Finances Force Choices, Priorities
Barbara Altmann, Vice Provost for Academic Affairs and Professor of French
May 7, 2013
As negotiators representing the University of Oregon and United Academics discuss faculty salaries at the bargaining table, it’s both timely and helpful to consider other aspects of the University’s financial picture.
Earlier this year a University of Oregon budget advisory group received $13 million in budget proposals, including 86 requests for “critically needed” new initiatives totaling $11 million. The “critically needed” list included blackboard support, student advisors and lab safety staff.
The University will not be able to fund even half of those requests. Instead, the UO will spend about $4 million to address some of the most urgent needs. That includes an allocation of $1.9 million for Information Services to support critical technology infrastructure and $570,000 to maintain library collections and ensure extended library hours for students.
Aside from new initiatives, the University will also pay an estimated $5.6 million more over the next two years to cover higher utility, lease, debt and insurance costs. A portion of these rising costs can be attributed to the pressure to rent more space off campus to accommodate our growth.
It’s difficult for the University to project exactly how much it will need to spend for on-campus classroom maintenance and new infrastructure. The UO has recently added more than 4,000 students and is in the process of building the physical space necessary to accommodate everyone.
The UO has asked the Legislature to approve a classroom renovation of Straub Hall that would add approximately 1,000 classroom seats – including a 500-seat lecture hall — at the heart of the campus. If lawmakers give it a green light, the project would be financed with $11 million in bonds. To have access to the money, however, the University would also need to invest $11 million in matching funds. Fund-raising could help pay for the Straub renovation, but it is also possible that the University will have to allocate university funds for the project.
The university will also need to fund salary increases for staff – close to 1500 employees represented by SEIU as well as over 1100 unrepresented staff. Last but certainly not least, the UO anticipates it will have to pay more for PERS and employee health benefits, though just how much more is unclear. In total, UO expects to receive $24.5 million in new, recurring revenue over the next two years. The University’s salary offer to faculty, providing for an average 10 percent increase through June 2015, will cost $11.5 million. When raises for unrepresented faculty are added, the total investment climbs to $14.5 million. That means devoting more than half of the expected new revenue to faculty raises.
Despite many other competing and critical needs, that is a reflection of the University’s priorities.
