Shelton addresses tax funding drop

President Robert Shelton voiced concern yesterday that the downturn in Arizona’s housing market has diminished the amount of state tax money that can be allocated to the UA, but he remains optimistic.

“”Baring unforeseen cuts coming from the state, I do not see any reason to make a budget cut in (fiscal year) ’09,”” Shelton said.

Emphasizing the need for state support, Shelton stressed that the university must convey its importance to state leaders.

He has proposed programs to state officials to fund the UA based not only on size, but also on quality and performance, he said. He also set out to establish collaborations with investment funds to match money federal grants provide.

Libraries dean advocates spending cuts

Carla Stoffle, dean of the university’s libraries and the Center for Creative Photography, presented data on the use of UA library services. More than 2.3 million people physically visited the library in fiscal year 2007, up more than 100,000 from the previous year.

To meet budget constraints, the UA library must reduce expenditures by $850,000, Stoffle said. Eighty-thousand dollars would come from services like interlibrary loans and bindery.

She added that content expenditures must lower by $768,000 over the next two years.

That cut will include more than 1,700 serial publications, she said, 1,552 of which will be cut this fall.

Restoring the Information Access Budget by 2008 would cost $3.4 million; to add new resources would cost an additional $1.2 million.

Stoffle also expressed woes over lack of space. Currently, she said the shortage is about 249,000 square feet, adding that the number will grow to 400,000 square feet by 2020.

Taskforce to investigate general education

Sen. Michael Cusanovich, professor of biochemistry and molecular biophysics, motioned to assemble a taskforce to investigate student retention and advancement.

After the motion was seconded, Sen. Catherine Neish asked if the new task force was any different than one assembled last spring to look into general education at the UA.

Cusanovich said that the taskforce he was proposing differed in that it was to focus on the broader issue of graduation rates. At this point, Sen. Peter Foley, associate professor of classics and a member of the general-education task force, said that general education is an issue closely related to retention.

Coordination between the two taskforces would be problematic, Foley said.

The motion passed unanimously.

Senator questions compliance with athletics proposals

Lack of coordination was an especially sore subject at the same meeting where Sen. Andrew Silverman, a clinical professor of law, set forth a motion to form a group to investigate the UA’s compliance with a list of 28 proposals set forth by the Coalition on Intercollegiate Athletics.

Sen. Howell asked if the UA had an obligation to comply with
the recommendations.

Silverman said that the UA is probably in compliance with many of the proposals. He added that he personally thought that all but about three of the recommendations were good ideas.

“”By being part of the adoption process, we don’t have to implement all of them,”” Silverman said.

Sen. Juan Garcia, vice provost for academic affairs, suggested that another, existing committee look should into the proposals.

Howell expressed a sense of frustration with the lack of coordination between committees looking into similar issues.

“”Why are there three or four groups looking at this?”” she said. “”How do we facilitate this collaborative spirit here with intercollegiate athletics?””

Finally, President Shelton moved that the Senate support the recommendations in principle and asked for a report on the UA’s compliance with the proposals set forth by the coalition.

-compiled by Jackson Crews