UA faculty vote to oppose controversial online school
“Even if you sold our name and our trademark to this predatory, fraudulent complex of institutions, these are not our values. We the faculty of Arizona do not approve of this and now is not the time for indecision.”
Leila Hudson, a UA faculty senate member speaking before the vote
University of Arizona faculty formally expressed their disagreement with the school’s controversial efforts to integrate the online University of Arizona Global Campus into the Tucson university in a resolution that was narrowly approved Monday.
Faculty representatives said they disagree with past and ongoing efforts to integrate UAGC into UA. They “disavow the consequences which harm the University of Arizona’s academic mission, operations, reputation and financial health,” according to the resolution.
And they are asking for an analysis of the risks of a “full unwinding of the deal” by September to understand the financial consequences.
While some faculty members have protested the tightening relationship for months — and back to late 2020, when UA first formed the affiliate UAGC by purchasing Ashford University’s assets from Zovio — this was the first declaration of opposition from the Faculty Senate, the university’s shared governance body, since the university announced in January it would move to acquire the online school.
The resolution was brought by Faculty Senate member Leila Hudson, who in recent months has urged the body to oppose UA’s plan to take in UAGC over concerns including service provider Zovio’s past practices, UA’s reputation and legal and financial risks.
The faculty body has discussed UAGC for hours during meetings this year, including asking questions of President Robert Robbins again Monday.
“I think it is very important to tell the world that these are not the values of the University of Arizona,” Hudson, a professor in the School of Middle Eastern and North African Studies, told her colleagues before the vote.
“Even if you sold our name and our trademark to this predatory, fraudulent complex of institutions, these are not our values. We the faculty of Arizona do not approve of this and now is not the time for indecision.”
The 19-15 vote to pass the resolution came after nearly an hour of discussion on the relationship between UAGC and UA and how UA faculty would like to be involved. It followed a failed vote to table Hudson’s resolution until September. The approved resolution was pared down from an initial proposal that also urged an “orderly unwinding” to divorce UA and UAGC.
UAGC said in a statement in response to the Faculty Senate resolution that the “future of this acquisition is very bright and promising.”
“It’s a new day with new leadership at UAGC. The affiliation between the University of Arizona and UAGC brings together one of the nation’s premier research and teaching universities with one of the most innovative online institutions — all for the benefit of nontraditional students,” UAGC spokesperson Linda Robertson wrote in an email.
UA-UAGC integration continuing
Some UA faculty have criticized the university’s plan to acquire UAGC for months, citing concerns about a lawsuit against Ashford and Zovio and challenges with accreditation, plus legal risks, financial exposure and reputational harm for UA.
Robbins updated faculty senators on the latest issues of “this saga with UAGC” and continued to defend the integration, saying UAGC students are “a very deserving and underserved population.” He’s argued the integration will be best for UAGC students and beneficial for UA financially.
Some faculty expressed concern about a perceived lack of shared governance when it comes to UAGC and past decisions by the UA administration. Administrators said a faculty representative sits on the steering committee that’s managing the integration and that the university would involve faculty in thinking through the structure of UA and UAGC’s relationship.
“We would bring in UAGC as a separate entity and try to keep them as independent and as isolated as they are, and then we would work to see what kinds of relationships and work that we would do to increase the communication and the efficiencies, were it the academics, student success, institutional operations, oversight and compliance, risk management and continuous improvement. That’s where we need faculty input,” said UA senior vice provost Gail Burd, who’s leading the integration.
In February, at a ribbon-cutting ceremony for UAGC’s new headquarters in Chandler, Robbins told The Arizona Republic that he was concerned the Faculty Senate might vote to disapprove of his integration plan, but said he hoped the faculty would work together to bring UAGC into the university.
“There’s significant financial penalties if we don’t do that,” he said, citing UA’s responsibility for UAGC’s federal student aid as an example. On Monday, he estimated that cost at “north of $100 million.” He’s previously said that if UAGC as a school fell apart, UA could be on the hook for over $1 billion in liability.
“We don’t have to get approval of the Faculty Senate to do this. We certainly want to work with them and listen to them. But that’s part of the due diligence that we’ll have to go through and find out what authority each party has,” Robbins said in February.
Faculty senator Marlys Witte, a professor of surgery, told her colleagues Monday the resolution is about stating faculty disapproval.
“We’re expressing our moral indignation. Moral indignation does not change events. Scolding and moral indignation tells the people who made this decision that the process was wrong and at this point, we disagree with the decision. So scolding and moral indignation is our prerogative as senators,” Witte said.