University officials think Gov. John Kitzhaber’s plan to balance the state budget will cause the worst funding crisis at the University since Measure 5 took effect in 1991.
Kitzhaber unveiled his proposal to counteract the shortfall, which he called a “starting point for the debate,” at a Monday press conference. His plan calls for an $84 million cut to the Oregon University System — 10.4 percent of OUS’s operating budget.
That cut would eliminate $12.4 million — 8.1 percent of the University’s $152.9 million budget.
Kitzhaber said he intends to have an updated plan by Jan. 14, but if no changes occur, the proposal will shortchange the University by $12.4 million.
“The magnitude of the cut would be greater than the effect of Measure 5,” University Provost John Moseley said. “It will be tragic if the state pulls back funding.”
Nathan Tublitz, head of the University’s faculty senate, said estimates have shown that a 10 percent cut at the University of Oregon would mean the school would be forced to cut 85 faculty positions. The exact effects of an 8.1 percent cut aren’t known; however, any cuts above 5 percent would drastically affect the University.
“The sad part is that it takes just one large cut to cause an effect that takes a decade to recover from,” Tublitz said.
Kitzhaber hasn’t said cuts at the University would reach 10 percent, and Moseley said the administration isn’t trying to inflate figures or assume the worst.
“We have no intention of playing any kind of game with this,” he said.
Moseley added that a 5 percent cut to the University won’t cause any programs to “close.” Tublitz agreed a 5 percent cut would be “absorbable.”
However, Tublitz acknowledged that the proposal threatens to be the University’s biggest funding crunch since Measure 5, which revised Oregon’s property tax rules. When that measure was passed in 1990, the University was forced to eliminate the School of Health and Physical Education and other popular programs.
“It resulted in a decrease in academic quality,” Tublitz said.
Moseley said that over 50,000 Oregonians did not have access to higher education in Oregon as a direct result of Measure 5.
Twelve years later, the new budget cuts may cause a similar decline in academic access.
“There’s no way to absorb it without layoffs,” Moseley said.
The provost said when he moved from the Deep South to Oregon, he was glad to be in a state that prioritized the funding of higher education.
“We used to make fun of the states in the South. They’re ahead of us now,” Moseley said. “We’re operating very close to the edge. We could become the next Appalachia.”
University President Dave Frohnmayer concurred with Moseley.
“Now is not the time to revert to the decade of disinvestment the University faced,” he said.