Thousands of cur- Last summer PSU lost more STATE rent and prospec- 92 million through emergency tlve Portland State budget cuts ordered by the students may have legislature when the state's revenue to go elsewhere for their educat~on, projections were revised downward. or go w~thout.over the next two That cut put a hold on 29 full-time Years if budget cuts being dlscussed faculty positions at the Portland in the leglsiature become a realitv. camvus aiona with 35 unfilled staff I than some r State re propos nodest measures to increase ?venue.After reviewing the al, legislative leadership asked state agencies to prepare budget proposals based on no revenue Increase. That translates into a cut of an additional ten percent over the bienn~umo, r almost 931 - - .. he maan I-oe 01budget r e a c t i n s pos I ons. here a so were severe m on ,ust for h,gher edlcarron mentonea woula oramatcalfy a mi! CLIS In buogers tor boors, eqdmp- Tne State Board of h gner EdJca- In0 scope ana cnaracler of PSU and menl, SLPPI eS ana S4pport SQrvCQS. tlon. In response to th~srqlslallve the educational and community ser- vice contributions if makes to the reglon. Already some high-demand academic areas have taken steps to llmit access to classes because of emergency budget cuts instituted last summer. These cuts left hun- dreds of qualified students on course waiting lists in Buslness Ad- ministration and similar numbers outside the doors of the Dlvision of Engineer~ng. The potential budget cuts now un- der discussion in the legislature, ac- cording to President Joseph Blumel. "would profoundly alter the scope and function of this University. They would set back our development for years, even decades." The cause of this concern is news that PORlano State, along wlrn orher components of Oregon s hlgner education system, may fall victim to budget cuts as deep as ten percent. At PSU, that prospect wouid remove $3 mllllon from PSU's already tight operating budget In 1981-82, and $4.6 mllllon In 1982-83. The immediate impact of the budget cut on students at PSU was the ellmination of nearly ten percent of the course sections originally proposed for 1980-81 schedules. it was here that the long waltrng lists began developing in the high de- mand academic areas. The state's revenue picture did not improve and in the fall Governor Vic Atiyeh announced his proposed 1981-83 budget. It called for first restoring the University's budget to its 1979-81 level, then reducing that by about three percent. Over the next two years, the governor's Drormsal would restore about half the'emergency budget cuts made last summer. Higher education officials termed AtiyeWs proposal "minimal" but something they could live with in view of the state of Oregon's economy. The Governor, within his proposed budget, had included request, developed a plan to cut that $31 million from the state's univer- sities and colleges. According to the State Board, the reductions wouid eliminate classes for some 5,900 Full Time Equ~vaien(tFTE) students (about 1,500 at PSU). Since a high proportion of PSU's students are part-time (the average cred~thours per student is 9.48. rather than the 15 for one FTE). the number of students aflectea w o ~ l dbe much n gner than 1.500. depending on wntch stbdents ( f ~ ol rl pan-tune) are denied access to classes. And a ten percent reduction could eliminate as many as 75 FTE faculty positions at PSI . I -- The State Board's budget reduc- tion plan consists of five "steps" which could be implemented one at a time in priority order, depending upon the size of the budget cut ul- tlmately ordered by the legisiature. The impact of those five steps on PSU and 11sability to carry out its educat~onaland public service mis- sion is outlined below. STEP ] CUI 01 $/'lU,UUU In general fund support in 1981-82; and elimination of all general fund support for athletics ($85,000 in 1981-82). for- cing even deeper cuts in an athletic Program which dropped sever-' Sportsthis Spring in a budget-c move. STEP 2 ,A,,:"t:~An' cut Of In he in- rntinn fac~lty-stafsfalar~esat PSU ,T 51 tL1fons nave been glven the L,..- . ol redJconga I employees to 96 per- cent of current salary However, that SuqQeStlonhas been crltlclzed bv many faculty and administrators:) STEP 3 A reduction of another $1.4 mii- lion in 1982-83 STEP 4 A duplicate Step 3, that other $1.4 million In 1982-83. Of IS an- This step Inc STEP 5 es revenue t imposing an additional tuition charge of $108 per student tn 83 Thls wouid be in addltion t consecutive 15 percent tuition Creases already proposed by G nor Atiyeh. Obviously, these proposed measures. hn combination wltt reduct~onsalready included in Governor's proposed budget, real problems for PSU. The UI sity's budget would be reduce eight percent (over $3 mllllon) III 1981-82, and 12 percent (more than 54.7 million) in 1982-83. There also Would be no relief for already reduc- ed budgets for books, supplies and educational equipment. President Blumel believes the im- pact of these cuts would be so damaging that he already has warn- ed facultv and staff and the State the spell liver- d p y sur- 1982- 0 two in- over- Beam of poten1,al reauct ons ot academ c proqrams and the ter- mination of personnel
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