For the University of Oregon, and for most public institutions of higher education, times are bleak. We face numerous challenges which are more difficult to solve than ever before. And as the economic realities of today are manifest, we all pay a heavy price.
Much news of late has centered around the effect budget cuts are having at the human level. Students are looking at huge tuition increases. The staff certainly know that their bills don’t take furlough days. And our faculty is paid some of the lowest wages in the country.
Unfortunately, most of the recent conversations within our campus dialogue have been more about finger-pointing than about problem solving. The recipient of the majority of blame and anger has certainly been the University administration, an easy target. The same old pundits from around our campus have made the decision to wage a smear campaign instead of joining the most essential struggle we as an institution have ever faced. No one can deny that, if things continue as they are today, this University will be forced to undergo fundamental changes in every facet of campus. These changes will go all the way to our core principal: the mission of the public university of the State of Oregon.
So what can we do?
First we must consciously accept the importance of that question if we are to continue as a public institution. We must stop the arguing and finger-pointing at each other, and identify what the true source of the problem is.
Frankly, the University administration is not to blame for the current situation we are in. While the economic recession devastated what tax revenue the state did have, the truth is, public funding for higher education has been on the decline ever since Measure 5 in 1990. Just look at any graph of tuition increases in the last two decades. There is an inverse correlation between state appropriations and tuition rates. The fact of the matter is, we have been walking down this path longer than what can be blamed only on the recent
economic recession.
I believe that if the people of this state had a better understanding of the important work that we do here, we could finally reverse the tide of diminishing state appropriations. The importance not only of the work of transforming lives, but of transforming Oregon’s economy through new jobs requires the education of the citizenry of our state. Simply put, we have to do a better job telling our story.
The University’s office of Government and Community Relations has been engaged in this fight for years. Their tireless efforts to lobby our elected officials, their advocacy on our behalf, deserves our respect and mutual buy-in. Now that our most effective advocate, President Dave Frohnmayer, has retired, they need our help more than ever before.
Further, the current student government has shown incredible leadership in this regard, both through collaborative efforts like the recent town hall meeting with local leaders, and through a strong presence in powerful and effective statewide advocacy organizations like the Oregon Student Association.
I encourage everyone who is dedicated to the future of our University to join these efforts. Tell our story to your communities outside of Eugene. Tell our story to your state representatives and state senators. Critical conversations about the structure and internal operations of our institution are important, but without more state funding there is little that can be done.
United we must stand, or divided we will fall.
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Just solve, don’t blame
Daily Emerald
November 15, 2009
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