Projected deficit at U of A to shrink from $162M to $52M next year

The University of Arizona’s projected deficit for fiscal year 2025 is $52 million, with the biggest percentage cut, 28.2%, affecting the UA president’s office.

UA’s Interim Chief Financial Officer John Arnold told the Arizona Board of Regents Thursday that $71 million is projected to be saved through budget reductions.

Administrative costs have been cut by $30.1 million, or 6.3%, Arnold said. The health sciences have had their budget cut by $10.4 million or 6.2%, and UA’s colleges are seeing a cut of $26.1 million or 3.6%.

The safety and facilities offices will be increasing their budget by $2.9 million and $1.3 million, respectively.

“We think these are pretty good numbers, but we’re also very nervous about putting them out this early in the cycle and there are still a number of unknowns,” Arnold told the regents. “We’re confident in these numbers but we’re also confident they’re going to change in the coming months.”

His presentation wasn’t all about cuts, however. Arnold said his team is forecasting $21 million in base revenue and $18 million in “new revenue opportunities” for fiscal year 2025, which begins on July 1. Both of those numbers have contributed to cutting the projected deficit.

“We don’t want to cut just to spite ourselves,” he said. “We want to make sure that our cuts are strategic and that we’re maximizing revenue production as best we can.”

He added that the revenue assumptions are “conservative” and that UA “will be making some investments in certain program expansions that we think will bring new revenue to the university.”

Additionally, UA Global Campus appears to be on the verge of bringing a profit into the university, which was applauded by some of the regents.

“A diversification of our strategies has created a more stable and positive balance sheet,” Regent Fred DuVal commented on UAGC.

Arnold said he was “having a good time” during the process, and added that “our goals around student retention, graduation rates, enrollment, student achievement and post university success” are still important to leadership.

What’s next

Next week, the university will release an initial budget for each of the colleges. Starting in June, leadership will conduct additional restructuring as well as complete a workload review for faculty and staff.

Every college will start and end fiscal year 2025 with a balanced budget, Arnold said.

There will be a lot of additional restructuring policies in the future, including finalizing initial administrative budgets in June and receiving the state budget.

The news that UA’s projected deficit is decreasing was shared first on Thursday morning by UA President Robert C. Robbins in an email to employees and students.

Robbins said he was “pleased to announce” that the projected deficit for next fiscal year has shrunk from $162 million to just over $50 million.

“This anticipated improvement of $110 million in the university’s deficit is preliminary, but marks considerable progress in the implementation of our financial action plan,” Robbins wrote in the email.

Robbins remained enthusiastic after Arnold’s presentation to the regents.

“I think the University of Arizona is still going to be an attractive destination for students to come and experience all the great programs we have, the incredible faculty we have and the support of the staff,” Robbins said after Arnold wrapped up. “We’ve (still) got a lot of work to do.”

Anger remains

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Faculty, staff, students and community members had the chance to speak to the regents in a public comment session before Arnold’s presentation.

Leila Hudson, the UA’s Faculty Senate chair, spoke about the “deep disappointment and outrage” she felt about the new presidential search committee. Robbins announced two weeks ago that he will step down by June 2026 or sooner if the regents hire his successor. The 18-member search committee includes three regents, five professors, one student and various university leaders and community members.

“It raises new questions about ABOR’s commitment to democracy, academic freedom, inclusion and freedom of speech at the UA,” Hudson said. She said the committee lacks student representation and that the Faculty Senate wasn’t allowed to vote on and nominate members. “For nearly a century and a half these values have elevated our institution and made it exceptional,” she said.

She added that “ABOR and our administration have ignored, and in some cases retaliated against, people who questioned the disastrous politics of the last two years.”

Hudson was not alone in her complaints.

“President Robbins met with me less than five times this school year,” said Associated Students of the University of Arizona President Alyssa Sanchez. “We must be present at the table and part of the conversation to ensure that students’ voices do not fall through the cracks.”

Lee Medovoi, a professor of English, said he was “dumbfounded” by Arnold’s previous comments suggesting that academic units have overspent.

“When I got to UA in 2014, our budget for tenure stream faculty and staff salaries was $4.6 million,” he said. “Today? It’s $3.1 million.”

Additionally, Medovoi noted, the faculty in the English department has shrunk from 56 to 28, with 21 consecutive retirees and just two national searches for replacements.

“No college is growing as fast as we are shrinking,” he told the regents. “It was sucked out of our core mission: teaching, research and service.”

The crowd seemed to voice its approval for Medovoi’s comments, breaking into a “chop from the top” chant.

Johann Rafelski, an outspoken faculty senator and physics professor, expressed his concern about how university leadership is handling finances.

“These people handle millions of dollars and I don’t even know that they can multiple eight times eight,” he said, drawing laughter from the crowd. “That’s a serious remark.”

Union bites back

In a protest before the public ABOR meeting began, the United Campus Workers of Arizona union held a rally to demand that Robbins resign immediately instead of waiting for an official replacement.

“We will keep fighting for more democratic public institutions, better wages and more job security until we are heard and our demands are met,” said IT employee and union member Spencer Gantt. “A university president should not have unchecked power to make unilateral decisions regarding academic standards or which programs are cut or funded.”

The UCWAZ union is also demanding that, in its wording, the university continue to cut back on administrative bloat, cease unchecked spending and be more transparent about layoffs and other issues.

About 50 people attended Thursday’s rally outside the UA Administration Building.

Gantt told the crowd that he wasn’t impressed with the UA’s projected deficit cuts.

“That email this morning, directly from Robbins, acted like when they took away our cost of living increase this year, when they took away our salary increases this year, that that was somehow a win,” he told the crowd through a bullhorn. “They have yet to even attack the level of administrative bloat on this campus.”

In a statement Thursday to the Arizona Daily Star, Mitch Zak, a spokesperson for UA, said of the president’s plans to step down: “Robbins’ announcement allows for a thorough and inclusive search to identify a successor while at the same time continuing to lead implementation of the university’s financial action plan.”