Arizona
This is not the way to keep University of Arizona spending in check
Opinion: The University of Arizona’s financial crisis points to the need for greater oversight. A bill headed to the governor takes it away.
University of Arizona financial crisis could take 3 years to fix, officials say
Multiple University of Arizona school officials have stepped down amongst the school’s ongoing financial crisis.
The University of Arizona’s recent administrative blunders resulting in a financial crisis suggest a need for more oversight of university governance, but a measure that the Arizona Legislature sent the governor last week would reduce such oversight.
Aside from its strange timing, House Bill 2735 would tie the hands of future university presidents in a way that contradicts good management practice.
The Senate and House passed this Republican bill with party-line votes, even though it undermines traditional Republican goals.
Neither the state Board of Regents nor any of the three universities officially supported the bill (but legislators from both parties claimed it was promoted by individuals connected to the outgoing UA administration).
The governor should veto the legislation, which, given the University of Arizona’s recent history, moves in exactly the wrong direction.
UA’s Faculty Senate provides needed oversight
The central provision of HB 2735 states: “A university president may not delegate the president’s authority to approve academic degrees or organizational units.”
At the University of Arizona, the Faculty Senate is the last step in the approval chain, before a proposed new academic degree or program goes to the Regents for final approval.
The University of Arizona has created scores of new degrees and programs in recent years, sometimes at considerable expense.
The Faculty Senate initiates none of these programs. They come from administration, either central administration or from the 20-odd individual colleges, such as Science, Humanities and Medicine.
This Senate has never, in recent memory, blocked any of the administration’s proposals.
The bill thus eliminates an authority that the Faculty Senate rarely, if ever, exercises. In 2023, for example, the UA administration proposed 28 new degrees and programs. The Senate approved 26 immediately; the remaining two were eventually approved.
The problem is that the bill also ends an important public mechanism for the oversight of a college administration that clearly needs oversight.
People with skin the game should review ideas
The board of a private corporation is accountable to shareholders who have a financial stake in the firm’s performance.
In Arizona, the politically appointed Regents have the challenging task of supervising three large and independently led entities, with no shareholders standing behind them to hold the Regents themselves accountable.
Republicans should recognize that bureaucrats spending billions of other people’s dollars — taxpayer and tuition dollars — need oversight. The UA Faculty Senate, through its public meetings and documents, provides one layer of useful oversight.
Last December, the Faculty Senate held a spirited discussion about, and publicly posted much information about, a proposed “Global MD” degree. After a $14 million startup cost, this program would send students to Australia for medical training, with a special emphasis on Indigenous medical practices.
Board of Regents: Did little to stop UA scandal
Faculty senators asked whether Arizona, and the students themselves, would get a reasonable return on investment. Following this discussion, the Senate approved the program on a split vote, but the Regents have (so far) declined to grant final approval.
In this and similar cases, Faculty Senate oversight is useful.
This bill undercuts UA. Hobbs should veto it
Neither the faculty nor the Legislature wants money wasted on projects that are poorly conceived or weakly managed, on a bloated and self-protecting administrative class, or on priorities that leave behind the Arizona students and families who provide most of the universities’ funding.
Other states recognize the useful role played by faculty governance. In the highly regarded university systems of North Carolina and Texas, for example, faculty governance plays a larger role than at the University of Arizona.
Finally, HB 2735 takes the remarkable step of prohibiting a university president from delegating any of his or her authority on program and degree approvals.
Effective management of any large organization requires sensible delegation of authority. The Legislature should respect a university president’s discretion to implement good and common management practice.
In HB 2735, the Republican majorities have approved a bill that undercuts their own priorities. Gov. Katie Hobbs can do them a favor by vetoing it.
Ethan Orr is a former Republican state lawmaker and teaches at the University of Arizona’s College of Agriculture, Life, and Environmental Sciences. Mark Stegeman is a faculty member of UA’s Eller College of Management and a UA faculty senator. Reach them at eorr@arizona.edu and stegeman@arizona.edu.
PHOENIX — The Arizona Humane Society is offering free adoptions for 10 days beginning Thursday due to caring for a record amount of animals.
AHS is caring for 1,650 pets, exceeding maximum capacity despite it only being the start of the summer. Temporary kennels have been set up at multiple locations as a result, including at AHS’ old Sunnyslope location.
“We’re feeling the pinch everywhere,” Steven Hansen, AHS president and CEO, said in a press release. “Clearing our adoption kennels of healthy pets now provides us with the best opportunity to continue to serve more sick, injured and abused pets across the Valley.”
Why is the Arizona Humane Society at maximum capacity?
The AHS Rescue, Cruelty and Pet Resource Center is seeing a 25% increase in calls per day regarding cruelty and neglect from owners.
Large dogs, especially those over 50 pounds, are waiting 10 more days than average for adoption.
Healthy animals that need a new home due to a previous owner’s housing or employment change aren’t being able to be accommodated quickly as a result of the full shelters, with a surrender time of six months.
