Campus union: U of A President Robbins should resign

The United Campus Workers of Arizona union has officially called for the resignation of University of Arizona President Robert Robbins.

The union, which represents faculty, staff and student workers at the UA, released its statement on Friday afternoon, calling for the resignation of Robbins and of senior advisor Lisa Rulney.

Rulney stepped down in December from her position as vice president of business affairs and chief financial officer. But she stayed on in the temporary job of senior advisor, something Robbins did not share when he announced her “resignation” last month.

“Robbins failed to mention that CFO Rulney would not be leaving the Office of Business Affairs but would instead be retained in a new position as a senior advisor at her previous salary of $506,325 per year,” the union’s statement read.

In a statement to the Arizona Daily Star, UA Spokeswoman Pam Scott wrote solely about Rulney’s position and did not address the union’s call for Robbins’ resignation.

“Lisa Rulney resigned from her position as chief financial officer and is serving in a transition role through June 30, 2024, in line with her existing employment contract,” Scott wrote. “John Arnold is the interim chief financial officer.”

Last week Robbins confirmed reporting by the Arizona Daily Star and Tucson Agenda that Rulney was still employed and retained her salary. In an email to employees, he said she is staying on through the end of June to “ensure a minimally disruptive and well-informed transition.”

Robbins’ email wasn’t satisfactory to the union.

“This hypocrisy and lack of transparency represents an unacceptable breach of trust, especially while UA workers are facing increasing workloads, a hiring freeze, and a salary increase freeze due to the financial disaster that Robbins and Rulney oversaw,” the group wrote in its statement.

In a November Arizona Board of Regents meeting, Rulney and Robbins admitted to a $240 million miscalculation in cash reserves that Robbins said left the university in a financial crisis. On Dec. 13, Robbins, saying the UA has an ongoing budget deficit, released his official plan to get things back on track, which includes cuts to financial aid, a hiring and compensation freeze and a pause on non-necessary capital projects.

The UCWA union is not happy with Robbins’ plan despite its approval by ABOR.

“The university’s financial mismanagement will only be resolved within a culture of transparency, accountability and honesty — a culture that President Robbins has continually failed to provide,” the statement says. “Therefore, we, the United Campus Workers of Arizona, call for the resignation of President Robbins and Senior Advisor Lisa Rulney in favor of new leadership that can address the extreme financial mismanagement while continuing to meaningfully serve students and protect workers in collaboration with the UA community.”

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The UA wasn’t the only institution mentioned in the union’s statement.

“We also call on Governor (Katie) Hobbs to provide greater oversight and accountability of the Arizona Board of Regents and to ensure board representation that better reflects a shared interest in transparency and value in our higher education community,” the statement concluded.

Maria Sohn Hasman, a representative for the union, said the group has had no communication with ABOR since the Nov. 3 meeting where Robbins and Rulney revealed the $240 million miscalculation.

She said she would be “surprised” if the UA itself reached out to the union to give a response, as she claimed there has not been much contact between the union and the employer whose workers it represents.

“We are really looking for leadership that will seriously address the conditions that got us here in a meaningful way,” said Sohn Hasman, who is the resilience internship program coordinator for the university’s Arizona Institute for Resilience.

Ninety percent of the union members were in support of calling for Robbins’ resignation, while about 93% called for Rulney’s, she said.

Only a fraction of the university’s workers are members of the organization, but she said the union’s size should not take away from the importance of its statement.

“The conditions are so bad,” Sohn Hasman said. “We still don’t know the status of funding after this fiscal year, which ends June 2024. We’re all facing so much precarity, with student programming getting cut because (the UA) can’t provide any additional compensation for staff right now.”

Union leaders are attempting to track layoffs so far, but she said the university is trying to keep the changes quiet.

“There’s so much happening. People are getting laid off in mass,” she claimed. “Everyone is facing increased workloads, and the hiring freeze means that we don’t get to hire any folks to relieve that. It’s bad.”