Remarks To The

OUS Board of Directors

 

Bill Danley, President, Interinstitutional Faculty Senate

 

February 21, 2003

 

President Lussier, Chancellor Jarvis, Directors, University Presidents, Students, and Guests:

 

This year continues to bring news of a dramatic declining state economy, of deep concern for the health of our state, and a seemingly never-ending sequence of lowered revenue forecasts, unforeseen gaps between revenues and expenses, and overlaying all of that depressing news we hear of calls to war and equally bad economic news on the national front.

 

It is a time of reflection and anxiety, but somehow we all know in out hearts that in the months and years to come the crisis will pass and we will once again deal with the daily struggles to balance the budget, provide for our neediest citizens, and plan for the future. I say this because I feel we, the people in this room, are now, at this moment, making decisions that affect the infrastructure of our state government. We now risk losing services, jobs, programs, and capital which, once lost, will take many years to replace even if new revenue sources were to appear. These unintended consequences of our rush to patch our system threaten our long-range viability.

 

For example, the continuing rise of tuition to our students goes far beyond just considering the elasticity of demand for education. It may be possible that we can make up for some lost revenues by raising tuition and not lose many students, but we may lose the students we most need to provide an education for. As our student representative said at the last Board meeting, we risk creating an educated elite in Oregon, where children of working parents are left out, and wealthy families and families from out of state fill the vacancies. We risk losing those who have struggled to provide for themselves, losing those who are striving to provide for new families, and losing those who may form the backbone of a revived economy in the future. I personally know students who now face the terrible decision of dropping out of a program they have struggled to complete for years, hoping for better times ahead. The staggering debt they face is being increased yet again as we look for answers, and they look for alternatives. We want you to know that, like you, the OUS faculty supports our students.

 

On the Faculty and staff side, if we remedy the deficits of the Oregon Public Employee Retirement System by denying benefits promised to those now in the system, we may find ourselves struggling to hire even the least qualified instructors in our schools and universities as the stronger candidates look elsewhere. For years we have paid our professors a bare minimum, in the bottom tier of universities everywhere with the promise of a clean environment and good medical and retirement benefits – now, with possible reductions in our retirement and medical benefits, we risk offering only the beauty of our state because we are unwilling or unable to pay salaries or benefits equal to what is paid even by our poorest states. The best and brightest of our professors are already leaving, some to retirement, some to other state universities, and some from other states look at the few positions being offered and never come. These losses may take many years to recover from – recruiting of teachers, professors, even police and health workers, is at a crisis point, and our infrastructure is at risk. It is counterintuitive in the extreme to fail to continue to hire those who are the revenue-producers for our system, and counterintuitive to fail to support those who have been loyal revenue-producers as senior members of our system.

 

As large numbers of professors retire because of instability in our retirement system, who is to teach the hoped-for influx of students we seek to provide more revenue? Who is to provide the advising, planning, and leadership for our students as we hire more adjunct instructors and short-term replacements? What will happen when there is suddenly no institutional memory, no senior faculty, and no faculty leadership to mentor our new professors?

 

It is the unintended consequences of these cuts and drastic elimination of benefits that threatens our system the most. Who among our economists and administrators is measuring the fear, anxiety, and feelings of betrayal of our employees as they see their dreams disappear and their savings dwindle? Do we know the long-term consequences of saving our state budget on the backs of retiring employees, or by financing tuition need grants by charging higher tuition? Those of you who, like President Lussier and myself, struggled financially to get through college, who saved small amounts for years to provide for security for our families and to repay our loans, know only too well how much we rely on sound judgment of our leaders and the foresight not to “throw out the baby with the bath water” as we react to these critical times.

 

The faculty of the Oregon University System appreciates the leadership of this Board, and we acknowledge your support. We look to you and to our legislature for wise decisions now and in the future, and we will support those who resist calls for wholesale program reductions, loss of positions, salary stagnation, and the loss or reduction of our retirement and medical benefit package.