The Arizona Board of Regents will hold a special board meeting on Thursday, April 11, for “legal advice and discussion regarding the University of Arizona presidential search” following President Robert Robbins’ departure announcement.
The meeting’s discussions will be held behind closed doors and off video in executive session, and will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.. The portion not in executive session will be live-streamed here.
The regents will also review assignments with interim Executive Director Chad Sampson.
University of Arizona’s President Robert Robbins announces his departure, UA’s interim CFO John Arnold updates the Arizona Board of Regents on the school’s deficit, the UA takes another hit to its credit rating, plus more in this week’s roundup of the latest developments.
At a glance:
- Arnold updated the board of regents April 4 on the university’s financial status, announcing that they’ve been able to cut $15 million from the school’s budget shortfall.
- S&P Global Ratings, a credit rating agency, changed its outlook on the university’s debt from stable to negative due to its financial state on April 3.
- University of Arizona President Robert Robbins announced April 2 he will be stepping down by the end of his employment contract in 2026 or when a new president is hired.
- The board of regents and Gov. Katie Hobbs responded to the news of Robbins’ resignation. The regents said April 2 the search for a new UA president will move “with expediency.” Hobbs said she would continue offering support as the regents look for Robbins’ replacement.
- UA staff discussed layoffs, shared governance and fears over impending budget cuts during a staff council meeting on March 28.
- President Robbins authorized an initiative to avoid fines associated with the University of Arizona Global Campus, formerly Ashford University, according to an Arizona Republic investigation published March 27.
The UA’s interim CFO, John Arnold, gave several updates on the school’s financial status during a presentation at the regents University Governance & Operations committee meeting Thursday, April 4. The school’s projected annual deficit is now $162 million, $15 million less than Arnold’s January forecast of $177 million.
Arnold said $2 million of that was shortfall from the University of Arizona Global Campus and that the online campus is now breaking even.
The school’s current cash balance stands at $748 million — about $150 million less than it had at this point last year. Arnold said about 70% of the school’s deficit is personnel-related. To control this, he said they’re centralizing Human Resources and implementing a new staffing model by July 1.
“We’ll be able to monitor and control that staffing model so then the departments and the colleges won’t be able to hire people without us knowing about it.” he said.
Arnold said they’re 90% through the process of reviewing each division’s plan to make budget cuts. For many departments this includes layoffs but Arnold said they’re trying to be thoughtful with their approach.
“We’re trying to be very careful as we make a cost reduction,” he said at the meeting.
Regent Lyndel Manson said these types of decisions are unavoidable.
“We need to be aware that you can bite around the edges only so much before difficult decisions have to be made. They will be made,” she said during the meeting.
The school’s financial plan sets an April 15 deadline for budget reviews. Arnold said while they’re on track to meet the deadline, there’s still a lot of work to do.
“I don’t want the board to anticipate wholescale structural change in April. We’re just not prepared for that,” Arnold said.
S&P Global Ratings, a credit rating agency, downgraded its outlook on the university’s debt from stable to negative due to its deficit and cash status, according to an April 3 report.
According to the report, the university’s recovery depends on its “progress toward fiscal balance while maintaining or improving its financial resources from fiscal 2023 levels.”
However the school’s rating could fall even further upon failure to “make progress toward structural balance, or if the liquidity position weakens significantly or enrollment declines.”
This is the second hit to the school’s credit rating in the past month. In March, Moody’s Ratings changed the UA’s rating outlook, a metric for credit risk, from stable to negative for similar reasons.
“The revision of the outlook to negative is driven by uncertainty around the pace of the university’s operating performance recovery following identification of a structural imbalance along with continued integration risk associated with University of Arizona Global Campus (UAGC),” a March 4 release stated.
UA President Robert Robbins announced he planned to resign by the end of his current employment contract in 2026 in an email to university stakeholders April 2.
Robbins said he would step down earlier if the board of regents finds a replacement before his contract ends. Read more about his resignation announcement here.
The board of regents and Gov. Katie Hobbs made statements about Robbins’ resignation and the search for a new president. In a statement April 2, the regents said they plan to begin a nationwide search for the 23rd president of the university and that “the search will move forward with expediency.”
Regent Chair Cecilia Mata lauded Robbins and expressed her gratitude.
“His keen ability to weave together the biological, digital and technology sectors to further advance the mission of the university has led to exceptional accomplishments,” she said in the statement “On behalf of the board, we are sincerely grateful for his tireless work and commitment to serve the students, faculty, staff and state.”
The statement made no reference to the university’s financial situation or the criticism from faculty, staff, students and the governor leading up to Robbins’ resignation.
Gov. Katie Hobbs expressed her commitment to addressing the university’s “fiscal mismanagement” and ensuring “proper oversight and accountability from ABOR to protect our public universities” in a statement April 2.
“I will continue to offer my support to the university and to ABOR as a successor is identified,” she said.
The school’s staff council held a panel during its monthly staff council meeting where impending layoffs and concerns over the school’s trajectory were discussed. The council is the school’s shared governance organization that represents staff.
Over 600 people listened in as Staff Council Chair Melanie Madden updated attendees on her meeting with the school’s new University Advisory Council, a group of student, staff and faculty representatives appointed by Robbins.
Madden said the advisory council meeting was largely dominated by faculty when staff outnumber faculty and are currently more vulnerable. The financial action plan states that layoffs will happen in waves over the next 18 months but Madden said staff will be the first to go.
“Because faculty have these contracts and staff are at-will, the first cuts that come when cuts are coming will impact staff sooner than faculty,” she said.
Staff representatives are pushing for longer layoff notices. They say, unlike faculty, who have employment contracts, staff are at-will employees so the university isn’t required to provide prior notice although HR has a 30-day notice recommendation.
“We’ve been working with HR to see if we can get a little bit more teeth into that rather than just saying this is a recommendation,” Madden said.
Another issue that came up was inconsistent communication among departments. Some units have already announced layoffs while others are still waiting for news.
“I think it’s up to the units to communicate to their faculty, staff and students sort of what is happening in these processes,” she said.
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