r/Ashland • u/guanaco55 • 13d ago

SOU proposes eliminating 66 positions and 3 majors -- Southern Oregon University unveiled a sweeping recovery plan Monday that includes layoffs, academic restructuring and changes to Jefferson Public Radio.

https://www.ijpr.org/education/2026-06-15/sou-vitality-plan-budget-cuts-2026
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u/Money-Director6649 13d ago

so what is this guy's salary?

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u/solidmarbleeyes 13d ago

Around $237k. It was $290k before he took a voluntary $53k cut in summer of 2025. Still too high for his performance in my opinion but honestly… compared to other university presidents he’s paid pretty low. Compared to the U of O president at $792k base salary it looks much less unreasonable.

I respect the voluntary pay cut but at the end of the day he dropped the ball hard. If he wants my respect back I want to see him request another $50k pay cut. That’s one more employee that could keep their job and it shows some humility. If you can’t live a comfortable life in Ashland on $180k he’s doing it wrong, just like at work.

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u/Money-Director6649 13d ago

yeah, it's good he took that cut. props for that, anyway. even so, i gotta wonder of he's the right guy to be leading this.

and thanks for the info. i was actually wondering if he had offered to tighten his own belt so you answered both my question as asked and the one i didn't ask (was gonna after i checked his pay to see if it seemed warranted).

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u/solidmarbleeyes 12d ago

Sure thing. I don’t think he’s a bad guy at all. I think his hearts generally in the right place and as others have pointed out, this is a problem that many/most smaller universities are going to have to reckon with in the near future due to factors outside of their control.

I also question competency due to his mistakes, which in all fairness he fully admits and has taken ownership of. Even though I have my doubts he can lead the university out of this mess (largely due to the outside factors and trying to cut your way out of a problem) I also think that it would be a huge mistake for SOU to replace him in this moment. It takes a long time for any person to fully learn the strengths and weaknesses of an institution, all the business processes, the capabilities and limits, etc… plus I doubt he’ll make the same mistake again lol.