University of Arizona 'morale is terrible,' Faculty Senate chair says

The mood was grim in a Faculty Senate meeting that took place less than 24 hours before University of Arizona President Robert C. Robbins announced he will step down at the end of his contract in 2026 or sooner.

Faculty Senate Chair Leila Hudson warned of massive cuts and a “brain-drain” of faculty and staff. Robbins, who was slotted to speak to the senators, was a no show. And interim Provost Ron Marx said he believes the university will have to make cuts to the number of graduate students it educates.

Hudson told senators she wanted to be “part of an orderly unwinding of President Robbins’ presidency.” That was even before Robbins announced the next day that he will leave at the end of his contract or sooner if the Arizona Board of Regents, which is launching a national search, hires his successor before then.

Hudson also spoke about a survey she sent out to faculty and staff, which she says found many of her colleagues were “retiring earlier than we would have, looking for other work and watching (our) valued colleagues depart.”

This has caused, she said, a “kick in the gut to morale in just about every college,” as faculty and staff are “seriously overburdened” as more of their colleagues leave and are not replaced.

Hudson stated that multiple full-time tenure or tenure-track faculty that have left are being replaced with a single visiting professor, and that some staff support roles in colleges are being reduced from three full-time employees to one part-time worker.

“Labor, money and hopes were invested in many searches that have been cut short, and the effect of pulling back offers that have been made or rescinding open positions that people have applied for is terrible for our reputation,” she lamented. “In short, morale is terrible and the personal stories of staff and faculty who have been terminated or anticipate terminations are painful to read.”

Programs are being cut, Hudson said, “especially interdisciplinary programs, which foreshadow the future of the academy.” She added that “small classes and studios are turning into large lecture classes” as well.

Budget unit updates

Interim Chief Financial Officer and Vice President of Business Affairs John Arnold is meeting with all budget units through the end of April to determine which units will see budget cuts — and of how much — as the UA deals with its $177 million deficit.

Units are expected to produce plans for cutting their budgets by a potential 5%, 10% or 15%.

According to Marx, 43 units have so far completed their all-funds meetings. That includes 18 main campus colleges, 10 provost support units and13 senior vice president and CFO units. Six more units must be completed by mid-April.

Each meeting, he said, runs for “about an hour to about two and a half hours and in some cases, they are iterations,” meaning sometimes Marx and Arnold meet with colleges multiple times to get “further information.”

One of the uncertainties, however, is that the state budget is not likely to be resolved before the end of the month, Marx said.

“The state budget might impact the kind of money you have coming into the university under one potential scenario of the state cutting higher education allocation,” he noted. “So that’s one caveat to move forward.”

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Marx did note that some units might get budget increases rather than cuts, which is something Robbins publicly proposed in a Staff Council meeting in late February.

Samantha Harris, a faculty senator and professor of cellular and molecular medicine, asked Marx whether there would be any projections of how much money the centralization of Information Technology and other units such as Human Resources will save.

Her question was echoed by Faculty Senator Lucy Ziurys, a professor of biochemistry, who has spoken out in depth about the issue of centralization. According to Ziurys, Dean of the College of Science Carmala Garzione stated that CFO Arnold said the “centralization has nothing to do with saving money” and instead is to “streamline processes for the future.”

In a statement to the Arizona Daily Star, Garzione wrote that she “didn’t say that exactly. The statement is an oversimplification of a very complicated issue.” She referred any other inquiries to the university’s press office.

Marx was asked by Jeremy Bernick, president of the graduate and professional student council, about graduate student retention.

“I’m very sympathetic to the plight of graduate students; we all were one at one time in our lives,” Marx said. “I think inevitably, we’re going to wind up with fewer graduate students.”

He added, however, that he believes a reduction of graduate students is going to be a nationwide pattern.

The president’s proxy

Robbins, who was slotted to speak for 10 minutes, sent Jon Dudas, senior vice president and chief of staff of the university, in his place to the meeting.

Though Dudas initially did not plan to speak, he was corralled by a few members of the Faculty Senate to take to the podium and answer questions.

Katie Zeiders, a senator representing the College of Agriculture, Life and Environmental Sciences, asked Dudas if he could state Robbins’ position on HB2735, a bill that has made its way through the state House which aims to restrict the powers of university shared governance bodies such as the Faculty Senate.

“In this case, the Arizona Board of Regents came in neutral, so all three universities came in neutral,” Dudas responded.

Zeiders, unsatisfied with the answer, pushed back. She wanted to know what Robbins himself thought of the bill.

“I’m confirming the position of the University of Arizona,” Dudas responded. “He is allowed to believe and think and vote to do whatever he wants. He’s an individual.”

Joellen Russell, a faculty senator who also serves on the provost search committee, pushed Dudas for an “update on a timeline for the plan on how we’re going to get out of the budget mess,” since after the Faculty Senate’s meeting in May, professors will begin summer break.

“What you’re saying makes a lot of sense,” Dudas replied. “And I understand the point that was made earlier about your patience and being frustrated by it.”