Monthly updates on Bridge to the Future,
PSU's plan for financial sustainability
|
|
| Update from President Cudd |
Welcome to spring term and a new update on our Bridge to the Future financial sustainability efforts. Last month, I made the difficult decision to begin the process of retrenchment that is outlined in Article 22 of our collective bargaining agreement with our faculty union. This is obviously unsettling and potentially painful for PSU, but it is an informed and considered process that is necessary for addressing our budget deficit. You can read more about this and process and submit comments until April 15 on the Article 22 site.
I hope you were able to attend the President’s Town Hall on March 18, but for those who were unable to be there, a recording and transcript is available on my communications web page. I know that the cuts we may make in order to achieve a balanced budget will be painful, but I remain committed to the future thriving of Portland State and I shared my plan for making progress toward that future during the town hall.
Thank you for your dedication to Portland State and for persevering during a challenging time for our campus community.
— Ann Cudd, PSU President
|
|
|
This month’s Operational Excellence update focuses on finance. Many of PSU’s transactional finance functions are performed in a decentralized manner that places burdens on employees who often have much broader responsibilities. This structure is unusual and widely recognized as costly in staff time and energy, while increasing compliance risks. Moving toward greater centralization of some transactional accounting functions with a well-trained team of professional staff who specialize in these functions will allow department personnel to focus on their core roles. These include:
|
- Invoice and purchase order entry into Banner:
-
186 people across the campus entered invoices during the 2024-25 fiscal year, 55 of whom entered 10 or fewer for the entire year. A low transaction volume most likely indicates these employees have other higher priority responsibilities and often require more support to complete the transactions they enter.
- PCard transaction entries in Banner:
- Similarly, 20 out of 166 employees who entered PCard transactions had a low volume of less than 10 for the year with similar impacts as outlined above.
- Furthermore, employees performing this function include people in administrative support roles, as well as program managers, directors, and others in leadership positions who are drawn away from their core roles to perform these fiscal tasks.
- Other functions to be provided by the service center include vendor registration, facilitation of some PSU Foundation funded transactions, customer service support, and continuous process improvement efforts.
-
In addition, training and ongoing support have been cited by staff as high-priorities for the Operational Excellence project and will be addressed in conjunction with the Human Resources team as their capacity increases.
|
A pilot for PCard reconciliation is underway with a rollout to the full campus Fiscal Shared Services Center planned for September 1, 2026.
-Andria Johnson, Vice President of Finance and Administration
|
|
|
Our report for 2025-2026 is now available on the PIVOT website. This substantive document captures the outcomes of over nine months of deep engagement with hundreds of faculty, staff, and academic leaders in a structured review of academic programs, support units, and administrative structures across the Office of Academic Affairs (OAA) and Research & Graduate Studies (RGS).
The report covers PIVOT's goals, guiding principles, and methodology; engagement and shared governance; Track 1 and 2 recommendations; financial impact and modeling; integration with university decision-making; and a framework for the future.
Unit leaders are now sharing program-specific classifications with employees as we continue implementing recommendations and managing transitions. It is important to note that PIVOT was designed to produce evidence-based analysis and recommendations, not final decisions, and its scope was limited to OAA and RGS as part of the university-wide effort to close the structural deficit.
We are deeply grateful to the many people whose contributions made this work possible: our deans, vice provosts, and associate vice provosts; the hundreds of chairs, directors, faculty, and staff who prepared self-studies; the Transition Monitoring Team; the Faculty Senate; and the offices of Institutional Research and Planning, Finance and Administration, Human Resources, and Data Support.
- Shelly Chabon, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs
|
|
|
Non-Academic Administrative Review |
I am pleased to share with you the final report of the Non-Academic Administrative Review (NAAR). This comprehensive review is a critical component of our Bridge to the Future 2.0 plan, aimed at ensuring our administrative functions are mission-aligned, operationally efficient, and financially sustainable.
This report was prepared with input not only from the leaders of each of the units examined, but also from their colleagues across campus. They gathered and examined financial, operational, and impact data to take a clear-eyed look at how each unit is functioning relative to our mission and essential business processes. We are grateful to the unit leaders across Finance & Administration (FADM), the President's Office Division, Athletics, and the Foundation for their significant contributions and transparency during the self-assessment and review phases.
As we move forward, please note that the financial implications of the program classifications (Sustain, Restructure/Realign, Phase Out) are still being finalized. These details will be integral to our discussions as we develop the final budget for Fiscal Year 2027.
- Sheila Martin, Chief of Staff and Vice President for Public Affairs
|
|
|
Q. How are FTE reductions currently expected to impact graduate student employees? Will their jobs be eliminated, reduced, or likely not impacted at all?
|
Graduate teaching or administrative assistants may be affected by potential reductions as department budgets and teaching and other needs change. Graduate research assistants who work on sponsored research projects are generally funded from those projects, which are not part of the potential reductions being discussed. Clarity on specific positions will likely emerge in the next few months. We encourage graduate student employees to keep in contact with their Department Chairs or research supervisors about appointments for next year.
|
|
|
Manage your preferences | Opt Out using TrueRemove™
Got this as a forward? Sign up to receive our future emails.
View this email online.
|
1600 SW 4th Avenue Suite 810 | Portland, OR 97201 US
|
|
|
This email was sent to rubyanna@pdx.edu.
To continue receiving our emails, add us to your address book.
|
| |
|
|
