Portland State community urges board to halt layoffs as university implements $18 million savings plan

Dozens of faculty members, students and union representatives urged the Portland State University Board of Trustees on Jan. 24 to pause or reverse planned layoffs and explain the criteria used to select positions for elimination.

"Last month, 17 teaching faculty received notice their positions will be terminated at the end of this academic year," said Mari Matsuda, an associate professor and representative of PSU AAUP, during the public-comment period.

Those notices are part of the administration's Bridge to the Future financial-sustainability plan, which President Ann Cudd told trustees is intended to close an $18,000,000 budget shortfall this year and reduce reliance on reserves. "This has resulted in layoffs of 17 non tenure track faculty," Cudd said during her update, adding that union contract language constrains how layoffs are assigned within departments.

Why it matters: Speakers across colleges warned that cutting non‑tenure track and adjunct faculty threatens course availability, retention and degree completion for students already choosing other institutions. Department chairs and program leaders said the reductions risk canceling plans for new degrees and eliminating community-facing practicum and outreach programs that help students gain workforce skills.

Public comment highlights and concerns

- Faculty and department chairs described program-level impacts: Katie Barber, chair of history, said two planned layoffs and an unexpected retirement would eliminate 18 history courses serving more than 600 students annually. Lynn Santelmann of Applied Linguistics said cuts jeopardize a planned undergraduate degree in computational linguistics that had been two years in development.

- Students and student leaders emphasized the effect on belonging and access. Stephanie Reyes Moreno, a senior electrical engineering student, said university studies faculty were central to her persistence and submitted a petition signed by 45 students asking the board to retain those instructors.

- Union and labor speakers pressed for a different mix of reductions. Gina Greco, a tenured faculty member, urged the administration to consider both Article 18 and Article 22 of the AAUP contract (as cited in public comment) rather than relying solely on Article 18 layoff procedures that target non‑tenure‑track faculty.

Administration response and numbers

President Cudd said the university used a combination of administrative savings, a retirement incentive program and program revitalization to limit involuntary separations. She reported 32 faculty accepted the retirement incentive (RIO) and that, after those retirements, some positions still needed replacement. Cudd also noted the university holds roughly $200,000,000 in reserves but said continuing to rely on reserves is not sustainable.

Cudd outlined a timetable for further updates: the Executive and Audit Committee will receive a financial-sustainability update Feb. 13; the board expects to deliberate tuition in April and vote on the FY2026 budget in June.

Discussion vs. decision

Public comments and faculty reports were part of the meeting's public-comment period and do not themselves change university policy. The trustees did not take a formal vote on layoffs or on reversing the personnel decisions during this meeting. The administration reported decisions already made to implement the fiscal plan and described next steps and timelines for budget and tuition decisions.

Ending

Trustees and administration said they will respond to the public comments in a campus newsletter next week and will provide updates at committee meetings. Faculty and student leaders said they will continue to press for transparency about criteria used to determine layoffs and for alternatives to involuntary separations.