What a mess in Tucson
The mood was tense inside Old Main Monday afternoon. The University of Arizona’s monthly faculty senate meeting was about to start, and the room was so packed that some faculty members had to stand in the back while over a hundred additional participants sat quietly in a Zoom waiting room.
The strained atmosphere was understandable — it was the first time the faculty senate was gathering since university President Robert Robbins and senior vice president and chief financial officer Lisa Rulney told the Arizona Board of Regents last week that the UA was in a “financial crisis.”
Athletics has also been a drain on the financial resources of the university, Robbins told the faculty, most of whom spoke out against the $55 million loan made by the university to the athletic department during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. That money, Robbins said, has not been paid back “fast enough.”
'Draconian cuts' coming, U of A President Robbins tells faculty
University of Arizona President Robert Robbins and the school's chief financial officer were grilled by faculty members about the unexpected "financial crisis" that could result in layoffs and other cuts.
tucson.com
The mood was tense inside Old Main Monday afternoon. The University of Arizona’s monthly faculty senate meeting was about to start, and the room was so packed that some faculty members had to stand in the back while over a hundred additional participants sat quietly in a Zoom waiting room.
The strained atmosphere was understandable — it was the first time the faculty senate was gathering since university President Robert Robbins and senior vice president and chief financial officer Lisa Rulney told the Arizona Board of Regents last week that the UA was in a “financial crisis.”
Athletics has also been a drain on the financial resources of the university, Robbins told the faculty, most of whom spoke out against the $55 million loan made by the university to the athletic department during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. That money, Robbins said, has not been paid back “fast enough.”