Sage Kiernan-Sherrow |  News Editor

Following the news of low-enrollment and an overall $1.3 million deficit, Western is facing another financial crisis. As COVID-19 spreads, not only are universities losing money in the housing and dining departments, but public and state colleges and universities also have the potential to lose part of their state funding — the same state funding that makes up 40% of Western’s revenue. In Oregon, the Higher Education Coordinating Commission estimates that public universities and community colleges are losing $130 million due to the pandemic, according to Oregon Public Broadcasting. To combat this, Oregon colleges and universities have had to make some difficult decisions; right now, over 285 University of Oregon employees are laid off. According to OPB, “universities will receive some relief from the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, or the CARES Act — $126.7 million for Oregon’s private and public colleges. But half of the money going to each school is required to help students, rather than bailing out university and college budgets.” So what does this mean for Western, specifically?

On May 6, President Rex Fuller sent out a statement saying that the university expects low enrollment to continue and that to combat the increasing deficit, Western is making changes to employee pay. 

The email stated, “the university eliminated vacant classified and unclassified positions, laid off some classified employees, non-renewed some unclassified employees, reduced FTE for select administrative personnel, and froze all unclassified salaries for FY 2020-21.”

Two programs, the Leave Without Pay (LWOP) and the Furlough program are being implemented; both run until Aug. 31, allowing employees certain rights like insurance, but essentially laying off individuals indefinitely or until their case is reviewed after the three-month period.

Vice President of Finance and Administration, Dr. Ana Karaman, said that to come to this decision, they were asked to run scenarios that would allow for an overall 17% decrease in funding. 

Currently, negotiations are occuring with the union, but Fuller asserts that the university’s goal is still “to retain as many employees as possible.”

In April, the Board of Trustees approved a tuition rate increase of 4.55%, another measure taken to combat the loss of funding and low-enrollment fees. This, combined with the IFC’s final decision to switch to a two-tier structure — where students with five credits or less pay less in fees than those with six credits or more — will change Western’s financial landscape. 

“Right now, fall’s numbers look good, but we have a history of downtrend. We don’t want to build the budget on hope, we want to build it on trend,” said Dr. Karaman.

Karaman hopes that students help advocate for Western to retain support when legislation is back in session, and that they will set an example through their success so that this process will have been worthwhile. 

Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu