LA GRANDE — A revenue shortfall may force Eastern Oregon University to make significant budget reductions.

Eastern Oregon University’s Finance and Administration Committee voted on Tuesday, April 30, to recommend the university trim its 2024-25 budget by $4.8 million due to a revenue shortfall.

The reduction would trim EOU’s 2024-25 budget by 8.41%. The school’s board of trustees will vote on the committee’s recommendation when it meets May 15-16 in La Grande.

EOU President Kelly Ryan said developing the budget cutting plan the board of trustees will consider was a challenging and painful experience.

“It has been very, very difficult,” she said.

Ryan said she feels for the people she is working with during the budget cutting process.

“It is another shot to morale. It is troubling, it hurts,” she said, adding that higher education is under attack in many circles and public support for it at the legislative level in states, including Oregon, is fading.

The budget reduction plan the Finance and Administration Committee voted for calls for Eastern to not fill 23 vacant positions that are open because of retirements and resignations. Ten of these are faculty positions, three are administrative professional positions and 10 are classified positions.

The plan also calls for the layoff of five employees — two full time and three part time — now employed by Eastern. The positions earmarked for layoffs include three administrative professionals and two classified staff employees.

Cuts would also be made by making a $545,000 reduction in services and supplies, trimming the university’s travel budget by $86,000 and cutting $395,000 from the budget for computer software.

The reductions will not result in major cuts to services offered to students, Ryan said. There will be some minor reductions, however, for example some internships for students would be cut and several on-campus jobs for students may be cut.

She said that Eastern will be able to maintain all of its academic programs by reassigning responsibilities among faculty and staff and boosting its efficiency.

Ryan credits the school’s deans with doing an excellent job of determining how Eastern’s faculty are reassigned in order to keep its academic programs strong.

Enrollment problems

The reductions are necessary in part because of falling revenue due to Eastern’s often fragile enrollment picture. Eastern’s enrollment was up 1.1% last fall but that was only the second time it has been up since 2015. It declined all of the other years in between.

Enrollment has a dramatic impact on EOU’s budget. LeeAnn Case, Eastern’s interim vice president of finance and administration, noted that a 1% drop in enrollment costs the university $300,000, enough to cover the pay and benefits of three employees.

“It doesn’t take much to begin impacting lives,” she said.

The loss of revenue due to dropping and stagnant enrollment means Eastern has had to spend $1.3 million from its reserve fund to balance its 2023-24 budget. Despite this, EOU’s reserve fund is still more than 20% of its annual revenue, which is higher than the 15% minimum EOU’s board of trustees wants the university to have. Ryan said it is projected that EOU’s reserve fund will be 20.1% of its revenue on June 30, the end of the present fiscal year.

An eye on the future

Ryan said that unless the $4.8 million in recommended cuts is made, Eastern would have to draw down its reserve fund to 10% of revenue to balance its 2024-25 budget.

Ryan, who is completing her first year as Eastern’s president, said she knew in the first days of her tenure that Eastern’s expenses were about $5 million out of line with its revenue.

Ryan said that if the $4.8 million in reductions are made, it likely will be possible that Eastern will be able balance its budget in 2024-25 without drawing from its reserve fund.

“Our budget picture will look much stronger next year because of the cuts we are making now,” she said.