AHS expects intake numbers to increase in the coming weeks. The Fourth of July holiday is a peak time for animals to go missing and with temperatures squarely in the triple digits, heat-related calls also rise.
“I’ve never been more grateful and proud of our donors, volunteers, Foster Heroes, rescue partners and staff,” Hansen said. “Our staff is exhausted and it’s taking an emotional toll, but they are resilient and our commitment to our mission has never been greater.”
(Had a bit of an adventure in covering the game tonight…)
.
Out in New England, a town we’ll call “Bristol,”
I was at home with the game on TV.
Nighttime had found me at home on the sofa
Ready to write what Monitto would see.
.
Top of the first saw a dozing Monitto,
Larnach reached third but the lumber went slack.
During commercials it fast began raining;
Lightning soon flashed and the telly went black.
.
Thunder was rumbling; no light would turn on,
Branches blew strong in the wind;
Losing the Wi-Fi with thunderstorms ride I
Sought fast a solution, my humor chagrined.
.
As it rained there, I
Went for a light from my room up in “Bristol,”
Unplugged my laptop in case of a surge.
I switched to my cell phone in hope for a signal;
To cover this game was my singular urge.
.
Then to my fortune, my phone caught the signal;
Quickly I flipped to the game as it aired.
Only had missed barely half of an inning;
Back to the site where more comments were shared.
.
Top of the second, the bases were full,
Not a sole batter had gone.
Up came Miranda: a swing mighty grand, a
Shot clearing the bases – the rout it was on.
.
Innings passed, and
The Twins, they all hit with the crack of a pistol;
Soon we had six runs with none for our foe.
.
Out here in “Bristol,” the weather was mirthless;
Not so the offense alive in the West.
Five of our batters had hits in the plural;
All are the STUDS tonight, each is the best.
.
(I’d better name them or else you’d get mad;
Two each for Willi and Trev;
Three for Santana, Correa, Miranda:
Clearly a night for their motors to rev.
.
And the last of
The studs is the starter who shined like a crystal,
Gunning down batters with masterly ease.)
Only one DUD, and that’s Eversource Power:
Guys, fix the damn electricity, please!
.
(Yes, I’m aware there are too many line breaks;
Can’t get it right when you type in your phone.
Give it a day and I’ll clean up the format;
Meanwhile we’re still in the powerless zone.)
.
Oh, and the Comment, the Top of the Game:
It has to be Fillmore’s, I think.
Feeling so arty, he parodied Marty;
When I’ve got power, I’ll add in the link.
.
But concluding
The game came as fast as a midsummer mist’ll:
Four bullpen arms not allowing a hit.
No need to score, not a bit or a trifle,
Leading by five when your pitching won’t quit.
.
Now it is over, Monitto is sleepy.
(Call this a guide for pronouncing my name.)
Surely tomorrow’s another to rise for;
Meanwhile tonight, get some rest, and…
…good game.
PHOENIX — Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes worries that the governor’s decision to use opioid settlement money to fund the Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry will cause problems in the future.
Mayes sued the state last week after the Arizona Legislature passed the budget and Gov. Katie Hobbs signed it into law. She wanted to block leaders from using $115 million in opioid settlement funds to remedy the budget deficits.
She received a temporary restraining order. However, a judge overturned it on Monday night.
“We obviously still disagree with the judge and his decision,” Mayes told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s The Mike Broomhead Show on Wednesday. “It’s a sad day, I think, for Arizonans, especially in rural Arizona.”
Furthermore, she called the decision to sweep the opioid settlement funds into the Department of Corrections to backfill its budget an “absolute travesty.”
That spending was supposed to go throughout the state to prevent and treat opioid addiction, she said.
“They should not be allowed to do this,” Mayes added.
She said Hobbs and the Legislature could have used a $1.4 billion rainy day fund to plug the budget deficit.
“Instead, they swept these opioids funds, contrary to the consent decrees, which, by the way, were signed by six or seven different judges in Arizona,” Mayes said.
Opioid settlement money to be used to fund Arizona’s prisons
Mayes is worried that allocating opioid settlement funds to support the Arizona prison system will cause issues in the future.
After all, the millions of dollars from the opioid settlements come from pharmaceutical companies that agreed to pay to settle allegations that they perpetuated drug addiction across the U.S.
These Big Pharma powerhouses may see the Arizona budget’s use of these funds as a violation of their settlement agreements, Mayes said.
“You could see some of these pharmaceutical companies coming in to Arizona and trying to claw back their money because they believe it’s been misused,” Mayes said.
She said she plans to watch the Department of Corrections like a hawk. She wants to make sure it’s using the money to pay for services related to addiction treatment and prevention.
“I think that’s a danger,” Mayes said. “I think the Department of Corrections had better be ready to prove to me and to everybody else that they actually are spending this money on opioid addiction purposes.”
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