Students, professors, staff sound off about potential impact of $10 million in campus-wide cuts
By Holly Dillemuth, Ashland.news
A sense of broken trust among some Southern Oregon University faculty.
Disappointment among many students due to a perceived lack of communication about potential cuts.
A “demoralized” faculty overloaded with work despite a looming structural budget deficit.
All are ways to describe comments aired by students, faculty and staff in response to an amended provisional plan to cut nearly $10 million over the course of the next few years from Southern Oregon University’s $66 million budget.
The comments poured out during a virtual meeting of the university’s Board of Trustees on Wednesday to hear SOU President Rick Bailey offer the latest version of the budget-cut plan. Trustees meet again virtually from 5 to 6 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 2, to, it’s expected, take action on a final plan.
The proposed cuts, $5 million of which will occur in this year alone, were initially voted on during a board meeting on June 20. Following the meeting, it was determined by SOU President Rick Bailey that more significant changes needed to be made to navigate the structural deficit.
The proposed cuts would eliminate 67 staff positions, including 28 faculty, 25 unclassified and 14 classified employees. Eleven of the positions are currently vacant.
“We have a great deal of pain being felt on our campus … for valued colleagues and important programs,” said Dennis Slattery, SOU’s Faculty Senate chair, during the virtual meeting public comment period. “What you have is a demoralized faculty, yet a faculty willing and ready to step up to the challenges we face ahead. We continue to be concerned about the deep cuts in the faculty and program ranks.
“While I deeply respect what staff does and our administrative team, what happens in the classroom between faculty and student is the lifeblood of the university,” Slattery added.
“We know these are difficult changes to make and we acknowledge the need for them, but we urge a greater effort across the board that we not find ourselves back here in a couple years and instead find our footing and start to build our way to a new level of excellence and resilience. To do that, I believe we need to do a much better job by our core customers: our students.
“Our core customers over the past few years have been voting with their feet, going other directions, finding other products that better meet their needs for a variety of reasons. We need to get in touch with why that is and make necessary improvements to our product.”
Students, too, had their voices heard Wednesday.
Associated Students of Southern Oregon University (ASSOU) President Sophia Smith was first to speak during public comment, sharing disappointment on behalf of SOU students about what she said was a lack of communication between SOU’s administration and students regarding potential cuts.
“These cuts affecting our community at large were disheartening to say the least,” Smith told SOU trustees. “I’ve been particularly disappointed by the lack of communication students have received throughout this process. On one hand, I can count the number of correspondence we have received at this time, with the students of affected majors being told by their representative leaders that they themselves do not know what is going on, either.
“I do not mean to diminish the work that has been done to ensure communication, but I ask that when releasing and officiating the heavy news to come of the cut majors, staff cuts, faculty cuts, and the department trims, that we act with more inclusion for the student body at large.”
Smith believes the language surrounding the plan used by the administration strikes a chord of “disconnect,” with cuts labeled as “mission-critical,” and perceived as dismissive of what Smith said the university is about to lose.
Smith said she keeps hearing the sentiment repeated that most people won’t notice a day-to-day change, which Smith finds “incredibly distancing from the reality of these cuts.”
“I hope moving forward that we can expect improved communication and respect that we are entitled to as paying students,” Smith said. “I look forward to seeing the updated plan in its totality and I thank everyone who has been working tirelessly on it for these past months.”
APSOU calls on SOU to be more equitable with cuts
Melissa Anderson, a faculty member and president of SOU’s faculty union Association of Professors of Southern Oregon University (APSOU), also spoke.
APSOU’s contract requires that there be a balanced consideration of academic programs and other services.
“We believe that, for the most part, the plan does adhere to the requirements of our collective bargaining agreement,” Anderson said.
“Our members have been dismayed that the majority of actual eliminations of both faculty and staff are in academic affairs, which in our valuation does not show balance. Nevertheless, the administration has assured us that such balance has been considered, which the contract requires.
“We are concerned that the deep cuts to programs, faculty and academic support staff will further hurt our enrollment and our ability to generate revenue,” Anderson added.
APSOU members also feel there are too many administrators for an institution SOU’s size.
“As we move forward into the implementation phase of the plan, we would like to share our concerns about faculty workload, since there remains a great deal of work to be done to revise curriculum, develop new departmental governance structure, change course offerings, advise students regarding changes, and much more that faculty will need to manage on top of an already full workload of teaching, scholarship and service,” Anderson said. “Due to the nature of this situation, this process has been rushed and painful and even traumatic for some individuals.
“There are faculty in some areas who feel that decisions with grave impacts for their programs have been made without the input of the chairs and faculty affected,” she added. “Although I have no doubts about the good intentions of absolutely everybody involved in this process, it is going to take some time for trust to be rebuilt and open and productive conversations between faculty and administrators will be essential for that to happen.”
