1. Faculty Senate Resolution – No Cuts without Opening the Books!
2. President Wiewel’s Last Budget Update, and Reasons for Skepticism
3. Could Mediation Fail on Dec 18th & 19th? Yes! Despite our best efforts...
Appendix: Faculty Senate Budget Resolution - Full Text
Faculty Senate Budget Resolution – Vote on Jan 6!
Monday, Dec 2, 15 Faculty Senators brought a resolution, expressing
* a lack of confidence in the need for big academic budget cuts; and
* a call to open the books, so we can see where the money goes in a line-item,
All Funds budget.
Faculty Senators will vote on this resolution January 6th, between 3 to 5 pm in CH 53 - see the full text of the resolution in the Appendix below.
Contact “your” Senator and any other Senator to urge a Yes vote! PSU Faculty - and the community - should see a line-item budget before conceding to destructive, questionable cuts to PSU’s academic mission!
All members of the full-time faculty, including APs, are represented in the Senate. Here's the list of Senators and people in their “districts:"
http://web.cecs.pdx.edu/~mpj/districts/districts2013.pdf
Pres Wiewel: "Structural Deficit Halved! Pay Cuts Still Needed!"
Why didn't the Admin figure out how to halve the so-called "structural deficit" before calling for drastic academic cuts???? Why not keep going, and shift spending toward investment in faculty positions and salaries?
President Wiewel's budget updates appear designed to communicate that we can't expect compensation for faculty to even keep up with inflation this biennium, never mind rise above the bottom 10% - perhaps in our lifetimes! Pres. Wiewel has repeatedly made the odd claim that salaries account for 81% of the "operating budget."
Public sector accounting expert Howard Bunsis reports that the only way to arrive at a number like 81% is to charge ALL salaries against HALF of the budget, ignoring grants, contracts, endowments and auxiliary revenues that also pay PSU salaries & benefits, and to lump together faculty and Admin compensation.
After reviewing the most recent 5 years of data PSU reported to IPEDS (http://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/), Prof. Bunsis stated that:
The total salaries and benefits of everyone who teaches and does research at PSU was only 35.8% of total PSU expenses in 2012.
This percentage has been declining every year, which is disturbing.
Rob Fullmer, SEIU 503, says PSU is embarked on a risky, expensive gamble to attract international and out of state students with major investments in enrollment management and housing, rather than academics. How long will PSU hemorrhage funds built by student debt to create a completely different student body than the one actually paying the bills?
Why not sell University Place and the Broadway Bldg to someone who CAN make money on downtown real estate with the major tax reductions of an urban redevelopment zone?
Why isn't PSU's fundraising operation self-supporting? University Advancement's $5 million budget last year alone could have bought 2 endowed professorships or a 5% faculty raise.
We need a budget that prioritizes building a stronger academic program at Portland State. It may be boring, and too long-term for job-hopping Admin careerists, but it's what our students, city and state deserve.
Could Mediation Fail? Yes.
The PSU-AAUP bargaining team will engage in two days of mediation with the PSU Admin negotiation team on Dec. 18th and 19th, with the hope of agreeing to a decent deal before the contract extension expires on Dec. 31st.
The Admin effectively gave up on negotiation and called for mediation on Oct. 15th, 6 1/2 weeks before the contract would expire, after refusing to move from an "offer" that
* cut real pay, after accounting for inflation,
* cut job security of fixed-term faculty, and
* cut out contract elements that force the Admin to gain PSU-AAUP's agreement to
change wages and working conditions by abandoning "past practices" not outlined
in the contract (ex: rate of pay for summer courses).
In rigidly scripted language, the Admin team has told us that they are "not interested" in developing benchmarks on issues like class size for Academic Quality; incorporating a substantive merit review and career progression by increasing pay bumps with promotion, post-tenure review and satisfactory reviews for APs and fixed-term faculty; providing multi-year contracts for fixed-term faculty as at U of O and SOU; creating protocols for cutting classes at the last minute; implementing paid parental leave as does the U of O; or allowing us to share sick leave in a catastrophic leave bank as does EOU,.
If they don't move during mediation from their position that PSU faculty must go backward, it's hard to imagine that the PSU-AAUP bargaining team will feel that they can recommend ratification of the contract PSU Admin is offering, particularly as our colleagues at UO, OSU and OIT go forward and the PSU budget fails to prioritize academics.
To pressure the Administration to settle with a reasonable and fair contract, you can
a) e-mail President Wiewel and let him know what you expect in terms of a contract,
b) write a letter to the Editor in any local paper, describing the poor priorities of the PSU administration, and
c) stroll by mediation in the 6th floor of the Market Center Building in your red t-shirt on Dec. 18th and 19th! Come by and say hi - we'll be at the end of the hall to the right of the 6th floor OAA reception desk.
We hope to bring you the news that mediation has succeeded, and we can recommend a contract to you for ratification. If not, we'll continue bargaining and be in touch about next steps.
Appendix: Faculty Senate Budget Resolution
Whereas the PSU Administration is pressing academic units to identify 8% of their budgets in this fiscal year for possible elimination;
Whereas the Provost is advocating significant academic program restructuring and cuts (Academic Prioritization Process)[1]
Whereas the Administration in recent years has disproportionately invested in Administrative positions and salaries, particularly Executive Administrative positions; as well as in poorly performing real estate deals, other Auxiliary activities and initiatives (e.g. “research as a fiscal strategy”);
Whereas the most recent financial audit of Portland State available as part of Oregon State Board materials shows PSU to be fiscally healthy;
Whereas the case for drastic budget cuts is unconvincing based on the data the faculty have been given, i.e. aggregate budget numbers;
Whereas students are now paying over 70% of PSU’s revenue;
Whereas PSU students are assuming an unprecedented levels of debt to attend PSU;
Whereas the academic experience of PSU students would be severely impacted by academic cuts of 5 to 8%;
Be it resolved that the members of the PSU Faculty Senate express their:
1. Lack of confidence in the necessity of the PSU Administration’s call for academic units to identify 8% of their budgets to target for potential cuts in ‘14/’15;
2. Request to access the line-item All Funds budgets for both the current and previous biennia so that faculty can knowledgeably participate in a budget priority setting process;
*from Senators Gary Brodowicz, Barbara Brower, Sarah Eppley, Linda George, David Hansen, Karen Kennedy, Robert Liebman, Thomas Luckett, Robert Mercer, Jose Padin, Karen Popp, Isabel Jaen Portillo, Erik Sanchez, Michael Taylor
[1] http://www.pdx.edu/oaa/sites/www.pdx.edu.oaa/file/Administrative%20Briefing%20PPT%20Presentation_October%202013%20FINAL.pdf
http://www.pdx.edu/faculty-senate/sites/www.pdx.edu.faculty-senate/files/FS%20Agenda%20Dec%202013Final.pdf, pp. 13-15.