University of Oregon President Karl Scholz says the school needs to cut around $65 million from its budget.
In a message to the community Thursday, Scholz announced he was immediately freezing hiring and pay increases, except for some raises UO has already committed to.
According to Scholz, the university's new enrollment numbers suggest there will be fewer freshmen from out-of-state next year. In the past, that tuition revenue has subsidized UO’s in-state students.
The university had more than 20,700 undergraduates enrolled as of last fall.
Scholz said over the next six months, he will work with the University Senate, which includes students and faculty, and other partners on next steps.
“We need to take this opportunity to refocus the UO on how to deliver on our mission differently and put us on a path to be a stronger, more competitive, and more resilient university,” Scholz wrote.
The announcement follows last year’s moves, when UO cut 176 positions to address a $29 million shortfall.
During that process, some faculty members, student workers and union leaders criticized the administration for making layoff decisions while many employees were away for the summer.
Scholz said final decisions about cuts won’t be made this summer. Updates are expected mid-summer, mid-fall and near the end of fall term.
The Service Employees International Union, which represents the university’s classified employees, rallied outside the Erb Memorial Union on Friday, as they continue to bargain for a new contract.
Jennifer Smith, the union’s president, said she hopes workers have a substantial voice in the decisions about what to cut.
"We are in the trenches day in and day out. We know where there's bloat, where there could be streamlining, where there could be efficiencies,” Smith said. “We are experts at how this university functions."
Smith said the economic offer that her union received from UO administrators Thursday included no raises, even as she said employees are struggling with high cost-of-living and gas prices.
Smith said she expects a strenuous fight over the contract. She’s worried about the future of higher education.
“We cannot run a public good or public institutions like they're businesses. And we cannot make up that loss in state funding with private benefactors and with high tuition from out-of-state students,” she said. “It's not working.”
