REPORT

TO:      University Community
FROM: University Senate Budget Committee (Suzanne Clark, David Frank, Mike Kellman, Nathan Tublitz, Wayne Westling)
RE:        Budget Issues
DATE:  February 14, 2001

The Senate Budget Committee White Paper, adopted last March, calls for steady annual increases in faculty compensation over 5-7 years with the goal of achieving sustained average of 95% parity with our comparator institutions. Similar equitable adjustments are called for regarding all employees of the university. Toward that end, faculty salary increases which took effect this fall averaged 6.75% campus wide.

Salary enhancement remains the single most pressing budget issue at the University of Oregon. The Senate Budget Committee and the administration remain committed to the 95% parity goal for faculty salaries, and are committed to achieving some progress toward that goal this academic year. Prospective gains in salary have to come from somewhere, and we are striving to find a reasonable source of funds for 2001-02 salary enhancements.

The Governor's proposed state budget underfunds the entire Oregon University System by approximately $100 million from current service levels in the next biennium. If adopted, this budget would leave the University of Oregon with a biennial shortfall of approximately $17 million. The proposed alternative budget announced by the Republican Joint Leaders makes up approximately $30 million of that shortfall. That $30 million plus an additional $25 million from proposed tuition increases would still leave the state system $45 million short of funding current service levels (i.e. funding the status quo). To prevent a serious budgetary crisis, we must encourage the legislature and the Governor to do more. Our voices - individually and collectively  - must be heard in Salem.

Faculty, staff, students, and their families can help influence the state budget for higher education. We strongly urge you to do two things:

Pursing these two actions is the last and best chance to protect the University of Oregon from severe budget cuts, and to give the Senate Budget Committee a fighting chance to continue progress toward the White Paper salary goals. It is vitally important that the state budget at the very least keep even with current service levels.

To those ends, the attachment to this memo contains information about busses leaving the UO for the rally on March 6, and contains contact information for legislators statewide. In contacting legislators it is important that employees of the university speak in their capacity as constituents and voters rather than as university employees.

The following document was distributed at the senate. It has been scanned and appears as a JPEG for informational purposes only for those members of the University Community who may have had to depart the Senate meeting before it was handed out.
email: alumni@oregon.uoregon.edu
web: http://alumni.uoregon.edu/activities/events.cgi
  1. The UO Alumni Web page contains information about a number of events - including the March 6 Higher Education Rally at the State Capitol at 10:30 AM Call (541) 346-5020 for information. Buses leave 13th and University at 0830.
  2. Information regarding the state legislators from Lane County and Ways and Means Committee that was handed out at the Senate meeting. Further information on the State Legislature
Web page spun on 15 February 2001 by Peter B Gilkey 202 Deady Hall, Department of Mathematics at the University of Oregon, Eugene OR 97403-1222, U.S.A. Phone 1-541-346-4717 Email:peter.gilkey.cc.67@aya.yale.edu of Deady Spider Enterprises