Weekly Updates for
academic year 2001/2002

May 28, 2002

Urgent! Contact Your Legislator Today!!

Dear PSU Faculty Member:

The Oregon legislature will be meeting in special session during the first week of June to attempt to address the $1 billion shortfall in the state budget. One of the issues on the table during the June session will be further cuts to higher education. It is estimated that PSU could face a minimum of another $7-7.5 million in cuts on top of the $15 million in cuts that we took between November 2001 and May 2002. These cuts are coming at a time when PSU's enrollment is up and projected to be 22,480 in fall 2002. Even though the special session is tentatively scheduled for June 7, legislators are already meeting to discuss how to address the budget shortfall.

We are asking all PSU faculty members to phone or write their state representatives and state senators this week before Friday, May 31 with the following message:

PSU has been a responsible partner in looking for a solution for the state budget shortfall. We've already taken significant cuts. Our enrollments are up and we project 22,480 students in the fall. Any further cuts will impede our ability to serve the students in this community and to help with Oregon move forward out of the recession. We need a long-term solution to these revenue shortfalls because further cuts in PSU's budget means that we won't be able to accomplish what the community wants us to accomplish.

Please make sure that you message includes information about who you are, that you work at PSU, and how long you've lived in your legislator's district. Also, please phone or email from your home numbers/email accounts.

If you are unsure of your house and senate district or if you would like phone or email contact information for your legislators, please go to the legislative search link on the state of Oregon web site (http://www.leg.state.or.us/findlegsltr/findset.htm). Or, if you prefer, please contact the AAUP office at 4414 or aaup@psuaaup.net and we'd be happy to find this information for you.

Thank you for taking the time to make these important contacts!

May 17, 2002—OUS Chancellor Announced

Dr. Richard Jarvis, has been selected to become the new chancellor of the Oregon University System. Click here for more information.

May 13, 2002—OUS Chancellor Search Announces Finalists

Oregon's search for a new chancellor of the Oregon University System has come to the final stages. Finalists have been announced by the State Board of Higher Education. Biographical information on the candidates is available from the Chancellor's Search website.

April 19, 2002—PSU-AAUP 2002 Executive Council Election Results

The Nominations and Elections Committee counted ballots and certified the 2002 Executive Council Elections this morning. The results of the election are:

  • Gary Brodowicz, SCH, President
  • Jacqueline Arante, ENG, Vice President for Collective Bargaining
  • Sy Adler, USP, Councilor
  • Martha Hickey, FLL Councilor
  • Susan Lindsay, LING, Councilor
  • Alan MacCormack, UNST & IASC, Councilor

Congratulations to the new EC members and thank you to those who ran for office!

April 2002—New membership benefits! Full members of PSU-AAUP are now eligible for discounts at local stores and restaurants. Click here for details.
March 27, 2002—Candidate statements for the 2002 Executive Council elections are now available. For more information, click here.
March 13, 2002—Today Governor Kitzhaber announced his reduction plans to balance the budget. For more information, click here.
Legislative Alert!!!
Help protect higher education! Contact your legislator immediately!

As you know, due to the shortfall in the state budget the legislature is returning for a special session on Feburary 8. Governor Kitzhaber has proposed and the legislature will consider further cuts to the higher education budget. Any further cuts to the higher education budget beyond those we took in the last regular session of the legislature would have serious repercussions for the faculty, staff, and students of PSU.

Please help in educating members of the legislature about what further cuts will mean to the PSU community. In particular, please write a letter to your state legislator urging him/her to do all s/he can to protect the higher education budget during the special session. Click the link below for a sample letter for your use. (You must have Adobe Acrobat Reader to open the link. If you don't have Acrobat Reader click the icon below to download it).

Sample letter to legislator

  • You may also write your legislator via the Oregon State Legislature website at by clicking here.
  • If you'd like to write to Governor Kitzhaber as well, click here.
  • Don't know who your state legislator is? Click here to find out.
OUS Chancellor's Search

Click here for information on the Oregon University System's Chancellor Search. Read the position announcement, learn more about the search and tell OUS what you'd like to see in the next Chancellor.

PSU-AAUP Sponsored Forum on OHSU Nurses Strike

January 24, 2002—PSU-AAUP sponsored a forum on the OHSU nursing strike. Kathleen Sheridan, representative of the Oregon Nursing Association (ONA), the union that represents the striking nurses, spoke to a group of about 60 PSU faculty, staff and students. She focused on the history of staffing problems at OHSU and pay inequities that have led OHSU nurses to feel overworked and underpayed. Sheridan’s talk struck a chord with AAUP members who are concerned about similar issues, including a reduction in wages to pay for health care benefits and salary compression. Asking, “if not now, when?” the nurses went on strike on December 17, 2001. ONA and OHSU reached a tentative agreement last week and voted to ratify the contract on Sunday, February 10. For more information about the settlement, visit http://www.oregonrn.org.

 

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Last updated: 10/3/07
 aaup@psuaaup.net