The University of Arizona has managed to retain 20 of the 40 jobs it expected to lose after the federal government eliminated the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program-Education, or SNAP-Ed, and cost the UA $6.6 million a year.
In an email sent to UA faculty senators, Secretary of the Faculty Katie Zeiders said the university’s central administration was able to find funds to retain 20 positions across 12 Arizona counties.
Zeiders said those positions are funded for another month and are expected to continue after further one-time, carry-forward funds are made available through the Arizona Department of Health Services.
SNAP-Ed is part of Cooperative Extension, a nationwide educational network within land-grant institutions like the UA that translates university research into practical knowledge for communities. In Arizona, SNAP-Ed is administered by the Arizona Department of Health Services in collaboration with UA’s Cooperative Extension, county health departments and community organizations. SNAP-Ed, a program under the U.S. Agriculture Department’s Food and Nutrition Service, was eliminated from the federal fiscal year 2026 budget under the “One Big Beautiful Act“ passed by Congress and signed by President Donald Trump.
At the UA, SNAP-Ed employed 70 people in 53 full-time-equivalent positions across the state, UA Extension Director Ed Martin said in an earlier notice.
After the termination, Zeiders and others wrote a memo Sept. 3 to top-level UA administrators, asking them to: provide short-term bridge funding, foster donations through university donors and partners, and improve university-wide transparency on the impact of the program’s ending, among other actions. Others signing it were Duarte Diaz, a UA professor in the College of Agriculture, Life and Environmental Sciences, and Stephanie Grutzmacher, an associate professor in the School of Nutrition Sciences and Wellness. UA spokesperson Mitch Zak declined to answer questions on: If UA’s central administration has provided bridge funds to support SNAP-Ed; if UA has received ADHS funds to retain the positions, and how much; and if the UA is assisting SNAP-Ed in raising money through donations.
“Last year alone,” UA Cooperative Extension staff and agents “worked statewide to support 145 food pantries and summer feeding sites, establish 61 new school and community gardens, and partner with 41 early childhood education programs,” the faculty memo said.
“These efforts reach over one million Arizona residents each year, especially in underserved rural and tribal communities. They create lasting improvements in healthy food access, food security, and chronic disease prevention and generate countless testimonials of positive family and community impact,” said the memo.
