On Friday, Southern Oregon University鈥檚 Board of Trustees unanimously approved that they say will prevent a budget shortfall that is projected to grow to $14.6 million by the 2026-27 academic year.
SOU President Rick Bailey presented the updated plan to the Board, which the university has been working on since the fall, including holding multiple town halls to receive feedback from the community.
The plan includes laying off approximately 24 employees. All together, nearly 82 full-time positions will be cut, although most of those will be accomplished by not filling job vacancies, retirements, voluntary departures and non-renewable contracts. The realignment plan also includes applying for grants, focusing on philanthropy and diversifying revenue.
Some members of the Board got emotional at the meeting, wavering between sadness for the employees losing their jobs and hope for the institution鈥檚 future.
"I am deeply saddened today because I know my vote will cause significant pain to people I care about," said Trustee Andrew Gay, an associate professor and chair of the Communication, Media & Cinema department at SOU.
Bailey has held his role for barely a year, but he said it鈥檚 his and the Board鈥檚 responsibility to make sure the university is not in this position again in five years.
"That means from now on, we are going to budget responsibly and realistically, but we鈥檙e going to act aspirationally and strategically and entrepreneurially in ways that change that model," he said.
The university said the employees who will be affected will lose their jobs in the next four to 15 months. The approved realignment plan cuts about 13% of the university鈥檚 workforce overall.
Board Chairman Daniel Santos said he鈥檚 grateful that the Board approved the plan, which he said includes more conservative budgeting.
"We are not going with expecting more from the legislature. We鈥檙e not going from expecting more on enrollment. We鈥檙e doing a lot of things on a very conservative basis so that if we get more than those, it鈥檚 to our benefit. It鈥檚 not like, 鈥榞eez, if we didn鈥檛 get it, we鈥檙e gonna fall short,'" he said.
The plan has received some pushback from faculty and students, particularly for its cuts to the university's beloved theatre department.
The university said the cost management measures the Board adopted will reduce expenses by $3.6 million this year while identifying another $9 million in recurring cost reductions.
"This is not a gloom and doom situation," Santos said. "We have a really bright future ahead of us. We can plan accordingly."
