'Frustrated,' 'concerned' U of A department heads seek more financial input

A committee representing all University of Arizona department heads sent a memo to university leaders this week requesting more input in the financial action plan announced last month by UA President Robert C. Robbins.

The internal memo was sent Monday by the HeadsUp Steering Committee, which represents more than 250 department heads of different majors, schools and offices across the university. It was addressed to Robbins, Interim Provost Ronald Marx, Interim Vice President of Business Affairs and Chief Financial Officer John Arnold, and Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer Helena Rodrigues.

Among other issues, the memo said department heads are concerned about the UA’s across-the-board hiring and compensation freeze.

They fear will make it harder to grow programs and generate revenue, will “significantly impact” recruitment and retention of faculty and staff, add to the work burden and stress on directors, staff and faculty and “reflect poorly on the university’s reputation amongst our peers as we cancel searches that are already in process, creating significant ill will and making the recruitment of high-quality faculty much more difficult down the road.”

Pam Scott, a spokeswoman for the UA, said that the university appreciates the department heads' "sincere interest" in helping.

"Our financial action plan is based on input and feedback from faculty, staff, students and administrative leaders across the university," she said in a statement. "University leadership will take time to review these recommendations and is looks forward to ongoing collaboration with shared governance and other members of our community as we continue implementing the financial action plan."

Robbins released the financial action plan in a special meeting with the Arizona Board of Regents on Dec. 13 after admitting to a $240 million miscalculation of projected cash on hand which he said, along with an ongoing budget deficit, left the university in a financial crisis.

The plan includes hiring and pay freezes, reducing financial aid for out-of-state students, freezing international travel for senior administrators, restricting university purchasing, deferring nonessential capital projects and eliminating the tuition guarantee for all new students starting in fall 2025.

The committee asked that senior leaders working on the university’s financial action plan “receive direct feedback from and direct interaction with department heads,” and volunteered to provide that guidance.

On Dec. 18, five days after Robbins announced the plan’s guidelines, the steering committee hosted a check-in with heads and directors to discuss implications of the new policies.

“The frustration and anxiety expressed at that meeting was understandably high,” the memo states.

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Department heads were most concerned about the lack of representation of heads and directors in developing the plan. Additionally, according to the document, attendees were concerned about how across-the-board actions outlined in the plan “appear to penalize significant sectors of our university population who played no part in the creation of the crisis.”

There was also concern about the “near constant shift over the years” of financial planning models, which they said has “left heads and directors without the ability to plan strategically.”

The university switched from Responsibility Centered Management, also known as RCM, to Activity Informed Budgeting (AIB) just two years ago. Now, according to Robbins’ plan, the university will move to a third financial model, specifics of which haven’t been announced, causing heads and directors to “lack the basic information about their budgets needed to plan for the short and long-term.”

“Heads and directors are the hands-on managers of countless faculty, staff and student processes that help the university pursue its vision, meet its mission and live its values,” the memo states. “We are often called upon to implement university policies in difficult, complex and idiosyncratic situations, such as this new financial landscape.”

The memo continues: “These experiences provide heads and directors a unique and practical vantage point from which to foresee consequences or issues when there are changes in policies and procedures.”

The committee also requested that Marx, the interim provost, attend its monthly meetings for 10-15 minutes to “ensure bi-directional flow of information from the department heads to the senior leadership.”

The memo suggested a variety of solutions to help ease the stress and burden for department heads as they struggle through the proposed financial changes.

The committee asked that senior leadership provide a set of metrics for “successful strategic planning that remain consistent over time” and “create and effectively communicate a hiring and compensation exemption review process that is clear, timely and flexible.”

The committee also suggested that senior leadership roll out a planned shared services model over a period of time “sufficient to allow for feedback throughout the process.”