Campus workers' union 'denounces' University of Arizona financial plan

The United Campus Workers of Arizona union has “denounced” University of Arizona President Robert C. Robbins’ action plan to get the UA out of a financial crisis.

In an email to members Thursday, the union wrote that the plan, which Robbins announced on Dec. 13, is a “failure of accountability that places undue burdens on students, staff and faculty.”

The plan, which was approved by the Arizona Board of Regents, was released after Robbins announced in November that the university had a $240 million miscalculation of days’ cash on hand and was in a financial crisis. It faces “an ongoing budget deficit,” he has said.

The union, which represents faculty, staff and student workers, wrote to its members that Robbins’ plan “leaves executive salaries and executive bonuses intact with no concrete plan to reduce the bloated administrative structure, while subjecting university staff, students and faculty to hiring freezes, deferment of salary increases, elimination of tuition guarantees and the centralization of services.”

Robbins told the regents, who oversee the state’s three public universities, that the plan includes concluding strategic initiatives funding; enacting freezes on UA hiring, compensation and international travel; and reducing financial aid for out-of-state students. The university will also restrict purchasing, defer nonessential capital projects and eliminate the guarantee that tuition won’t rise during their enrollment for all new students starting in fall 2025.

Additionally, Lisa Rulney, who was senior vice president of business affairs and chief financial officer at the university, resigned. ABOR Executive Director John Arnold will take over her role at UA in an interim capacity.

While some faculty senators have said they were cautiously optimistic about the plan, the union is steadfast in its disapproval.

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“We are outraged that our campus community is being subjected to these actions even though we had no role in UA’s financial mismanagement,” the email stated. “This ill-conceived plan will have far-reaching consequences to staff and faculty and will undoubtedly lead to a decrease in educational outcomes for our UA students.”

A spokeswoman for Robbins and UA could not immediately be reached for comment.

To track information, the United Campus Workers of Arizona has created an anonymous survey that UA employees can use to provide ongoing information on the status of their departments and units. The union is asking workers to use the form to share news about layoffs and changes in job responsibilities, workloads and any student fee increases.

The survey responses will be kept confidential and anonymous, the email stated.

The union is demanding “an immediate stop to these anti-worker actions and the prioritization of a new financial action plan that puts university workers first.”

The statement warned members about the UA’s future if Robbins’ financial plan is fully enacted.

“These misguided priorities mean that workers in our university will once again take the brunt of senior leadership’s mismanagement,” the email stated. “Not only will centralization result in layoffs and increased workloads, it will also add power to those who have failed our university for years.”