GEU’s FAQ – PSU Budget Cuts and Layoffs

GEU Communications

Updated as of 11/12/2024

  • Wait what’s going on? Why are there layoffs?
    • So as of right now, the university is aiming to cut $18 million from our overall budget by next year, to match a projected deficit. Most of these cuts (about $12 million) are coming from academic units. Ninety-five PSU-AAUP employees (full-time non-tenured faculty) recently received notices that they’re eligible to be laid off. They’ll find out if they’re truly being laid off in mid December. 
    • Nothing is official yet, the colleges and departments are still (presumably) figuring out how they’ll adjust their programs to make these cuts happen. This is both deeply frustrating (because not knowing if you’re about to lose your job is stressful) and hopeful – not much is official yet, so we have the ability to weigh in and make sure our concerns are heard.  
  • What’s the difference between layoffs and non-renewals?
    • Unfortunately not much. If you’re within a current contract and they do layoffs, you are entitled to keep your tuition remission for the remainder of that term. For non-renewals, there’s no provision, but that’s also occurring between terms.
  • How do I know when my contract ends/if I’m eligible for non-renewal in December?
    • You can look at the notice of appointment you received at the start of term, or log in to your PSU employee dashboard (via banweb.pdx.edu ) and check out the most recent EPAF.* Both will have a date listed as the end of the contract period. Fall term ends Dec. 15; Spring term ends June 30th 2025. 
    • *Go to EPAF approver summary, click the history tab, then click your name in the most recent entry; the contract end date is towards the bottom.
  • When will I know if I’m being laid off/non-renewed?
    • For Winter 2025, the contract period starts 12/16/24 so you should hear by 12/1/24 if you’re laid off or 12/2/24 if you are being non-renewed for winter term.
    • Fall term, if you don’t usually have GA support in the summer, gets a bit messier. We’re figuring out specifics, for now you should know that the fall term contract period starts September 15th 2025; the latest they can tell you about a non-renewal would be September 1st 2025 for fall term. 
  • Who can I talk to in order to find out what’s happening?
    • Your department chair and other people in your department who manage graduate programs or teaching, like your graduate advisory council, are probably your best first stop. They’ll have information directly about teaching loads and assignments, if that information exists/is available. It’s probably not bad to go chat with your department chair or college deans about what’s going on, generally – the more they hear from us, the better. 
    • Otherwise, you can come to PSU’s Board of Trustees Meeting on November 21st, or reach out to Research and Graduate Studies. Again, let’s make sure this university is aware of our thoughts and feelings about these budget cuts, layoffs, and other austerity measures. 
  • Why is this happening?
    • PSU would say it’s because declining enrollment is causing budget shortfalls and forcing us to retrench. Considering they have a hoard of $176 million over at the PSU Foundation, which grew by about $37 million in the past 5 years, this seems like a convenient excuse for increasing adjunctification of our university, but what do we know, we’re only studying for advanced degrees and teaching classes and conducting research here. 
  • My offer letter from PSU said I’d be supported for X amount of time but it looks like my department is getting cuts. What are my options?
    • This is a bit more complicated. GEU is currently looking into what we can do to help support members in this breach of contract; if you are facing this issue, talk to your department chair and reach out to us if you need further support.
  • Is there anything I can do to help?
    • Yes and no. We can lobby our departments, colleges, and the general administration, but unfortunately a lot of decisions about how many GA lines will continue to exist and be distributed throughout the school aren’t things we have control over.
    • We can organize, and make sure our current economic negotiations and the contract negotiations starting March 30, 2026 have the support from us they need. In order to have a credible strike threat that forces administration to meet our demands, we need at least 51% membership; we’re not there yet.  
    • You can help fight for these things by getting involved with the GEU organizing committee, talking to your labmates and coworkers about joining GEU, working as union steward for your department… there’s a lot. If you’re already in GEU, you can join our slack channel to hear about more opportunities to get involved and hear first about upcoming events. We need to show the administration that we are a vital community within PSU and they can’t push us around.