‘Wave after wave’ of cuts
Sage TeBeest, president of Service Employees International Union (SEIU, SOU’s classified union), referenced declining enrollment, years of inadequate state support and now the threat of deep cuts to programs.
“None of us want to see SOU fail or its doors closed,” TeBeest said. “I understand why this provisional plan exists and why decisive action is needed to stabilize the university. But understanding the need for change does not mean endorsing every consequence without question.”
During the last two years, TeBeest shared, the university has seen “wave after wave of cuts, numerous classified positions eliminated outright or gutted” and converted to unclassified roles, “stripping away hard-earned protections and stability for those workers.”
“Now we are told that several more could follow,” TeBeest said. “These are not just numbers, they are people with families who keep this university safe and functioning and welcoming. My role is to make sure their voices are heard and that the burden of recovery is not placed almost exclusively on their backs as it has been in the past.”
She noted that when staff are cut, the workload does not disappear, but lands often on those who remain.
“I cannot ignore the fiscal crisis we face, but I can also not ignore the lived reality of my members, who have already sacrificed so much,” she added. “I will not turn my back on them or diminish their contributions by quietly accepting more cuts as inevitable. At the same time, I recognize we must all confront this emergency together for the plan to succeed without hollowing out the workforce that makes SOU run, it must be implemented with care and accountability.”
“Change fatigue, employee depletion, and deteriorating morale are already widespread,” TeBeest said. “If this plan accelerates those conditions, recovery will stall no matter what the balance sheet says. I urge the board and administration to make a commitment to transparency, pacing changes responsibly, and providing adequate notices and resources such as retraining placement support for anyone affected.”
TeBeest urged exploring ways to reduce costs equitably across all areas, “not just for frontline workers holding operations together.”
“Classified staff want SOU to survive and thrive as much as anyone,” she added. “Survival cannot come by hollowing out the very people who make that possible. They deserve more than gratitude, they deserve dignity, support, and a voice in how we move forward. I believe SOU can emerge stronger, but that will only happen if people most affected by this plan are treated as partners and not collateral damage.”
STEM degrees, Honors College, Gender, Sexuality and women’s studies major among proposed cuts
Among majors listed for elimination are STEM degrees in chemistry and mathematics, as well as Gender, Sexuality and Women (GSW) Studies. The GSW major would convert to a minor in the current plan. In addition, the SOU Honors College would be downgraded to an Honors Program.
Hala Schepmann, who serves both as an SOU trustee and as chair of the Chemistry Department, spoke about elimination of the chemistry major under the amended provisional plan. She noted that the major faces elimination even as medical schools are being proposed in both Medford and Klamath Falls.
“One out of every six honor scholars is a chemistry major,” Schepmann said. “Given that we have 38 majors, this is a significant proportion. As for our graduates, they continue to demonstrate a 100% acceptance rate into graduate programs, medical and dental schools, and scientific industries.”
Over the past nine years, the department has received more than $800,000 in philanthropic gifts. Since 2019, the department has obtained $1.5 million in external grants through the work of department faculty.
The department has already had two of its six faculty eliminated in the past two years, even as the university department is seeing a 68% increase in students and 43% increase in chemistry majors compared to 2024.
“We are starting to realize increased enrollments, recruitment and retention of chemistry majors,” Schepmann said.
“Why eliminate a program that is renowned for creating community and belonging among so many of our STEM students?” she added. “Why eliminate a major that develops students’ hands-on skills, something that will not soon be replaced by (artificial intelligence) and why eliminate a program that has over $300,000 in unrestricted funds available to support its continuation?
“If SOU chooses to sunset this highly successful program, we must be absolutely certain that the benefits of doing so will outweigh the numerous negative consequences that will certainly follow … once a chemistry major is eliminated, the ability to bring it back is nearly insurmountable.”
Michelle Fuentes, a criminology student at SOU and also an SOU trustee, also talked about significant impacts on her education.
“I’m actually looking into transferring to a different college because I was afraid my professors … weren’t going to come back,” Fuentes said. “The professors are the ones who make SOU happen.”
An SOU Honors College student from LaGrande told trustees she would not be attending SOU if not for the Honors College.
“What really made the difference was the community and support I gained,” she said. “This program has given me the confidence to step out of my comfort zone and, more importantly, it’s made me feel secure and excited about my future.
“The Honors College is far more than just an academic program,” she added. “Its curriculum has broadened my worldview and instilled a sense of responsibility to my community.
“I can appreciate the difficult decisions facing you and others at SOU, but I want to press upon you the absolutely crucial nature of a program like the Honors College. It’s more than just a tool for just attracting and retaining students … it’s also an investment in the next generation of well-rounded, collaborative leaders who will strengthen our community.”
