Dive Brief:
- Portland State University sent notices Tuesday to 89 non-tenure track faculty members that they could be laid off by the end of the academic year, the university confirmed. In an emailed statement, the public institution said no final decisions have been made. Final notices are set to go out mid-December.
- “Portland State University's structural deficit requires us to make difficult trade-offs this year in order to fulfill our mission,” the university said, adding that along with potential layoffs, its financial sustainability plan includes an academic program review, operational changes, revenue growth and retirement incentives.
- The university’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors said on its website of the potential layoffs, “Instead of growing enrollment strategies, investing in faculty and students, and due to their own budget pessimism, Administration is putting [non-tenure track teaching faculty] on notice that their positions will be terminated.”
Dive Insight:
In its annual fall term greeting letter this year, Portland State’s board of trustees included a note about the university’s financial sustainability, pointing to an $18 million deficit in its education and general fund.
“The continued use of reserve spending is not sustainable for the long-term success of PSU,” the board said. “We expect to be faced with difficult decisions as we navigate a path toward a more sustainable future, but we approach these challenges with optimism and a shared dedication to PSU’s ability to serve the community for years to come.”
As with many other institutions around the country, budget issues have followed yearslong enrollment declines at Portland State.
Between 2017 and 2022, fall headcount plummeted 19% to 21,609 students at Portland State, according to federal data. Still, the university narrowed its operating deficit (which doesn’t account for state funds and other nonoperating revenue) slightly to $220 million in fiscal 2023. That’s down from $222 million the previous year. Its net position grew $12 million in 2023, roughly a third of the increase in 2022.
Portland State’s AAUP chapter said that university leadership “pushed” $12.5 million in budget cuts to academic units for the next fiscal year. It also criticized administrators on social media for turning to layoffs while it says the university is planning to spend over $300 million in grants and private philanthropy on campus constructions, including for a new fine and performing arts building.
“Though it might not be evident to Board members who lack pedagogical backgrounds and have large downtown real estate portfolios, investments in concrete and steel are not investments in the workers who make the teaching and learning at this University a reality,” the union said.
The AAUP chapter also pointed to a recent financial analysis by Howard Bunsis, an accounting professor at Eastern Michigan University, that found Portland State to be in a “solid financial position.”
Bunsis, who has done similar reviews for other union chapters, pointed to the institution’s high bond ratings, strong reserves and cash flow surplus, and increased state funding. Bunsis also noted that Portland State’s administrative salaries are growing much faster than those of faculty, which have not kept up with inflation and lag those of the university’s peer institutions.
The faculty layoffs at Portland State come as administrators negotiate with the AAUP on labor contracts, with layoff protections among the issues under discussion.
