UA Recommendations For The Projected Deficit. GMM This Thursday! Benefits Enrollment. UA Endorsements.

Contributed By: newsletter October 29, 2026

UCUB Report on Alternatives to Academic Cuts is Now Available!

Over the last several months, the United Academics Committee on the University Budget (UCUB) has worked to identify alternatives to academic cuts in response to UO’s projected budget deficit.

Read the full report. This follows our previous recommendations and provides a deeper dive and specific budget proposals.

UA looks forward to partnering with the campus community in these important dialogues about our shared future.

Our initial proposals and their associated financial impacts are:

  • Redirect part of the Internal Bank and the Presidential Initiatives Fund earnings to support the core academic mission;

    • up to $24.9M in FY27; potential for recurring funds;

  • Use part of the Education and General (E&G) ending fund balance to smooth short-term budget shortfalls during this financial transition;

    • up to$16M in FY27; potential for recurring funds;

  • Reduce E&G fund support for centrally funded capital projects;

    • $8-18M per year;

  • Redirect part of the UO Foundation gift fee on donations to support the core academic mission; 

    • $1.5-2M per year;

  • Reduce UO's spending on institutional support to a level comparable to peer institutions;

    • $18M per year.

The Provost will be presenting administrative proposals for addressing the projected budget deficit at the University Senate on Wednesday, October 28. The meeting starts at 3pm, and can be watched on Zoom.

You can attend the General Membership Meeting remotely by clicking the Zoom In link here or directly by clicking here. Business will begin at 5:30pm.

United Academics Endorsements

We would also like to share the voters’ guides of two of our state affiliates. 

Enroll by Saturday or Lose Your Health Insurance!

PEBB’s open enrollment in October of this year is particularly critical for all benefits-eligible employees to complete, otherwise, PEBB will drop coverage for employees and their dependents for 2027. 

Action is required by all benefits-eligible faculty, as this year’s enrollments will not automatically roll over to next year.

Additional information is available here: PEBB benefits open enrollment is mandatory, Oct.1-31 | OregonNews. Please note, there will not be anyone available to answer questions on the last day of the month.

House Bill 4124 Study Public Survey

The Higher Education Coordinating Committee’s lead consultant for the House Bill 4124 higher education revitalization study, EY-Parthenon, has launched the House Bill 4124 Study Public Survey.

We encourage you to participate and to help us to share this survey widely in Oregon!

To learn more about the study’s background and process, visit the HECC HB 4124 implementation web page, where you can also find a link to the survey.

The survey asks open-ended questions about the “challenges and opportunities” facing higher education in Oregon. Comments about UO in particular (from the board of trustees to administration to teaching to research) are all fair game as are comments about the Oregon public university system as a whole, including the role of the HECC and the state legislature. The ongoing disinvestment in public higher education by the state is well-known, so if you comment on the need for increased funding, we encourage you to articulate where and how state appropriations should be spent.

The United Academics Politics Committee is recommending that the HECC and state legislature take the following actions:

  • Increase state funding for higher ed while establishing guardrails that ensure funding is used for core academic expenses and for reducing student costs.
  • Reform the selection process for university boards to allow for more transparency and to ensure greater balance of expertise, with more trustees having experience in higher ed and the public sector.
  • Establish more collaborative decision-making processes surrounding the creation and closure of academic programs to ensure faculty and student participation in those decisions and to enhance coordination between Oregon’s public universities.

Please share this survey opportunity with your communities. Anyone who is interested in public postsecondary education in Oregon is welcome to participate.

The survey will be open through December 4, 2026.