The University of Arizona will have to enter a period of extreme austerity after its administration lost $240 million. Drastic cuts are expected, sending the faculty, the board of regents, and others into a tailspin of confusion and anger (via Associated Press): 

Students and faculty members harshly criticized University of Arizona President Robert C. Robbins on Thursday over a $240 million budget shortfall that has sparked suggestions for cuts to student scholarships and instructor salaries.

The angry complaints about the financial miscalculation consumed most of the first hour of a gathering of the board of regents in Tucson, Arizona. News of the shortfall was announced two weeks ago and quickly led to calls for an external audit and accountability by university leadership.

“I do not trust the university with my well-being anymore,” Megan Wong, a student senator in the pharmacy college, told the crowded meeting. “The university has made it loud and clear that they do not care about us.”

[…]

Robbins did not directly address the criticism during the meeting but acknowledged that the university faces financial difficulties. Robbins has until Dec. 15 to give the board of regents a plan for dealing with the shortfall.

Here’s what Chief Financial Officer Lisa Rulney told the board of regents in June (via Inside Higher Ed):

“The last few months have exposed the depth of our financial vulnerabilities,” Rulney told the board at the Nov. 2 meeting, revealing the staggering financial discrepancy.

She attributed the decline partly to a flawed revenue-projection model, which exaggerated the amount of cash on hand by an estimated 30 percent. UA has since replaced the model.

“I want you to know that when I told you we were forecasting 156 days of cash on hand, I was not hiding the ball or trying to obfuscate a problem that we have at the University of Arizona,” Rulney said.

Rulney and UA president Robert Robbins also pointed to spending on strategic investments.

“We made a bet on spending money,” Robbins said. “We just overshot.”…..

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