Academic freedom, campus safety, student advocacy and financial stability all took the stage during Thursday’s Arizona Board of Regents meeting at the University of Arizona.
Tucson Mayor Regina Romero opened the public session by praising UA’s decision to reject a controversial federal compact, framing it as a stand for academic independence. In the wake of a fatal crash involving students, Romero also called for stronger collaboration between the university, city and regional partners to improve transportation safety.
In the meeting, students voiced concerns on proposed changes to public comment procedures, inadequate insurance coverage and the urgent need for safety improvements.
Board officials presented updates on the financial health of the state’s three public universities, noting enrollment-driven revenue declines and ongoing impacts from reduced federal research funding. UA President Suresh Garimella and other campus leaders also shared strategic goals for boosting retention, graduation rates and research output as part of the university’s formal update to the regents.
Romero lauds UA compact decision and pushes for more collaboration
Mayor Romero opened the afternoon’s public session, thanking the University of Arizona for declining the Trump administration’s Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education.
“U of A’s decision demonstrates courage, principle and a commitment to academic autonomy,” Romero said. “Public universities must remain free to pursue research, truth, and service without bending to political agendas in exchange for funding.”
Romero also highlighted the importance of the partnership between the school and the city.
“We must work together, city, university, regional partners and the private sector to ensure something like this never happens again,” she said.
She said this collaboration is particularly important when related to public transportation, especially in the wake of the Oct. 30 hit and run which killed three students at a crosswalk on Euclid Avenue.
“A safe, reliable, multimodal transportation system — buses, streetcar, protected bike lanes, accessible sidewalks — directly supports students’ success and quality of life,” Romero said.
Bradley Kendrex, the board’s finance, strategy and governance vice president, gave a fall update about the financial status of the state’s three universities, including UA. Student representatives lined up for the call to the audience, requesting more financial support for campus safety, improvement to graduate student insurance plans and adjustments to the call to the audience procedures.
Call to the audience draws comments on policy, student needs
Fifteen members of the public, mostly students and workers, waited to speak at the call to the audience during the Arizona Board of Regents’s meeting on an uncharacteristically rainy morning. First to comment was Mikah Dyer, the vice president of policy for the undergraduate student government at Arizona State University West Valley, who wanted to bring attention to the shifting policy around that portion of the meeting.
The board was set to vote on the first change to call-to-audience procedures since 2012. Rather than allowing audience members to submit a written request to speak 10 minutes prior to the meeting’s start time, they will now have to submit the request an hour in advance.
“Many students arrange their schedules, commutes and work responsibilities very carefully to be able to attend, often arriving right as the room opens and for those students the ability to make a public comment can depend on the information they don’t have access to until they’re physically here,” Dyer said. “So shortening the flexibility around comment sign up risks unintentionally limiting that participation.”
Dyer suggested pairing the policy change with an “accessible pathway” such as a digital sign-up system so people don’t have to arrive an hour in advance to submit their request.
Student Regent Jadyn Fisher, commented on the change once it came up for initial vote and asked for further discussion, saying it has been a topic of conversation for her and student leaders at other campuses.
“I just like to look at maybe options for how we can modify it to the virtual in order to streamline that process a little bit more,” she said during the discussion.
Chad Sampson, the board’s executive director, told Fisher they would discuss further with the council and student leaders.
Milad Hasankhani, a UA graduate student and treasurer of the Graduate and Professional Student Council, followed Dyer asking for improved dental and vision coverage for graduate students.
“A cracked tooth can mean choosing between treatment and rent. Out-of-date glasses make it difficult to fully meet our responsibilities and reduce the efficiency,” he said. “When preventative care is out of reach, small issues can become emergencies that disrupt research, teaching, and making progress towards our degrees.”
Benjamin Huffman, vice president of the Associated Students of the University of Arizona, spoke in the wake of recent student fatalities including an Oct. 30 incident in which three students were hit and killed at a crosswalk.
“I’m here not because that is new information to many of you but because it is a continuing problem that, despite operating as a priority for so many in this room, still requires effort and support,” Huffman said.
Financial update highlights enrollment drop, research impact, goals
In the two years since the UA first announced its financial crisis at the 2023 fall board of regents meeting, UA has had major leadership changes and financial restructuring. Kendrex, the board’s finance, strategy and governance vice president, gave a fall update ahead of the UA’s state of the university presentation.
The UA’s enrollment revenue is down, which Kendrex said was an anticipated change that may need addressing at the budgetary level.
“What that ultimately means is that that needs to be offset in other ways,” he said.“In many cases it is offset by reduced costs, or other university choices in order to stay within the budget,” he said.
Federal cuts to research funding have impacted all three schools. Kendrex said that’s reflected in lower research spending and funding compared to last year but it’s not as bad as anticipated.
“This is a little bit of a bright spot, budgetarily speaking,” Kendrex said. “Given the kind of tone and tenor of what has been going on related to federal research, the expectation was a little darker than what is currently playing out in terms of forecast and activity.”
The UA reported a $26.5 million, or 2.7%, decrease from last year in sponsored research-related revenue.
The school’s cash on hand, a metric for its reserves, increased from its initial fiscal year projection — from 77 days cash on hand to 78.
After the high-level financial overview, UA President Suresh Garimella, introduced the state of the university, a presentation on strategic moves being made by university leaders including Provost Patricia Prelock and Tomás Díaz de la Rubia, the university’s senior vice president for research and partnerships.
Prelock outlined her primary goals for the year including increasing student retention and graduation rates
“Moving our retention to over 90% is my No. 1 goal over the next three years. And as well as increasing our graduation rate at the four-year level from 57% this year to 65% to 70% over the next four years,” she said.
Prelock said her goal was to balance tuition revenue goals with expanding access.
De la Rubia spoke briefly about the school’s research initiatives and invited three speakers to speak about school research and advances.
“I’m hoping that a year from now, when it’s been two years, fabulous years in Arizona, you will hear a lot more about the progress that we’re making across all these strategic vectors,” said de la Rubia.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print.
