The Arizona Board of Regents concluded their meeting on Friday, April 6 by amending head men’s basketball coach Sean Miller’s contract, clarifying personal safety devices for students and appointing new regent professors from UA.
The day before, the regents approved tuition and fees for the next academic year, as well as the transition agreement for outgoing President Eileen Klein.
Regents professors
“We have five professors who I’m not sure how they haven’t become a Regents professor until now,” said University of Arizona President Dr. Robert Robbins as he introduced the five professors that the board gave the distinction to.
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Among the five professors were Robert Williams from the College of Law, Steven Schwartz from the College of Science, David Breshears from the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, Allan Hamilton from the College of Medicine and Barbara Mills from the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences.
The Daily Wildcat will be publishing a series of articles to spotlight each professor.
Safety on campus
The board approved revisions to its student code of conduct policy that clarifies the definition of “weapon” and establishes the definition of personal safety devices.
The revision defines a weapon as anything that can inflict a wound, cause injury, incapacitate or cause death, but is not a personal safety device. Personal safety devices are defined as items such as personal alarms and chemical repellents designed to prevent someone from getting hurt.
The revisions also require the three universities to maintain a list of all allowed personal safety devices and to update this list to fit changes in technology.
Updates to Sean Miller’s contract
The board approved the highly-anticipated amendments to UA head men’s basketball coach Sean Miller’s contract.
One amendment requires that Miller forfeit $1 million should he be charged at any point during his employment as head coach or if he is found to have committed a Level 1 NCAA violation.
Additionally, the contract firmly establishes Miller as a “responsible employee” under Title IX, including expectations to cooperate with any Title IX investigations.
“The agreement that we’ve put forth today illustrates a real positive set, a partnership between both parties,” UA Athletics director Dave Heeke said. “[And] an opportunity to move forward in a positive direction.”
Legislative update
Brittney S. Kaufman, the board’s vice president of Legislative Affairs, updated the regents on legislation that could impact Arizona’s public university system.
The legislation ranged from free expression on campus to a bill that would have dismantled the board. Some of the legislation did not make it into law, while others were signed by the governor.
Kaufman and the regents also discussed how to move forward with pushing the state legislature to fund 50 percent of the cost of attendance for Arizona residents.
Student Regent report
Student Regents Vianney Careaga (UA) and Aundrea Degravina (ASU) gave their report to the board, summarizing their activities since February.
Among their activities were involvement in a student leadership forum in February, a celebration of ASU Founder’s Day, and a trip to the Northern Arizona University’s campus.
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The student regents also plan to make updates to the Office of the Student Regent, including publishing a handbook on student regent protocol in June.
Arizona Faculties Council report
Lynn Nadel, chair of the Arizona Faculties Council, presented the regents with ways to engage faculty in decision-making.
“We’re the ones in the trenches delivering quality education,” Nadel said.
Nadel, speaking for the AFC, asked the regents to include faculty in the tuition-setting process in the future. He also expressed support for the board’s actions for protecting academic safety, academic freedom, and diversity efforts across the university system.
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