Re: the july 7 article "Why I support UA President Robbins' campus plan."
Fred Duval's opinion is disappointing and fails to acknowledge the entirety of the crisis that the campus community is confronting, and his position disregards the principles of shared governance. Financial mitigation efforts can and must prioritize the health and safety of faculty, staff, and students while centering our focus on the core mission of the university rather than fear-mongering about the university's projected revenue losses. In fact, UA's CFO Lisa Rulney stated in an email dated June 20th, "It is true that many other institutions have implemented much smaller-scale furlough/pay reduction programs than we have proposed. However, it is not true that we have a larger problem to solve than other campuses, nor that we were in financial difficulties prior to the pandemic." The recent external audit of of the university's finances has raised serious questions about the true financial health of the institution. We can and must delay Robbins' paycut plan to ensure equity and transparency in all decision making going forward.
Lia Falco
Foothills
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
