Dear Duck Parent,

Currently, only about 27% of UO tuition dollars go to faculty (professor, instructor, researcher and librarian) salaries. That’s it, about a quarter. Not too long ago it was about a third, but either way what is your tuition paying for, if it is not paying for education?

We know the price of college has risen astronomically in the last decades. What was once seen as a public good supported by the state, is now viewed by many as a commodity. Currently, the price to send your child to UO is maximized, balanced by supply and demand, and not priced according to intrinsic value or any desire to provide higher education as a common good. Enrollment is driven by revenue constraints, but not balanced by faculty resources to support it. Class sizes increase, the faculty/student ratio decrease, and the value of a UO degree erodes; all while administrator pay rises.

Currently UO faculty are among the lowest paid of our peers, and at the bottom of salaries in the Big-10. On top of this, the administration is proposing real wage cuts by offering sub-inflation raises. These factors are making it more difficult to attract and retain the best instructors, researchers and librarians. Our asks are modest: raises consistent with inflation and salaries at the average of our peers.

We understand increasing faculty salaries sounds like it might translate to higher tuition, but our ask simply brings the percentage of tuition going to faculty back to its prepandemic level. In spite of the recognized learning loss stemming from the pandemic, the administration is spending less on education per student than before. After adjusting for inflation, faculty pay is 5% lower, while administrator pay is 5.5% higher.

Please support UO faculty as we fight for the academic future of the institution. Let the administration know that your child’s education is at stake.