Announcement:
Monday, Dec. 2nd Faculty Senate Meeting, CH 53, 3 - 5 pm
Discussion of Proposed Language on Fixed-Term Faculty Titles and Promotion
See full details below.
Contents:
Must PSU Cut Academics? Evidence that "Structural Problem" is Small
Alternative Budget Strategy to Invest in Academics & Faculty
Tie Fixed Term Promotion Paths to Multi-Year Contracts - Bob Liebman
Appendix: The Past 10 Years - Exec Admin Pay Soars while Faculty Pay Lags
Must PSU Cut Academics?
Or Could We Invest in Faculty and the University Our Endebted Students Deserve?
Between Budget Forum findings and Pres. Wiewel's Budget Update last week, the "structural problem" may be only $5.74m at the most, rather than $14.5m. We can cut that, and more, out of administrative bloat and invest in academics and faculty - read on!
If you missed the Joint PSU-AAUP/Faculty Senate Budget Forum last week, you may not have heard that PSU's "structural deficit" appears overstated by $6.4 million, according to Oregon State Board of Higher Ed figures - all sources listed below.
That's right, State Board documents report $5m greater growth in net tuition and fee revenue since '08/'9 than does the PSU Admin presentation reporting a structural deficit of $14.5m. What accounts for that discrepancy?
What's more, State Board materials also indicate a state contribution to PSU for this year that's higher by $1.3 to $1.4 million, due to the second tuition "buydown."
In addition, President Wiewel's 6 am e-mail the morning following the Budget Forum announced $2.36m in new tuition revenues and administrative savings. Enrollment is actually higher than forecast, according to what is probably month-old news based on 4th week enrollment reports, bringing in an unaccounted for $1.5m in tuition. AND all administrators earning over $100,000 will forego raises this biennium, for another $860,000 in the budget.
If we add all that together, the alleged "structural problem" is $8.76m less than the $14.5 initially reported, or $5.74m in total.
$5.74 million is just over 1% of PSU's total budget of $558 million. If PSU would open the books and provide a line-item budget, I bet we could find that in a hurry! Heck, the administrative payroll, with salary and benefits, expanded approximately $6.5m over the past two years.
According to RCAT for this year, we're spending $13 million a year on "Enrollment Management and Student Affairs!" We're losing $6m a year in "Auxiliaries," which as VP Rimai points out, ought to be supporting the academic mission, rather than bleeding it. We're spending $5 million a year on University Advancement, in addition to the fundraising efforts of the Foundation.
Maybe we don't need to be making drastic cuts in the Library holdings, as we're currently on course to do.
An Improved, Alternative Budget for Academic Progress at PSU
Proposed Cuts of $17 million:
$5.0m Cut Admin Combined Salaries to Level of June ’11
1.5m Cut Admin Combined Benefits to Level of June ’11
3.0m Shift Athletics Subsidy from Tuition to Foundation
3.0m Cut or Postpone “Provost’s Challenge”
2.0m Call off Initiative to Arm Campus Public Safety Officers
1.25m Sell University Place and Broadway Building
(to stop cash loss of $1.25m annually AND bring in capital)
1.25m End subsidy of Business Accelerator,
Cut or Postpone Cramer Hall Eco-Roof Project
Cut Admin Travel to Level of Faculty Travel Fund
End use of Headhunters for Admin Searches
Proposed Investments of $17 million
$5.74m End “Structural Deficit” as calculated with State Board figures, &
Pres Wiewel’s Budget Update finding $2.36m
8.26m Invest in Faculty Positions and Salaries, in addition to VP Rimai’s
forecast of 3% salary increase each year
3.0m Invest Tech Fees in smaller on-line courses and support of
On-line Faculty
Sources:
1. PSU Admin slides showing $14.5m "Structural Problem": http://www.pdx.edu/
fadm/sites/www.pdx.edu.fadm/files/PSUbudgetslides2013.pdf
2. State Board materials showing $142m PSU net tuition for '08/'09: http://www.ous.edu/
sites/default/files/state_board/meeting/dockets/ddoc091106FA.pdf Page 7
3. State Board materials showing $58m state contribution to PSU for '13/'14:
http://www.ous.edu/sites/default/files/state_board/meeting/dockets/ddoc131018-
fa_tuition.pdf Table 4
4. PSU Budget Office RCAT for '13/'14: http://www.pdx.edu/budget/sites/
www.pdx.edu.budget/files/PSU%202013-14%20Budget%20RCATFinal.pdf
Tie fixed-term promotion paths to multi-year contracts
- Bob LIebman, Incoming President Officer of the Faculty Senate
Compared to UO & OSU, PSU has been a laggard in promoting career development by fixed-term faculty.
