蜜柚直播

Among the cuts, the UA鈥檚 total of 109 vice presidents was trimmed by 13, said Arnold, who is also the chief operating officer and a senior vice president himself. In those cases, either the vice president position was eliminated or the employee鈥檚 title and stipend were reduced.

A breakdown of other job classifications included in the losses isn鈥檛 yet available, he said.

After shaving the university鈥檚 projected deficit from $177 million to $63 million in fiscal year 2024, 鈥淲e鈥檙e done with deficits this (fiscal) year,鈥� Arnold declared in an interview Friday with the 蜜柚直播.

The UA will return to net positive revenue in fiscal year 2026, he said.

The unrestricted funds operating budget for FY 2025, which began July 1, is nearly $1.3 billion, Arnold wrote in a September report on the budget.

The UA鈥檚 overall workforce, including positions supported by restricted funds such as federal grants, dropped from 21,150 to 20,514 in FY 2024, a reduction of 636 employees.

But among the 308 losses of jobs contingent on those restricted funds, many simply ended when the grant funding ran out and that鈥檚 an area of routine churn in employment numbers, Arnold said.

Also, when it comes to the shrinkage in jobs supported by the unrestricted funds, 鈥淭he university is constantly separating and adding employees for a myriad of reasons, such as employee voluntary decisions, academic hiring cycles, termination or reductions in force (layoff),鈥� he wrote in the report. 鈥� ... Given these circumstances, the university cannot always determine if a specific position is impacted by a hiring freeze or a budget change.鈥�

Hiring, compensation

Arnold wrote that the deficit was slashed by a total of $114 million through 鈥渢emporary measures implemented by the university, coupled with better than projected revenue performance.鈥�

A hiring freeze enacted in December 2023, which applied only to positions using unrestricted funds, was lifted on June 30 this year. Other temporary, large-scale measures taken to reduce 鈥渃ash outflows鈥� included a compensation freeze, restrictions on travel, delays in capital projects and restrictions on procurement.

鈥淲e did have a hiring freeze last year. That doesn鈥檛 mean that people weren鈥檛 hired,鈥� said Ron Marx, UA interim provost and senior vice president for academic affairs, in an interview Friday with the Star. 鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 a total freeze. We reduced the amount of hiring by about 75%.鈥�

Explaining that figure, Arnold said the UA administration 鈥渁llowed departments to use up to 25% of their savings to hire.鈥�

As for employees鈥� compensation, 鈥淲e鈥檙e not doing a university-wide salary adjustment in (fiscal year 2025),鈥� unlike the past three years, Arnold said. The UA does plan to provide one in FY 2026.

The deficit reduction was achieved partially through spending cuts of $35.6 million, $13.5 million in delays in grant programs, and $7 million in delays to capital projects, Arnold wrote in the report.

鈥淲e probably could have done it faster, but didn鈥檛 need to do that kind of shock therapy to the system,鈥� Arnold told the Star, referring to the university鈥檚 overall handling of the financial crisis. 鈥淎nd so, we wanted to be whole by fiscal 鈥�26 (because) people don鈥檛 want to live in deficit land. So, we鈥檙e working towards that goal and we鈥檒l get there.鈥�

On the revenue side, the UA benefited from $20.5 million in unanticipated grants, $10 million in investment earnings above forecast, $10 million in health sciences program revenue above forecast, and $17.4 million in auxiliary earnings above forecast, he wrote in the report.

Spending cuts

鈥淓xcluding auxiliaries, 18 of the 39 budget units spent in excess of the established forecast in a total amount of $36.6 million. The remaining 21 underspent,鈥� Arnold wrote. Auxiliaries are independent revenue-producing units such as the bookstore and on-campus student housing.

The report also included percentage cuts in budgets faced by the units, offices and colleges in the university, including reductions of 10.3% for the President鈥檚 Office, 27.1% for the Secretary鈥檚 Office and 36% in Alumni & Development, all in the UA administration. A full list is contained in a box running with this article.

Among the colleges, the College of Engineering (-7.6%) and Agriculture, Life, & Veterinary Sciences & Cooperative Extension (-6.7%) took the biggest budget cuts, while the Eller College of Management (-1.1%), College of Social & Behavioral Sciences (-2.6%) and Libraries (no reduction) took the smallest cuts.

Cooperative extension, a key part of the UA鈥檚 land grant mission, 鈥渋s not only super important to the university, it鈥檚 super important to the state,鈥� said Arnold.

鈥淯nfortunately, our Legislature has limited their investment in that cooperative extension mission despite years and years of requests,鈥� he said. 鈥淪o, they did provide some dollars, but they chose to make them short-term dollars or one-time dollars that are expiring. And so, we have to adjust to that legislative reality.鈥�

Intercollegiate Athletics took a seemingly minimal budget cut of 1.9%.

Arnold said athletics had 鈥渟ignificant restructuring鈥� done, including restructuring of debt and 鈥渙perational functionality.鈥� 鈥淪ome of that is going to take some time before it produces the type of expenditure reductions that we鈥檙e looking for,鈥� he said.

鈥淲e鈥檝e done a number of things to lower travel costs, including a new carrier for the football team; we鈥檙e contracting out, long-term, the hotels to break down those costs; we鈥檙e booking further in advance,鈥� said Arnold. 鈥淪o, those types of solution sets, we won鈥檛 really see the benefit of them for six months to next year.鈥�

Getting 鈥渂ack to a budget surplus鈥�

Looking ahead, 鈥渢he operational realities in FY 2025 are different than FY 2024,鈥� the report said. 鈥淔all enrollment is up over 3 percent, students on average are taking more classes and enrollments have changed across colleges.

鈥淓ach budget unit will have an opportunity to meet after the first quarter to discuss updates to budget levels.鈥�

Arnold projects a $65 million deficit for FY 2025, up slightly, but says the deficit reduction so far 鈥渁lleviates the risks to the university鈥檚 operating cash and lays a solid foundation for the following step, to bring the university back to a budget surplus.鈥�

鈥淭hroughout fiscal year 2024, the university experienced significant upheaval,鈥� noted Arnold in his report.

鈥淲e identified budget deficits, implemented temporary and long-term cost reduction measures, and reorganized operations, all while experiencing changes in senior leadership, notably the appointment of the next university president,鈥� he continued, referring to Suresh Garimella, previously president of the University of Vermont, who took over Oct. 1 from former UA President Robert C. Robbins, who stepped down amid the budget deficit.

鈥淵et this university has prevailed. Our reputation is strong, students flock to campus, and the work of our faculty and staff proceed at a pace never before matched. It is a great time to be a Wildcat,鈥� wrote Arnold.

鈥淯niversity leadership is unendingly grateful for the cooperation, collaboration and the commitment of the thousands of faculty and staff who, every day, demonstrate their expertise and dedication in serving our community and creating a world-class student experience, often with sacrifice and with too few resources,鈥� he wrote.