Portland State Administration, Trustees Must Fight for Funding

Today, AAUP President Todd Wolfson and AFT President Randi Weingarten issued the following statement calling on Portland State University President Ann Cudd and PSU's Board of Trustees to halt their rushed and ill-conceived plan to impose deep cuts to academic programs and the academic workforce.

The AAUP and AFT call on Portland State University President Ann Cudd and PSU's Board of Trustees to halt their rushed and ill-conceived plan to impose deep cuts to academic programs and the academic workforce. We condemn the PSU administration plan to eliminate as many as 216 full-time positions, which is a profound betrayal of the university's mission and a direct assault on the workers who educate and support PSU's student body. It's shocking to see that, at a time when higher education is under constant attack, trustees and administrators at Portland State University are doing the attackers' work for them by enthusiastically gutting their own institution.

The magnitude of cuts is astounding. In the first round of President Cudd's cuts, nineteen programs are facing layoffs, including three programs slated for total elimination. These cuts target the heart and soul of Oregon's leading access institution: general education, humanities, student recruitment and retention, international recruitment, and more. The cuts arrive as part of a "pragmatic scenario" that has promised as many as 216 full-time layoffs.

While the board and administrators point to a "structural deficit," these cuts are not a financial necessity; they are a political choice that prioritizes administrative bloat and capital projects over the livelihoods of dedicated public servants.

The administration's narrative about the institution's finances and the need for cuts are undermined by its failure to explore all possible avenues to address financial issues without seeking cuts to the academic workforce. While the president at Southern Oregon University has cut his own pay and diligently lobbied for emergency funds to address the financial instability of his institution, President Cudd and her administration instead remained committed to austerity. We call on the Cudd administration to pause layoffs and join academic labor unions in Salem in January to fight for funding.