Portland State students, staff push back on proposed budget cuts

PORTLAND Ore. (KPTV) - Students and staff at Portland State University are still reeling from Monday’s proposed budget cuts.

“It is getting talked about,” said Demetra Adams-Kane, applied linguistics graduate student. “I think a lot of people feel defeated.”

Nineteen academic departments at Portland State University could face reductions or elimination as the university projects a $35 million budget shortfall by 2028. On Monday, PSU President Ann Cudd said the university plans to move forward with retrenchment, a formal process used to downsize the institution.

In a letter to the faculty union, the Portland State University American Association of University Professors, and the Faculty Senate, the administration outlined departments that could be affected:

• Departments that could be eliminated: University Studies; Conflict Resolution; Portland Center.
• Departments that could be reduced: Educator Licensure; Leadership, Learning and Counseling; History; Philosophy; the School of Earth, Environment and Society; World Languages and Literatures; Criminology and Criminal Justice; Economics; Politics and Global Affairs; Public Administration.

Eliminating the University Studies department would also impact several other departments, including English, Physics, Sociology, Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies, the School of Art + Art History + Design, and the School of Public Health.

PSU administrators say the projected $35 million deficit is driven by rising costs, limited state funding, and a significant drop in enrollment. Enrollment has fallen 23% since 2019, which the university attributes to pandemic-era community college declines and safety concerns in downtown Portland.

“What is proposed is pretty devastating,” Adams-Kane said. “It would be laying off beloved faculty members who have been here for decades in some cases and cutting programs that really are the reason why students come to PSU.”

Adams-Kane is a teaching assistant in University Studies’ Peer Mentorship program, one of the departments on the chopping block. She worries for the students who will come after her and does not believe the university has exhausted all its options.

She also thinks the university is unfairly targeting the arts, humanities and social sciences.

“The core of the issue is a mismanagement of funds,” she said, “and my perspective is that we should be cutting from the top and not the bottom. I think [the cuts] will not have the intended effect of creating longevity for PSU.”

University Studies professor Óscar Fernandez agrees. He teaches course on immigration, social determinants of health, and gender and sexualities.

“It’s one thing to know that this is coming,” he said. “Another thing is to feel it.”

Fernandez, who would likely lose his job, said he feels cut out of the process and wishes university leaders could have secured emergency funding from the state during the short session.

He told FOX 12 the proposal would disproportionately impact students of color.

“I’m one of the voices that agitates on behalf of Latino students and queer students,” he said. “My question is, if people like me are let go, who will be here to agitate, to support students. Without faculty and staff, I don’t see what the success will be. The upper administration doesn’t teach our courses, the upper administration doesn’t know our students.”

University officials say the plans to downsize are not set in stone. The proposal will now go through a collaborative review process involving the faculty union and campus leaders, with a final decision expected in June.

Any changes would take place over the next year.