The Arizona Board of Regents will vote on next year’s big-ticket items at their regular board meeting Thursday and Friday, April 6 and 7.
They will be discussing new tuition rates for Arizona universities, the contract for incoming UA president Dr. Robert C. Robbins and a new lease between the UA and the City of Tucson for Hi Corbett Field.
The proposed multi-year employment contract for Dr. Robert Robbins, the sole finalist in the UA presidential search, includes a $600,000 base salary plus numerous monetary benefits, all totaling out to approximately $988,000 per year.
The figures were published on the regents’ website prior to this week’s board meeting.
Robbins’ base salary is $100,000 more than the yearly salary of outgoing UA President Ann Weaver Hart, which runs at $500,000 per year.
The proposed contract would run through June 1 of this year to June 30, 2020, though the contract notes that the board’s chair may approve “reasonable and mutually acceptable” changes in the start date if they are deemed necessary.
The action item published on the regents’ website detailing the proposed contract breaks down both his salary and separate benefits:
• $600,000 annual base salary
• $70,000 annual housing allowance
• $108,000 cash balance defined pension plan (18 percent of annual base salary)
• $10,000 annual car allowance
• $200,000 from an appointment to an Endowed Presidential Leadership Chair to be funded by private funds from the University of Arizona Foundation
• Annual and multiple-year at-risk compensation to be assigned through a separate agreement entered no later than Dec. 31.
At-risk compensation, the final point in Robbins’ salary package, is designed to incentivize university presidents to accomplish goals assigned by the Arizona Board of Regents. This puts part of the presidents’ salaries at risk if they don’t accomplish these performance agreements.
According to Sarah Harper, vice president of communications for the Arizona Board of Regents, there are not yet any conditions set for Robbins’ at-risk compensation.
The regents will vote on a 1-percent increase in tuition rates for incoming resident and nonresident undergraduate and graduate students, bumping base tuition up $108 to $10,860 for in-state undergraduates and $340 to $34,290 for out-of-state undergraduates per semester.
In-state graduate students will pay an increase of $114 for $11,486 per semester and out-of-state graduate students will pay another $312 for $31,436 per semester.
RELATED: New UA students facing fee increases, tuition bump
Additionally, the regents will vote on fees for two new undergraduate programs and two new graduate programs. The new architectural engineering program in the College of Engineering will cost students $450 per semester for lower-division classes and $900 per semester for upper-division classes to match the per-semester fees for the rest of the College of Engineering.
A new animal and biomedical industries degree in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences will charge students $1,500 per semester in upper-division classes.
Program fees for the Entry to Profession of Nursing graduate program will increase by $4,000 for the 15-month program for both residents and nonresidents, bringing the total cost of the program to $44,000 for residents and $53,000 for nonresidents.
Several class fees in the College of Fine Arts-Music will increase by $18 or $60, depending on the class.
The board will also vote to extend UA’s lease for Hi Corbett Field from the City of Tucson. The current lease is a five-year contract for $262,000 per year. Under the new lease, the UA will take over maintenance of the field for 25 years, paying only $10 per year to the city.
Although UA is not required to pay tax as if it were a private company, the university will pay the city a 2 percent tax on food, beverage and merchandise sold at the facility. Third-party vendors will still be subject to regular taxation.
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