UO created the category of Career Non-Tenure Track Faculty for its Professor of Practice/Clinical Professor, Instructor & Lecturer, Research Assistant, Research Associate, and Research Faculty.
OSU initiated extended fixed-term contracts for Senior Instructors, Clinical Associates & Research Full Professors, and Senior Faculty Research Assistants
In 2012, OUS revised Oregon Administrative Rule 580-0020-005 to regularize job descriptions & promotion criteria for fixed-term faculty at all OUS schools.
On Monday, the Faculty Senate will hear a motion to revise PSU's P & T Guidelines in accord with the implementation of new ranks (Professor of Practice/Clinical Professor, Senior Instructor I & II, Senior Research Assistant I & II, and Senior Research Associate I & II). It will add new job descriptions and procedures for promotion by Fixed-term Faculty, which assure fair, full, and regular evaluations. In addition, the motion addresses grandfathering of ranks and promotion pathways and options for reclassification under the new job titles. Many faculty will have an additional promotion step.
The Ad hoc committee that wrote the proposed language for revisions is composed of equal numbers of tenure-line and fixed-term faculty.
The language was screened by PSU-AAUP, which has responsibility to consult on academic criteria and to agree on procedural changes (Article 14 Section 3). These are safeguards against future grievances.
At last count, PSU had 420 Fixed-term Faculty members who stand to benefit from the changes in steps and procedures.
That's why it's important to push for multi-year contracts which have been refused by the Adminstration at the bargaining table.
PSU-AAUP encourages you to attend the Faculty Senate meeting. The P&T Revisions will be part of Unfinished Business to be heard after 3:30 tomorrow.
Remember: Faculty Senate Meetings are Open; Non-Senators can Speak Only if Recognized by a Senator
Appendix: Investment in Faculty Lags while Exec Admin Positions & Salaries Soar
Handout from the PSU-AAUP/Faculty Senate Budget Forum, Monday, Nov. 25, 2013
PSU: Building a Research University, Minus the Faculty
Investments in Real Estate
PORTLAND BUSINESS JOURNAL Mar 4, 2011
PSU pursues grand vision
Portland State President Wim Wiewel envisions a significantly larger university in the next two decades.
Portland State University wants to add 7.1 million square feet of space to the University District, an effort that would dramatically reshape the skyline and push the eastern edge of the university to within a few hundred feet of the Willamette River.
University leaders also admit that paying for such an ambitious expansion will be difficult.
http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/print-edition/2011/03/04/psu-pursues-grand-vision.html?page=all
20 Year Shift to a More Contingent Faculty
PSU Student Body Doubled from 1993 to 2012
1993: 35 students per Tenure-Line Faculty Member
2012: 50 students per Tenure-Line Faculty Member
Proportions of faculty on short- and long-term contracts shifted dramatically; currently 2/3 of Fixed-term Faculty have 1 year contracts.
1993 2012 Growth
Students 14,486 28,731 98%
Tenure-Line Faculty Members 409 598 46%
Fixed-Term Faculty Members 100 420 420%
Part-Time Faculty Members 173 811 468%
Sources: http://www.ous.edu/sites/default/files/factreport/enroll/files/hchist.pdf
Portland State University Student Factbook Fall 2012
Faculty Profile shown by Bob Liebman to the Faculty Senate on Nov. 4, 2013
Investments in Administration Positions & Salaries
Executive Administrators at the level of Asst. Dean and above grew by 65% over the past decade, from 31 to 51
Between 2002 and 2012, after adjusting for inflation
§ President’s salary on E & G funds rose 90%
§ Provost’s salary shot up by 46%
§ Vice Provosts average salaries leapt by 43%.
§ Vice Presidents average salaries rose by 29%
§ Associate Vice Presidents average salaries grew by 19%
§ Assistant Vice Presidents’ average salaries increase by 23%
Source: Center for Labor Research and Studies, FIU, “How PSU Prioritizes its Money,” available at https://www.psuaaup.net/assets/docs/How_PSU_Prioritizes_Its_Money.pdf, based on publicly available data in the PSU library
Faculty Salaries Lag, Hurting Recruitment & Retention
Between 2002 and 2012, after adjusting for inflation, on average
§ Tenured Full Professors’ salaries rose 6%
§ Tenured Associate Professors’ salaries fell by 1%.
§ Tenure-Track Assistant Professors’ salaries grew by 1%
§ Fixed Term Assistant Professors’ salaries rose by 8%
§ Fixed Term Senior Instructors’ salaries grew by 1%
§ Fixed Term Instructors’ salaries fell by 7%
§ Academic Professionals’ salaries fell by 3%
Source: Center for Labor Research and Studies, FIU, “How PSU Prioritizes its Money,” available at https://www.psuaaup.net/assets/docs/How_PSU_Prioritizes_Its_Money.pdf, based on publicly available data in the PSU library