The Oregon Progress Board, which is responsible for oversight of the state’s 20-year plan, just released a report on whether Oregon is making progress toward its economic, social and environmental goals. In its “2007 Benchmark Report to the People of Oregon,” the board came to the obvious conclusion that the state is not living up to its own goals for the quality of higher education.
For years, steady tuition hikes have made the state’s disinvestment in higher education unmistakable to students. Most recently, the co-chairs of Oregon’s Ways and Means Committee slashed $300 million from Gov. Kulongoski’s proposed $1.2 billion Oregon University System budget. The legislature’s work session to finalize the budget will begin after it receives its budget forecast on May 15. If they take effect, the cuts will result in an 18-percent raise in tuition at the University over the next two years.
This round of cuts is only the latest in the University’s continual budget crunch, recently made palpably real to students by means of the upcoming loss of Jesús Sepúlveda. A popular Spanish language instructor, Sepúlveda will not have his contract renewed as a result of budgetary constraints in the Department of Romance Languages.
The loss of Sepúlveda raises the important issue of how budget cuts affect the issue of faculty retention, and especially the retention and recruitment of minority faculty members. In order to act in accordance with the University’s Diversity Plan, the University needs to have the financial resources to aggressively recruit minority faculty members – and to give them incentive enough to stay here.
Despite the obvious downfalls of budget shortfalls and tuition hikes, Oregon has nevertheless made it clear that it does not intend to fully fund higher education.
Students, to their credit, have spoken out against these cuts at every possible opportunity, but the result remains that they have no choice but to pick up the tab. With the narrowing window for feedback, students should continue to voice their opposition to the state’s budget for higher education so legislators get the message that Oregon must pay more than lip service to its higher-education goals.