Phoenix — The Arizona Board of Regents listened to each university present a proposal on how they would follow the directive, issued by the board in March, to cut 2.75 percent of state-funded salaries, among other things.

The public session started about an hour behind schedule because the executive session went longer than anticipated. They did, however, finish the meeting about 20 minutes ahead of schedule. The regents met at Arizona State University’s College of Nursing and Health Innovation on Saturday.

“”The University of Arizona is approaching the savings requirements of $5.3 million with two components. The first component takes advantage of our longstanding strong hiring freeze. We anticipate that very conservatively covering $2.7 (million) of the $5.3 million. The other half roughly $2.6 million we will accumulate through a furlough plan. The furlough plan has four different tiers with individuals in the lower income brackets having no or one-day furloughs throughout the year and individuals in the higher brackets having two or three days,”” said UA President Robert Shelton.

There was not much discussion on the following several agenda items; all motions that went to vote were carried unanimously.

Plans if proposition 100 fails

The three university presidents were asked to present their plans in the event that Proposition 100, the one-cent sales tax increase that would in part support education, passes and also a contingency plan if it fails.

“”The contingency plan, which we’ll call ‘Plan B,’ calls for $107.1 million in reductions of fiscal (year) 2011 general funds support for our system,”” said Regent Anne Mariucci.

If Proposition 100 does not pass, that would mean the UA would sustain another $41 million in cuts.

“”The University of Arizona has already lost $100 million in state cuts to date. We’re coping with that,”” Shelton said. “”The non-success of Prop. 100 would mean an additional $41.65 million, which would have to be dealt with in a very short timeline.””

What this means for the UA: possibly an additional reduction of up to 500 positions, changes in class sizes and financial aid awards and possibly a tuition surcharge.

End of UA, ASU partnership with College of Medicine — Phoenix

The dissolution of the partnership between the University of Arizona and Arizona State University at the College of Medicine — Phoenix was made official at the meeting. It will now be called The University of Arizona College of Medicine — Phoenix to reflect the dissolution.

“”We are very pleased about the collegiality, maturity and sensitivity that our three presidents have displayed over the last two or three months on this matter,”” said ABOR President, Ernest Calderón.

ASU President Michael Crow said his university will save about $3.5 million by no longer being a partner in the College of Medicine.

“”(The savings) are being redirected into the university’s broader financial stress and strains that we are moving through at the moment,”” Crow said.

Shelton said the UA’s vision of developing the College of Medicine in Phoenix, as a second campus, remains a very high priority.

“”We’ve reviewed our finances, and we can continue with the development of the health sciences education building in its full size. We may need to sell out some of the space, but we’re going to make sure we have a full use of that footprint,”” Shelton said.

Tom Anderes named as finalist for ABOR president position

At its March meeting, ABOR approved the guidelines for the conduct of the presidential search, and, on Saturday, they named a candidate.

The search committee chose Tom Anderes, who has worked with the Oregon University System and the University and Community College System of Nevada. He currently works as the Senior Vice President for Administration and Fiscal Affairs at the University of Wisconsin System.

On April 26, Calderón expanded the membership of the search committee from four members to include all regents.

The regents decided to approve contract negotiations at its June 10 meeting. The contract will be for multiple years, but cannot exceed three years.

The board of regents, however, said pending the results of the Proposition 100 vote, it may meet sooner, possibly mid-May.