PSU-AAUP Endorsements and Positions

 

Endorsements
Endorsement of Susan Castillo for State Superintendant of Public Instruction
Endorsement of Oregon Measure 68
Endorsement of the May Day Walk
Endorsement of Judge Jack Landau for Oregon Supreme Court
Endorsement of March 5 march on Washington
Endorsement fo HJR-101, to be Oregon Measure 69
Participation in the Oregon Food Bank Governor's State Employee Food Drive
Endorsement of Senate Bill SB 1045
Endorsement of Senate Bill SB 897
Endorsement fo AFT- Sponsored Bill LC-5
Endorsement fo the SEIU-produced film "Sub-City"
Endorsement of the D5 March and Rally
Endorsement of the Defend Oregon Campaign; No on Measures 66 & 67
Endorsement of the Defend Oregon Studen Voter Registration Drive

Positions
1. OUS Restructuring Principles
2. Semester Conversion Principles

 

Endorsements

04/29/2010
The PSU-AAUP Executive Council moved to endorse Susan Castillo for State Superintendant of Public Instruction for the May 2010 Election.

04/29/2010
The PSU-AAUP Executive Council moved to endorse Oregon Measure 68. This measure would allow the state to issue general obligation bonds and use the revenue from these bonds to pay some capital costs for local school districts.

04/22/2010
The PSU-AAUP Executive Council moved to endorse the May Day Walk. The May Day walk is an opportunity for grassroots community organizations, labor unions, faith communities, and individuals to join forces in raising awareness about problems in the community due to economic pressures, decreasing social programs, union attacks, unemployment, and corporate greed.

04/08/2010
The PSU-AAUP Executive Council moved to endorse Judge Jack Landau for Oregon Supreme Court.

02/25/2010
The PSU-AAUP Executive Council moved to pass a Resolution of Support of a Labor-sponsored march on Washington for jobs, peace, and justice.

02/25/2010
The PSU-AAUP Executive Council moved to endorse the House Resolution, HJR-101, to be Oregon Measure 69. The constitutional ammendment will clarify the ability of public universities to use Article XI bonds to fund capital develpment. Sponsored by OUS.

01/28/2010
The PSU-AAUP Executive Council moved to support and participate in the Oregon Food Bank Governor's State Employee's Food Drive.

01/28/2010
The PSU-AAUP Executive Council moved to endorse Senate Bill SB1045. This bill limits the use of credit history to be used for employment purposes.

01/28/2010
The PSU-AAUP Executive Council moved to endorse Senate Bill SB 897. This is a PERS related bill that allows challenges to PERS allocations and retroactive payments. Upon passage of the bill, PERS members would be held harmless for State errors in calculations.

1/14/2010
The PSU-AAUP Executive Council moved to endorse the AFT-sponsored Bill LC-5 in the special February session of the Oregon Legislature. This bill will remedy the section of PECBA which calls for double ballot election procedures in university faculty representational elections.

11/19/2009
The PSU-AAUP Executive Council moved to endorse the SEIU-produced film, Sub-City. The council agreed to sponsor the film and a community event during which the film will be shown and discussion of Ballot Measures 66 and 67 will follow.

10/08/2009
The PSU-AAUP Executive Council moved to endorse the D5 March and Rally.

10/01/2009
The PSU-AAUP Executive Council moved to endorse the Defend Oregon Campaign and the campaign against tax initiative Oregon Measures 66 & 67. These initiatives negatively impact higher education funding.

10/01/2009
The PSU-AAUP Executive Council moved to endorse the Defend Oregon Student Voter Registration Drive.

Positions

1. OUS Restructuring Principles

OUS Restructuring: PSU-AAUP Principles
Adopted April 8, 2010

If restructuring occurs, PSU-AAUP believes that the following principles should be followed:

1. Restructuring should improve access to and quality of education for all students.

2. Restructuring must maintain collective bargaining for employees under the Public Employees Collective Bargaining Act (PECBA), maintain health benefits through the Public Employees Benefits Board (PEBB), and maintain retirement benefits through the State of Oregon Public Employment Retirement System (PERS).

3. Arrangements for “flexibility” must not undermine employment stability and security for faculty.

4. No bargaining unit employees should lose work because of restructuring. Any new employment positions must be represented by the appropriate union.

