Deloitte Consulting's report to improve the university's financial situation includes cutting academic programs, outsourcing administrative operations and leasing campus buildings to generate revenue.
The consultant warns that the university must make these massive cuts or risk winding down.
Deloitte proposes sunsetting some academic programs, such as international studies, that were already cut under a previous plan released in the fall.
In a press conference Tuesday, SOU President Rick Bailey said that’s because Deloitte used the last fiscal year for its calculations.
"It's really building, in many ways, off of the resiliency plan," he said, "and actually, in many cases, shortening the timeline because the resiliency plan was designed to be implemented over the course of three years."
Deloitte's proposal says SOU's academic programs must reduce expenditures by between $6.8 and $8.5 million.
"Roughly half of that total portion is actually being recognized through the SOU resiliency plan anyway, but with a potentially faster timeline," Bailey said.
The university must develop a long-term fiscal sustainability plan within a short timeline to secure $15 million in emergency funding from the state legislature. All university changes must be completed by June 2027.
In a public letter, SOU graduate student Martin Bichinsky said the $15 million "comes wrapped in a belladonna petal: The university must be audited by Deloitte Consulting Firm, who was hired to make their recommendations for cost-effective measures."
Some community members have pushed back on the short timeline for the process. When asked whether he still believed this was the best path forward, Bailey demurred.
"Would it have been better for us to have three years to work this? Absolutely," he said. "Anyone who is frustrated by how dizzyingly fast this timeline is, we are all in that group. However, we also are operating in an environment where there is a call for urgency and where we do have to meet the moment."
He said Deloitte's recommendations are guidelines, but much remains to be decided.
When the Board of Trustees votes on the plan on Friday, "they are going to make a decision that says, 'We are committed to transformation. These consultants have given a blueprint for that that we need to take serious consideration on, and then it's up to you, Rick, and the rest of the campus community to build an implementation plan,'" he said.
A community coalition called Save Southern Oregon University is organizing a public forum Wednesday from 6-9 p.m. at the Medford public library to discuss the university's future.
JPR is licensed to Southern Oregon University, but our newsroom operates independently. Guided by our journalistic standards and ethics, we cover the university like any other organization in the region. No university official reviewed or edited this story before it was published.
