Southern Oregon University is currently navigating a fiscal crisis as it seeks $15 million in emergency state funding while facing what President Rick Bailey described as a "leadership testing moment."
Bailey said the university faces what he described as an existential threat if it fails to transform quickly enough. He noted that colleges and universities across the country are closing at a rate of roughly one per week.
To secure funding, the university must develop a long-term sustainability plan under a tight deadline imposed by the state. A framework from Deloitte Consulting proposes roughly $20 million in cuts and the elimination or restructuring of several academic programs.
The path forward from Deloitte's proposal
Bailey said that Deloitte’s work is not a final plan awaiting approval from the university’s Board of Trustees.
“What Deloitte has given is a framework and an analysis, and yes, some recommendations that are very sobering,” Bailey said. “They have helped to identify the gravity, the severity of the challenge that we face.”
The university's board of trustees is scheduled to meet Friday evening to consider the university’s path forward.
Bailey said he expects board members to acknowledge the seriousness of the financial crisis and commit to a broader transformation process, rather than simply adopting Deloitte’s recommendations in full.
“I don’t want to speak for the board,” Bailey said, “but they understand the importance of this institution to the region.”
Structural crisis decades in the making
Bailey said the current crisis is not the result of a single failure but is the culmination of decades of structural and environmental shifts, including the long-term impact of Oregon’s ballot Measure 5 from 1990. The limits on property taxes forced the state to take on a larger role in funding K-12 schools, reducing support available for public universities.
Beyond state policy, the university is confronting what Bailey described as a national “sea change” in higher education, including a projected 19% decline in the number of high school graduates and shifting public perceptions of the value of a college degree.
"The crisis that we have is — whether intentional or not — the end result of decisions that have been made over time," Bailey said, adding that the institution is now dealing with the "full effect" of years of policymaking decisions.
Weight of academic program cuts
The proposed cuts, particularly to programs such as music and gender, sexuality and women's studies, have sparked concern among students and faculty.
Some students said they feel trapped as the university considers cutting the programs that originally attracted them to SOU, with some telling trustees they cannot afford to transfer elsewhere.
"We're caretakers of the institution," Bailey said. "I would rather make the difficult decisions on a programming level than have to make institutional decisions — that’s a genie you can't put back in the bottle."
Bailey said the alternative — the potential “winding down” of the institution — poses an existential threat to the region.
By restructuring now, Bailey said the university could become a leaner, more sustainable institution for the Rogue Valley, where it generates an estimated $282 million in annual economic activity and receives roughly $30 million annually from the state.
He said SOU could emerge as a model for other universities facing similar financial pressures.
Bailey believes SOU could become one of the first universities in Oregon to successfully redesign itself for a changing higher education landscape, creating a blueprint other institutions may eventually follow.
“We have to fundamentally think differently,” he said. “When people come together united in a love for an institution, then you can truly move mountains."
Guests
- Rick Bailey, president, Southern Oregon University
- Jane Vaughan, JPR education reporter
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.
