If passed, a proposed budget increase from the Oregon University System could lead to higher faculty salaries and smaller tuition increases, an OUS spokeswoman said.
The OUS’ request for a 25 percent increase over the current budget is significant, but it will help the state provide students with a better education, Diane Saunders, OUS communications director, said.
If approved, the budget increase will help Oregon universities offer more competitive salaries, limit tuition increases to the change in median family income and prepare Oregon students for high-tech careers, Saunders said.
Part of the budget proposal would also change faculty health care plans at Oregon universities.
Currently, faculty do not pay for the costs of their health plans, something Saunders said is not only unusual, but costs the state money that could be used to increase salaries. If the new plan is approved, faculty would pay some of their health care costs.
Saunders said Oregon schools often get “cherry picked” because other states offer better salaries. “Our concept is that we are not competitive with faculty salaries,” she said.
“We’re hoping that by exchanging some of the health care costs and putting them into faculty salaries that we will begin to increase the quality and keep our best faculty in the state.”
During the last biennium OUS requested $30 million to fund salary increases for faculty; it received $1 million.
The state doesn’t have enough money to go around, Saunders said. OUS’ concept is that the dollars that go to pay health care costs can be put right back into salaries, she said.
A budget increase will also help OUS support growing numbers of Oregon students. Saunders said enrollment and the number of degrees awarded has grown dramatically in the last few years without any state funding to support the influx of new students.
After growing for several years, enrollment has flattened out, in part because of tuition increases that OUS has implemented to compensate for the lack of funding.
“There’s no enrollment caps or anything, but there’s the issue of sticker shock for lower-income Oregonians and students feeling like its too much for them to afford,” she said.
The budget has already been submitted to Governor Kulongoski. If he is re-elected, his decision on the budget will come down around December.
“The governor has been very supportive of higher education,” Saunders said. “We feel very pleased about the work we’ve done with the governor’s office and we hope that we get a good portion of what we’ve requested.”
The legislative session begins in January and ends in August, at which time the proposal from the legislature, governor and OUS will be compared and a final decision will be made.
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