Cherstin Lyon, director of the SOU Honors College, echoed concern about the plan to “downgrade” the Honors College to a program with reduction in support staff from two full-time employees to a single part-time employee.
Lyon emphasized that the SOU Honors College functions as a powerful recruitment tool for the university, with 60% of those who enter through the Honors College attending SOU for that reason alone.
“It’s very positive to see in the provisional plan that there is a plan for some kind of program, but a program with that little support will be difficult to function at a level that will yield any of the positive outcomes that the current Honors College offers,” Lyon said.
The Honors College has a 75% retention rate and an 87.5% retention rate at SOU, Lyon said, adding that for those who continue in the Honors College, there is a 100% six-year graduation rate.
“The plan proposes a savings of about $500,000,” Lyon added. “My best estimate is that even with the scholarship students currently have, SOU risks losing $500,000 by downgrading this program.”
‘Mission critical vs. mission-enhancing’
Kylan Mattias de Vries, a co-chair in the Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies program, shared significant concerns, especially for LGBTQ+ individuals, as SOU trustees consider downgrading the GSWS major to a minor.
De Vries, who identifies as queer and transgender, said when he was an undergraduate student, he knew no trans faculty or staff on campus.
De Vries shared that, like many of his students, he struggled to navigate an often hostile academic and social world as a trans person.
“I’ve heard a lot about ‘mission critical’ vs. ‘mission-enhancing’ and I wonder what that means in this current political climate,” he said. “I’m not talking about differences in ideologies or beliefs, I’m talking about the erasure of groups of people.”
In GSWS, deVries shares that faculty members have created a sense of belonging for their students, providing theory-rich courses that delve into marginalized identities.
“We are at a time when we have some LGBTQ+ people coming here to Southern Oregon because it’s a more rural area — it feels more like the rural homes that they are literally fleeing from,” he added. “What messaging do you want to send to potential and current students and employees?”
Proposed cuts ‘Not a litmus test’
Bailey emphasized that he believes every faculty member, staff member, and student on campus is valuable and worthy of love and respect.
“It is not a litmus test or a judgment on any program or any professor,” he said.
To watch the video of the two-hour Aug. 27 meeting, click here
He noted that the administration didn’t just look at program numbers when considering which to cut or change and that many factors were involved.
“There were a lot of really heavy conversations,” Bailey said. “I am not a perfect leader, I’m incredibly flawed and I have blind spots and biases. What we’ve done is to gather as much information as we can and try to make the best decision in the moment that we can and that’s why it’s been important for all of the comments and the feedback and the recommendations and the proposals.”
Bailey acknowledged that no one will be happy about the cuts, including himself.
He anticipates feedback both from those who believe SOU cut too much and those who believe the university hasn’t cut enough.
“Whatever you as a board decide on Sept. 2, I think anything that is affected, I think there will be a group of people who say it’s the single most important thing that we do at the university,” Bailey said. “No matter what it is and, through their lens, they’re right. We have to honor that and be respectful.”
He noted that the programs retained in the amended version of the provisional plan are a direct result of feedback, communication with shared governance partners, union leadership, faculty, staff, alumni and students.
“Even as we’re retaining some of these programs,” Bailey said, “in order for us to thrive, we really need to be mindful of targets and where they’re going and how we can continue to make these things more and more self-sustaining moving forward, which obviously then helps the institution.”
This is the second in a two-part series of stories about the Aug. 27 virtual meeting of SOU Trustees. Are you personally affected by cuts proposed in the amended provisional plan? Reach out to Ashland.news reporter Holly Dillemuth at hollyd@ashland.news.
Related stories:
(Part one): SOU budget cuts: ‘There’s no part of the institution that hasn’t been touched by this’ (Aug. 28, 2025)
SOU President: ‘Today we are declaring exigency,’ ‘building’ to a $60 million university, 15% off current budget (Aug. 2, 2025)
SOU trustees praise Bailey’s leadership during turbulent times at SOU, cut his pay $53K at his request (July 30, 2025)
SOU braces for $6 million in cuts: special trustee meeting Wednesday, ‘campus conversation’ Friday (July 28, 2025)
SOU President: ‘We can’t continue to cut our way to some type of success’ (June 24, 2025)
SOU President Bailey says ‘stark’ financial woes facing Oregon universities in 2025-26 constitute a ‘crisis’ (June 8, 2025)
Oregon’s economic outlook clouded by tariffs and federal spending cuts – OPB (May 15, 2025)
Federal issue, local impact: Stalled student loan application decisions ding SOU enrollment (Sept. 8, 2024)
‘This is a bittersweet day’: Trustees approve ‘SOU Forward’ plan for realignment – Ashland News (April 21, 2023)
SOU realignment plan up for adoption by Board of Trustees on Friday afternoon (April 20, 2023)
