The United Campus Workers of Arizona union says although UA President Robert C. Robbins will be leaving, stronger oversight of UA is needed because “students, staff and faculty are left to pay dearly for the price of his failed leadership.”
“President Robbins’ administration oversaw tumultuous financial times including a depletion of cash reserves, financial cuts in university operations, employee layoffs, furloughs, a hiring freeze, a freeze on wage and salary increases and a continuous rise in tuition and other educational costs for incoming students,” the union, representing faculty, staff and students at Arizona’s three public universities, said Wednesday on Instagram.
Robbins announced Tuesday he will leave the University of Arizona presidency at the end of his contract in 2026 or sooner if a successor is in place.
“Robbins’ announcement comes after years of mismanagement,” the union wrote, “including the purchase of Ashford University, a predatory and nearly bankrupt online institution; millions in loans to the Athletics Department; a financial shortfall of more than $170 million; and campus safety failures resulting in the loss of a beloved colleague, Dr. Tom Meixner.”
Meixner, a professor, was fatally shot on campus in October 2022 after receiving threats from a former graduate student now charged in his killing.
United Campus Workers, which in January became one of the first organizations to call for Robbins’ resignation amid the UA’s $177 million budget, didn’t push in its Wednesday announcement for him to leave earlier than he plans to. But the group is asking the Arizona Board of Regents to “commence the search for Robbins’ replacement immediately.”
The union is “cautiously optimistic,” said representative Maria Sohn Hasman, internship program coordinator at the Arizona Institute for Resilience, in an interview.
“We want to make sure that union members are on the hiring committee,” she said. “We want the administration to understand that we are the ones who keep the university running, and we need to be the ones consulted on who is going to be managing our university.”
As for what the group is looking for in Robbins’ replacement, “We want a president that’s willing to talk to us or even acknowledge that we exist,” Sohn Hasman said. “We want someone who is willing to prioritize the workers at the UA and the learning environment for the students. Someone who is honest, transparent, and communicative.”
Sohn Hasman said she hopes Gov. Katie Hobbs is “strongly involved” in the search for the new president.
Hobbs released multiple statements, most recently one late last week, blasting Robbins and demanding reports and accountability from his administration and the regents.
“We are incredibly grateful for the public stance that the governor has taken and what it has led to,” Sohn Hasman said. “It’s really valuable that she’s been putting pressure on ABOR and university administration in the ways that she has.”
Sohn Hasman said that “100% absolutely” the group will turn up pressure to reform ABOR, the oversight board that many blame for failing to catch the UA financial crisis earlier. When the regents come to Tucson to meet on April 18, the union plans to stage a protest.
This comes as “layoffs are continuing” at the university, Sohn Hasman emphasized.
“At this point, dozens have been laid off or are being notified about being laid off,” she said. “We’re working to track that.”
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