What is Gray DI?

Gray Decision Intelligence (Gray DI) is the outside vendor PSU is using to generate the data and dashboards behind the PIVOT “Program Vitality Reports.” Their Program Evaluation System (PES) combines external market data with PSU’s internal data to rank programs and support decisions about whether to grow, sustain, redesign, or sunset programs—which in turn shapes potential layoffs.

PES organizes information into five domains that mirror the PIVOT framework: Student Success, Market Demand, Financial Performance, Mission Alignment, and Organizational Viability. Within each domain, programs are compared to other PSU programs at the same degree level (e.g., bachelor’s to bachelor’s, master’s to master’s), and most metrics are shown as percentiles with red–orange–yellow–green color bands. Higher percentiles generally mean stronger performance, although for some cost measures “lower is better.”

For PIVOT and possible layoffs, the financial metrics are especially important. Gray DI models:

• Net instructional revenue: tuition and state money attached to a program’s students, after discounts.

• Direct instructional cost: what it costs to teach those students—mainly faculty salaries, benefits, and adjunct pay tied to their courses.

• Contribution: the money left after costs—net revenue minus direct instructional cost.

• Contribution margin: the percentage of revenue that is left after direct teaching costs are paid.

A 76% contribution margin—that's the target under PIVOT—means that once all direct teaching costs for that program are covered, 76% of its revenue is still left over to help pay for everything else the university does—administrative salaries, buildings and utilities, IT, student services, debt, and so on. PSU has set a very high contribution‑margin target, so programs that clearly cover their own teaching costs can still be labeled “under‑target” because they don’t leave enough money after costs for the central budget. By comparison, many public universities aim for a 50% to 60% contribution margin

Alongside financials, PES provides:

• Student success metrics: retention, persistence, completion, median time to degree, DFW rates.

• Market metrics: regional and national student demand, job postings, wages, underemployment, and competitive intensity.

• Mission metrics: who programs serve (URM, first‑gen, in‑state) and how completions are weighted in Oregon’s Student Success and Completion Model (SSCM).

On paper, PES is supposed to “inform” decisions, not make them automatically. In practice, the combination of a large projected deficit and a high contribution‑margin target means the financial metrics are likely to carry outsized weight in arguments for cuts, consolidations, and layoffs, even when programs are academically strong and mission‑critical.