ABOR president tells faculty senate state cuts could have serious ramifications

As UA administrators delayed making departmental budget cuts, ABOR President Kay McKay told members of the faculty senate yesterday that she is extremely worried about the $13.9 million budget cuts the UA is facing.

University of Arizona administrators had planned to release a comprehensive plan for making nearly $10 million in cuts to departmental budgets, but the President's Cabinet could not agree where the final cuts should come from, said UA Provost George Davis.

Davis said he wasn't sure when the cabinet would make its decision, but an earlier memo from senior administrators stated that they wanted to have a final ruling before the state Legislature meets Nov. 13 to decide where to pull back money to accommodate a $675 million state deficit.

If Gov. Jane Dee Hull gets her way, the three state universities will not be asked to cut more than 4 percent.

Hull released her budget cut recommendations yesterday, and Francie Noyes, the governor's press secretary, said Hull will not support a cut of more than 4 percent for higher education.

That news is reassuring, but McKay and UA President Peter Likins know the decision is not up to the governor. It's up to the Legislature.

"I don't want to be passive," said Arizona Board of Regents President McKay. "I want to be cooperative with the Legislature, but I also realize larger cuts will paralyze the universities."

McKay had just spent the day touring the UA campus, visiting classes and working with students. In one class she experimented with DNA.

McKay said she will encourage other regents to visit the universities.

"I think we should spent some time educating the regents on what exactly happens in a university," she said. "I think we sometimes forget what universities are all about."

McKay said she thinks lawmakers need to realize the importance of higher education, and its direct effects on the state economy.

"I'm not sure if the powers that be realize the importance of the expansion of the mind and its influence on society," she said. "I'm not sure how you educate people on that."

Sen. Peter Medine, professor of English, asked McKay to comment on the comparatively low salaries at the UA - what some have referred to as "brain drain."

'It's getting worse in October and November of 2001," he said. "But it's an ongoing problem."

McKay said she is seriously concerned about low faculty salaries, but she admitted she does not know how to solve the problem.

She said that it is difficult, if not impossible to re-allocate money that the state designates for certain projects, such as construction to pay for faculty.