Late this morning, the University of Oregon sent out a “difficult message” regarding the UO budget over email. The email was signed by President John Karl Scholz and Provost and Senior Vice President Christopher Long.

Federal actions that have “ceased or paused” research funding, lagging out-of-state and international student enrollment and a tighter-than-expected state budget for universities were among the reasons stated for these hardships.

“Any one of these factors would cause us significant financial challenges, but the cumulative effect of their simultaneous impact creates a level of financial difficulty the university has not experienced in many years,” the email read.

To “approach” these changes, UO says it will engage “leaders across the university” in discussion and host a town hall during the spring 2025 term.

United Academics Treasurer Keaton Miller said the email was slightly unsettling.

“You are always concerned when your managers are saying stuff is in trouble. I’ve been through economic cycles before and gotten emails like this before, and it is never good news,” Miller said. 

Miller said he felt like the lack of discussion on budget contingency plans in bargaining was “a little bit of a missed opportunity.” UA was bargaining with UO for 14 months before ratifying a contract earlier this spring.

“It (this email) is a little unsurprising and a little disappointing. We just went through a long bargaining process, and we just had an opportunity to go through the contract and work out different scenarios as a group, and that would have been a natural time to have some of those conversations,” Miller said.

Going forward, Miller is “hopeful” that conversations between UA and UO administrators will begin soon and that faculty will be protected by their recently ratified contract.

UO did not immediately respond to clarifying questions in expansion to the initial email.

The post Scholz and Long send email regarding “difficult” financial outlook appeared first on Daily Emerald.