By
Emily Severson
Arizona Daily Wildcat
A variety of issues ranging from faculty salaries to advising were brought by faculty and students to the first of four Town Hall meetings held last Friday with UA President Peter Likins.
Jose Solorzano, a member of the Staff Advisory Council, asked what can be done to raise faculty salaries.
For faculty salaries to reach a competitive level, the UA needs to receive an additional $180 million a year for a budget that already almost totals $1 billion annually, Likins said.
About $300 million to $400 million of the $1 billion budget is set aside for faculty salaries, Likins said.
He added that he is seeking a $20 million defense fund to be able to offer competitive salaries relative to other universities and reassured Solorzano that state funding for the UA would eventually increase.
About 50 faculty members and 20 students attended the meeting at Kiva Auditorium in the College of Education building.
Advising was another issue about which Likins was asked.
He said he wants more advising for funding because the UA is not able to provide the academic support the students' need.
However, he added, UA advising has wonderful leadership but needs to do a better job at communicating the current system to the students. The university needs more resources as well as a faculty adviser in every discipline, Likins said.
Associated Students President Ben Graff asked Likins how students would benefit if UA got more money from the state.
Likins answered that the UA has to make sure that the people providing the funding - the Arizona Legislature - approve of how it is spent, but most of the state legislators care about student concerns.
Child care was another concern of some graduate students in attendance, but Likins said he didn't know enough about the issue to comment but that it would be pursued.
Jason Auxier, a member of the Graduate Professional Student Council, asked Likins whether registration fee waivers for teaching assistants would be possible at the UA.
Likins said it had not been recommended that he adopt registration fee waivers, while acknowledging that the UA has a critical problem with its teaching assistants because they are asked to do so much.
The UA has currently asked the state for $1.5 million a year to increase the number of TAs but the money could not be used to increase their salaries.
Those funds would be used to increase the number of TAs to decrease the workload of existing assistants.
Likins urged the graduate students not to give up and to work with the other graduate students from Arizona State University and Northern Arizona University to increase state funding.
Former Christopher City resident, Jake Elkins, asked Likins about comparable replacement funding for the displaced residents.
Likins apologized that the residents had to move out, but said the UA had no choice.
"I'm terribly sorry, but we had to shut it down," he said.
Student Against Sweatshops was one of the more vocal student groups at the meeting.
SAS members held a red banner with their name on it in the back of the auditorium and repeatedly asked Likins why he had not completely pulled out of the Fair Labor Association.
Likins responded that he would like to have another sit-down meeting with SAS and the UA Human and Labor Rights Task Force members before making a final decision on the university's involvement in the FLA.
