University Engagement | Guiding Principles of Engagement | Shared Goals | Budget Reduction Principles
As we embark upon a path toward redressing the $65 million structural budget deficit over the summer and into the fall, the Provost’s Council will undertake a structured, collaborative process of engagement to address institutional budget challenges to position the University of Oregon for long-term sustainability. Our work will be grounded in the provost council’s shared values — courage, accountability, shared responsibility, candor, and hope — and in our commitment to put the academic mission at the heart of the University through values-enacted, candid, collaborative leadership.
The scope and scale of the budget deficit we face requires us to move beyond incremental to systemic change. In his May budget message, President Scholz named two principles that should animate our efforts. We must advance: 1) differentiating research strengths, and 2) undergraduate educational experiences that make the University of Oregon a destination of choice for more students.
As we consider how to respond to this structural budget deficit, we need a vision for the academic enterprise that supports and expands on the direction of Oregon Rising, the university's strategic plan:
The University of Oregon will be a public research university designed for human connection, animated by ambitious research concentrated in signature areas that push the boundaries of knowledge and enrich society, sustained by strong graduate programs, and enlivened by an undergraduate education rooted in distinctive learning experiences that lead to meaningful work and fulfilling lives.
To accomplish this, and to offer the high quality, high engagement programs to which this vision aspires, the university must focus its educational and research scope, ensuring both appropriate breadth and differentiated programs.
The engagement process will bring together members of the Provost’s Council in close collaboration with the chief financial officers of our schools and colleges, who make up the Academic Operations and Finance Leadership Council (AOFLC). Through this coordinated effort, participants will work collaboratively and within their respective units to ensure alignment across the institution. The process is designed to balance data-informed decision-making with professional judgment and contextual understanding, while fostering a culture of shared leadership and mutual accountability.
This process will ensure that financial planning and academic decision-making proceed in tandem and remain aligned to our orientating vision, allowing us to advance well considered, integrated recommendations to university executive leadership.
The Provost’s Council will coordinate closely with the Academic Modification Advisory Committee (AMAC) to inform and develop academic modification proposals.
- Orientation toward a strategic vision of the future University of Oregon as a Premier R1 Public University and Member of the AAU
Ground all decisions in a shared, orienting idea that makes good on the promise to educate the whole person and pursue research that pushes the boundaries of knowledge and improves society.
- Shared leadership rooted in collective responsibility
Lead collaboratively across roles and units, fostering joint ownership of both process and outcomes while maintaining alignment with articulated values.
- Respect for and activation of positional wisdom and expertise
Engage and elevate the knowledge and perspectives of CFOs, academic leaders, faculty, and staff, ensuring decisions are informed by those closest to the work.
- Clarity of roles, responsibilities, and accountability
Establish and maintain clear expectations for decision-making authority, contributions, and accountability to ensure trust and effectiveness.
- Consistent standards for analysis, review, and decision-making
Apply common frameworks, criteria, and expectations across units to ensure strategic discipline and consistency in process and outcomes.
- Data-informed, not data-determined, decision-making
Commit to using data as a critical input—alongside professional judgment, lived experience, and context—to guide decisions without allowing metrics alone to dictate outcomes.
- Transparent, coordinated, and consistent and continuous education
Communicate openly and regularly to facilitate broad understanding of decisions and their rationale.
- Recognition of the human impact of decisions
Approach all work with empathy and care, acknowledging the real effects of decisions on individuals, teams, and the broader community.
Coordinated Leadership
Maximize agency. We want to provide as much agency as we can to academic leaders. The Provost’s Council will:
- Coordinate and discuss principles for dean decision-making.
- Support unit-level processes and decision-making.
Courage to act. The Provost’s Office will:
- Make difficult decisions.
- Be as clear and direct as possible about those decisions.
- Be attuned to pressures and time sensitivities on deans everywhere we are able.
Continual communication. The Provost's Council will:
- Engage in regular conversation with one another.
- Coordinate communication between schools and colleges.
- Review past communications and engagements and improve at each iteration.
Coordinate strategies. The Provost’s Council will coordinate specific approaches and responses by:
- Considering innovations that we can implement in the higher ed business model,
- Consider tools available to us, such as voluntary separation, retirement, attrition, etc.
- Support, train, and coordinate as we manage change, support people and recognize loss.
Budget Reduction Principles
These budget reduction principles were initially developed by the College of Arts and Sciences and further refined by the Provost’s Council in 2025. We returned to them and refined them in our efforts to address the structural budget deficit in 2026.
1. Prioritize the University’s academic mission and student success in alignment with the Oregon Rising plan.
- Preserve core educational functions: Protect programs that are fundamental to the university’s mission and to student learning and degree completion.
- Safeguard student access: Minimize disruptions to teaching, advising, and course availability to maintain clear and timely pathways to graduation.
- Support research excellence: Sustain areas of distinction that contribute to the university’s scholarly impact and external reputation.
- Ensure operational continuity: Maintain the staffing necessary to keep essential academic and administrative functions running effectively.
2. Use a transparent, data-informed process.
- Make data-informed decisions: Use performance metrics—such as enrollment trends, student credit hours, majors, research output, and external funding—to inform decisions.
- Communicate openly and consistently: Clearly share the rationale, process, and criteria used for decisions with faculty and staff to promote understanding and trust.
3. Balance short-term needs with long-term strategy.
- Protect institutional capacity: Avoid short-term cuts that would compromise long-term quality, sustainability, or reputation.
- Focus resources and avoid across the board cuts: Prioritize investing to maintain and build excellence rather than attempting to sustain all programs at minimal levels.
- Invest strategically: Make strategic choices that strengthen the university’s ability to thrive in the years ahead by prioritizing programs with high student engagement, potential for revenue generation, and societal impact.
4. Act with creativity, empathy, and collaboration.
- Exhaust alternative solutions first: Prioritize cost-saving strategies that avoid layoffs or program eliminations wherever possible.
- Support staff who enable academic success: Acknowledge and preserve the vital contributions of staff in delivering instruction, supporting research, advising students, and maintaining college operations.
- Engage unit leaders: Collaborate with deans, vice-provosts, and unit leaders to identify thoughtful, localized solutions and ensure decisions are well-informed.
- Promote fairness and equity: Avoid disproportionate impacts on employee groups and programs.
- Act in ways that acknowledge the human cost: Approach all decisions with empathy and respect for the personal and professional impact on individuals and departments; develop support-systems, leadership programs, and workshops to enable individuals and leaders to navigate loss and deepen connection.
- Lead transformative change: periods of intense disruption open new opportunities to align our values and purpose with the lived experience of our students, faculty, staff and community partners.