The Arizona Board of Regents gave UA President Peter Likins a $148,394 raise on Friday.

The motion passed with no discussion among the regents or from audience members, despite surprise from some members of the UA community that Likins would get a raise during a time of intense budget cuts throughout the state and university system.

Likins will receive a total yearly compensation package of $468,394. He said he would donate $25,750 of his raise ÷ the amount that does not go toward his pension ÷ back to UA.

Likins said he did not expect any debate centering on his raise. He said the regents were all in agreement to approve his raise, so he knew there would be little discussion of the matter.

Northern Arizona University President John Haeger also received a raise, as did Frank Busch, head coach of the UA menās and womenās swimming and diving teams. Busch will earn $86,000 each year, with up to $40,000 in bonuses based on the teamsā competitive and academic performance in the upcoming academic year.

The regents are soon to trade seats on the board, when Regent Jack Jewett takes over as president of the regents July 1.

Current president Kay McKay, who is from Flagstaff, will be replaced by Jewett, a Tucsonan who has served on the board since 1998. Each board president holds office for one year.

Jewett received his bachelorās degree from UA and served in the Arizona House of Representatives as a Republican from 1983-1992. He is the senior vice president for public policy for Tucson Medical Center Healthcare.

Current ABOR Treasurer Chris Herstam will replace Jewett as president-elect. Herstam is a lobbyist at the law firm Lewis and Roca in Phoenix. He received his bachelorās and masterās degrees from ASU. Herstam served in the Arizona House of Representatives with the Republicans from 1983-1990.

The regents also approved a plan that will allow UA to sign a 40-year lease with the Marshall Foundation so that UA can occupy a building planned for construction at North Park Avenue and East Second Street.

UA originally planned to lease the building for five years at a time. The Marshall Foundation, however, wanted to extend the lease for tax advantages.

The new plan has a ćfiscal outä provision, which would allow UA to break its lease if there were not enough funds budgeted to pay the rent on the building.

UAās financial aid fund has been growing little over the past two years.

This yearās budget will devote an extra $624,000 to the fund, but Likins and the regents agree that financial aid has not grown enough to match need in recent years.

ćWe really have not provided financial aid that will allow those who are qualified to attend our institutions,ä Jewett said Friday.

Conversations about financial aid and needy studentsā ability to pay more tuition usually spring up around April, when tuition is set. This year the regents have talked about revamping the financial aid system and trying to change the rules about how financial aid money is divided up before the spring tuition debates.

There will be more talk and possibly some proposals for changing financial aid in 2002-2003, regents said Friday.

Likins said there would be more financial aid money if the 4 percent in-state tuition increase passed in April had been larger, as financial aid and tuition are linked.

ćBecause we didnāt increase tuition, we canāt increase financial aid,ä Likins said, adding that he has long thought UA tuition is much too low.

The regents also approved 18 research contracts and grants for UA, which will generate a total of $45 million for the university.

The new contracts and grants will fuel the study of a myriad of projects, from asthma and cancer research to semiconductors and telescopes.