5. The State of Oregon should immediately invest funds to ensure the start-up and ongoing success of restructuring.

6. Restructuring must have both a short and a long term plan with measurable benchmarks to help facilitate success.

7. Any restructuring of Public Higher Education must be based on careful research that evaluates other restructuring of public agencies such as OHSU and other public universities of similar size and mission.

8. All representative bodies of faculty must be involved in discussions, planning, and implementation of restructuring. With or without restructuring,

PSU-AAUP agrees on the following principles that could
help Oregon’s Public Universities:

1. Local institutional control over tuition management: PSU-AAUP can support local control of tuition if, and only if, the Portland State University mission of access continues to be met. Although cost and market factors are important, a public university must find ways to make higher education obtainable for all.

2. Ability to control capital expenditures and pursue alternative financing for capital improvements and operations: With a growing student body, Portland State University has struggled to meet space needs for classrooms, labs, and offices. Acquiring new space is imperative. PSU-AAUP agrees with the Presidential Consensus Principles that
“Universities should be allowed to issue bonds on their own faith and credit, while maintaining access to existing capital-financing mechanisms. The universities also should have the authority to seek operating and capital revenue from other public sources.”

3. Establishment of a state-funding floor per student to ensure that state contributions do not continue to decline: Portland State University cannot fulfill its access mission without reliable and adequate state support.

4. Money distributed by the State of Oregon for higher education must go to each institution proportionally per student credit hour: Portland State University has long subsidized students studying elsewhere in the Oregon University System. We can no longer afford to carry this burden for the rest of the state institutions.

5. Money generated by an individual institution through tuition and fees, grant overhead, and other means must stay at the respective institution.

6. The Oregon University System should fund each university to attract and retain high quality faculty: Faculty should earn salaries and benefits commensurate with the those of faculty at comparator institutions.

2. Semester Conversion Principles

PSU-AAUP Statement of Principles: Conversion to Semester Calendar
Adopted May 20, 2010

The Portland State University Chapter of the American Association of
University Professors (PSU-AAUP) strongly embraces the mission of
Portland State University (PSU). The faculty are united in their unwavering
commitment to excellence in student learning, scholarship, and service. As
a public institution in a large metropolitan area, it is important for PSU to
provide access to its educational degrees and programs, and diversity in its
faculty, staff, and student populations provides a rich environment that
“enhances the intellectual, social, cultural, and economic qualities of urban
life.”

Senate Bill 442 mandates that all state institutions of higher education
study conversion to a semester calendar. A report with findings and
recommendations must be made available to the legislature by October 10,
2010. As part of the process of collecting information for this report, a
request for input was directed to the Executive Director of AAUP at PSU.

We believe operating on a semester system has merit, but we would not
support a conversion without a comprehensive plan that minimizes the
negative consequences. Moreover, we are mindful that when PSU went
down this path in the late 1980s many faculty members expended
significant time and energy—much of it without compensation—planning
for the conversion, only to have it cancelled at the 11th hour.

PSU-AAUP asserts that the following conditions must be satisfied for the
success of any effort to conversion to a semester system of instruction
from the current quarter system.

Legislature

• Conversion must include sufficient and irrevocable upfront transition
funding for each faculty member and each department.

• Conversion—once begun—must include a commitment from the
legislature that it will be irreversible.

• Conversion must be statewide to include all post-secondary institutions.

• Conversion implementation must be integrated so that all institutional
calendars are synchronized in an effort to avoid negative impacts on
community college-university and K-12-university articulation.

Impact on Students

• Conversion cannot diminish the high quality education currently provided.

• Conversion must not result in any additional financial hardship.

• Conversion shall in no instance negatively impact the time-to-graduation.

• Conversion must include student support and input.

• Conversion should not limit access to higher education.

Faculty/Staff

• Conversion cannot proceed with necessary faculty participation unless
sufficient resources are provided for each faculty member and each
department.

• Conversion must include provisions for adjustments in promotion/tenure
procedures (e.g., tenure clock adjustments as needed).

• Conversion shall not increase current faculty workloads.

• Conversion must not negatively affect faculty compensation, including
health benefits and retirement.

Resources/Infrastructure

• Conversion must include a reasonable timeline for planning,
implementation, and evaluation/adjustment.

• Conversion must provide adequate (permanent) funding for full implementation and review.

• Conversion must not negatively impact resource/infrastructure
commitments already in place.