After months of financial wrangling, the University of Arizona faces a $52 million deficit—down from a $177 million estimated hole in January—said John Arnold, the UA's interim chief during a meeting with the Arizona Board of Regents. On the UA campus Thursday, Arnold presented a new budget forecast that included sharp cuts to administration, a moderate cut to the UA's Research Innovation and Impact, and continued consolidation of the IT and human resources departments. Arnold said the UA would continue working on the budget through June. https://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local/report/041924_abo ..read more

The University of St. Thomas has informed employees it will lay off 26 staff members and keep 30 open positions unfilled, among more cost-cutting decisions to come, as it seeks to narrow a $10.5 million budget gap for the fiscal year beginning on July 1. No academic programs or faculty positions were among the announced cuts. University President Rob Vischer informed faculty and staff of the budget challenges in a letter this week and held a “budget town hall” on Friday at the O’Shaughnessy Education Center Auditorium in St. Paul. St. Thomas is Minnesota’s largest private university and one of ..read more

Over the past eight months, UW-Whitewater and other universities within the Universities of Wisconsin have been working with Deloitte to look further into university financials. With the reports being publicized Apr. 11, Chancellor Corey King spoke about the report during the Faculty Senate meeting on Apr. 9. “Since last July, we have been engaged with the leadership of the campus, shared governance and others in this report providing information and having conversations,” said King. Our stance on the report as a university is we will treat the report as a tool. We have many tools on our campu ..read more

Several factors have led to campuses’ financial difficulties including declining state support on an inflation-adjusted basis over the last decade, the impacts of the decade-long tuition freeze that ended in 2022, declining enrollment and inflation. The UW system employed Deloitte as a third-party consultant to conduct financial assessments of the individual campuses. Universities of Wisconsin President Jay Rothman said in a statement that the assessments are part of the work being done to help eliminate structural deficits throughout the system by 2028, and ensure the state’s campuses are fin ..read more

At the start of the spring semester, some faculty and staff members were surprised to learn that the university had implemented a spending freeze, placing an immediate hold on funding for hiring, travel and research. The sudden discontinuation of previously anticipated funding left many professors in a state of distress and confusion. While the spending freeze’s full effects on teaching are yet to be seen, Sarah Wasserman, an associate English professor, stated that the additional workload is already impacting the quality of education professors can offer. https://udreview.com/university-facul ..read more

Critically important democratic institutions across the country, ones you might not have known even existed, are under threat. As the higher education crisis deepens, university administrators and state legislatures are increasingly looking to undermine potential critics and eliminate challenges to their authority. A bill seeking to limit the power of shared governance organizations at public universities, including the University of Arizona’s faculty senate, is moving through the Arizona legislature. The bill went through the Arizona House of Representatives in late February, passed the Senat ..read more

So when questions about regulating artificial intelligence emerged, the 73-year-old Beyer took what for him seemed like an obvious step, enrolling at George Mason University to get a master’s degree in machine learning. In an era when lawmakers and Supreme Court justices sometimes concede they don’t understand emerging technology, Beyer’s journey is an outlier, but it highlights a broader effort by members of Congress to educate themselves about artificial intelligence as they consider laws that would shape its development. https://apnews.com/article/ai-congress-artificial-intelligence-tiktok ..read more

Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, a powerful official who oversees the state’s Senate, is calling for lawmakers to increase oversight and scrutiny of colleges’ tenure policies and faculty governance groups. In preparation of the state’s next Senate session, Patrick released directives Thursday offering insight into his legislative priorities. He charged the Senate’s higher education committee with reporting on how the state’s public colleges are complying with SB 18, a law giving governing boards the sole power to grant tenure and codifying the post-tenure review process. The lieutenant governor fur ..read more

The Universities of Wisconsin system is facing major projected budget shortfalls in the coming years as financial reserves dwindle and retention rates fall. These are the main themes the system’s president, Jay Rothman, pointed to in recently released third-party reports on the state’s universities.  The system’s trustees charged Rothman with eliminating structural shortfalls a year ago, with 10 of the system’s 13 universities running budget deficits at the time. Rothman’s office hired consulting firm Deloitte to analyze the finances of Wisconsin’s colleges. https://www.highereddive.com ..read more

While 17.4% of respondents plan to decrease hires, nearly 83% of employers anticipate increasing (24.9%) or maintaining (57.7%) hiring for the college Class of 2024, according to research conducted by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE). Planned cuts mean overall hiring projections are down 5.8% from last year, NACE’s Job Outlook 2024 Spring Update survey found.  https://www.diverseeducation.com/student-issues/article/15668399/college-hiring-dips-but-most-employers-will-maintain-or-increase-hiring ..read more