Dear CAS colleagues,
As President Scholz and Provost Long indicated in their memo yesterday, UO schools and colleges are in the process of finalizing their FY26 budget reduction plans. These reductions are part of a coordinated, university-wide effort to ensure the university’s long-term financial stability and reduce a $25-$30 million structural budget deficit that requires immediate action.
In CAS, we have been working for some time to bring our costs in line with the budget allocated by the university. As you know, meeting lower budgets in FY25 and FY26 has already required the college to take some incredibly difficult actions. Last spring, we made the painful choice to lay off 42 staff, instructional faculty, and student workers. We also canceled six tenure-track searches, paused all non-critical staff hiring, eliminated several unfilled positions, and reduced spending wherever possible.
Even with these actions, further reductions are required for FY26, amounting to approximately $5.3 million. Because 97% of our budget is comprised of labor costs, these next steps will include eliminating positions, including tenure and non-tenure track faculty positions, and reducing and/or closing some departments and programs.
In planning for these further reductions, we have sought to minimize the impact on students and our academic mission, while recognizing that any cuts can be harmful. We are now engaging department heads and other leaders from across the college and university to discuss proposed plans and to gather feedback before finalizing our recommendations. These conversations have been hard for everyone involved, and I am grateful to those who participated for their professionalism, empathy, and thoughtfulness.
Between now and the end of August, we will continue to work with department leadership to submit our final recommendations to the Provost for approval. Impacted employees and departments will be notified of final decisions the week of September 8, 2025. That same week, we will also share budget reduction decisions with CAS employees, along with an FAQ document.
We recognize the stress and uncertainty these necessary budget cuts are creating in CAS and across campus. Losing colleagues and long-standing academic programs is deeply painful for us all. At the same time, we can take solace in all the good work that continues to happen in CAS along with our unwavering commitment to students.
Thank you for your understanding and patience as we navigate these challenging circumstances together.
Sincerely,
Chris
Chris J. Poulsen
Tykeson Dean of Arts and Sciences
Professor of Earth Sciences
College of Arts and Sciences | University of Oregon
1030 E. 13th Avenue | Eugene, OR | 97403
Pronouns: he/his
They talk about making decisions on Sept 8, while this circulates elsewhere online? Are these among CAS cuts being proposed? Does this set define the limit of CAS cuts?
“It appears that, with no prior consultations, the departments of Religion, Classics, German & Scandinavian (three separate units), and the programs in Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies; Judaic Studies; Arabic Studies; and Holocaust Studies (the latter five all parts of a previously-consolidated mega unit called the Schnitzer* School of Global Studies and Languages) are facing imminent announcement of elimination (expected the week of Sept 7), with layoffs of pre-tenure, tenured, and career faculty in these units. The reason given is that expenses on personnel are outpacing revenue — university administrations across the country (and in blue states like Oregon also) appear to be giddy to use the Trump moment to dismantle the humanities.”
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/16jsYQ3ExC/