The Arizona Board of Regents voted at a board meeting on Thursday to cut University of Arizona President Robert Robbins’ base salary and cancel his bonus pay.
The regents also approved a number of leadership changes.
Robbins was present before the meeting moved into executive session, which was inaccessible to the public, but was noticeably absent afterward — including during the vote to cut his pay.
The private portion of the meeting went more than an hour longer than planned on the agenda. During this time, the regents were scheduled to discuss Robbins’ contract and assignments as well as the University of Arizona Global Campus, including legal advice.
Robbins himself requested the 10% cut to his base pay and elimination of his bonuses in light of the university’s troubled financial state, according to a March 4 statement from the regents.
The university president will now earn $734,407 annually rather than $816,008. His new base pay is slightly less than the $754,515 he made prior to 2023.
This year, Robbins was set to receive $150,000 in individual at-risk compensation and $120,000 in multiple-year performance compensation. In 2023, Robbins received $132,500 in annual at-risk compensation alone.
His bonuses — also called at-risk and performance compensation — are tied to annual and multi-year goals, like “enhancing the student experience and outcomes of the University of Arizona Global Campus.”
Some faculty, staff and students have repeatedly asked Robbins to resign since the crisis went public in November. The university doesn’t have a permanent No. 2 position right now after Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Liesl Folks left in May 2023. Ronald Marx is serving as interim provost while the university runs a search to hire a replacement. Finalists are scheduled to visit campus in April.
The regents on Thursday also officially elected Cecilia Mata to head the group through June 30. The former chair, Fred DuVal, stepped down on Feb. 29.
DuVal’s resignation came a week after he announced legal action against UA faculty senate chair Leila Hudson for raising concerns during a Feb. 19 faculty senate meeting over his former position as a managing director of investment firm Amicus Investors. The firm invests “in universities, partnering with them to help realize their master plans,” according to the website.
Though DuVal denied any conflict of interest — stating he worked with Amicus Investors in between his tenure on the board of regents — Mata announced DuVal was stepping down only days after Gov. Katie Hobbs lambasted him in a Feb. 26 statement. “Attacking faculty is not, and never will be, the answer,” she wrote.
Mata was appointed to an eight-year term on the board of regents by former Gov. Doug Ducey in 2020. She serves as chair of the regents’ university governance and operations committee and is a member of the strategic initiatives and planning committee. She also represents the board of regents on the Campus Research Corp. board.
Mata’s background is primarily in business. She was born in Panama where she graduated with a bachelor’s and then a master’s in business administration before moving to Sierra Vista in 2000. Her first job in the U.S. was with the University of Arizona South as a program coordinator. Since then, she has founded various companies in the defense and security sectors.
The regents also voted on Thursday to approve John Arnold’s appointment to UA interim Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President of Business Affairs, a role he has held since former CFO Lisa Rulney resigned on Dec. 13.
Chad Sampson will replace Arnold as the board of regents’ new interim executive director. The motion and vote on Thursday did not specify how long Sampson will hold this position. The move also authorized the board to negotiate Sampson’s compensation as he takes on new responsibilities.
In late February, Mata announced Arnold would be taking a leave of absence from his board duties to focus on his work dealing with the financial crisis at the UA. This was more than a month after Hobbs asked Arnold to “transition out” of his role as interim UA CFO, citing his position with the board of regents while working at the UA as a conflict of interest in a scathing Jan. 25 letter.
Read more about recent UA financial crisis developments here.
The next regents committee meetings are planned for April 4 at ASU and then the full board will meet April 17-19 at UA.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print.
