportunity for generations to come.

"Throughout this analysis and in every decision we have made and will make going forward, we have centered student needs," Cudd said. "We simply must ensure that every student who enrolls at Portland State can find the program that sparks their interest, can get the classes they need to graduate in a timely fashion and realize a return on the investment of their tuition dollars in the form of a gratifying career."