Late this afternoon, a \u201ccompromise\u201d budget gained approval from the full Arizona Legislature. The budget contains a reduction to the Arizona university system of $198 million in FY2012\u2014amounting to a $30 million cut to Northern Arizona University.<\/p>\n
The bill now goes to Gov. Jan Brewer for her consideration.<\/p>\n
NAU prepared its FY12 budget based on Gov. Brewer\u2019s original recommendation in January for a $170 million reduction to the university system, which would have meant a $25.8 million cut to NAU.<\/p>\n
\u201cNorthern Arizona University understands the difficult position the Legislature is in, and we believe investing in education is a path to solving our economic challenges,\u201d said NAU President\u00a0John Haeger<\/strong>. \u201cThis additional cut of more than $4 million is significant. We have a long list of items to review before we determine how to deal with this additional reduction.\u201d<\/p>\n Arizona State University\u2019s budget will be reduced by $90 million while the University of Arizona will be cut by $78 million.<\/p>\n The Legislature also passed changes to employee benefits that would create a waiting period of 90 days for new employees before they become eligible for health insurance coverage. It also would change the employee\/employer contribution rate to the Arizona State Retirement System from 50\/50 to 53 percent for employees and 47 percent for employers. New employees will not be eligible to join ASRS for the first six months of employment.<\/p>\n Additional details on changes to benefits and how it will affect NAU employees is expected to be released in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n \u201cWe anticipate that changes to employee benefits and retirement will affect NAU\u2019s ability to recruit and retain qualified employees as well as impact already difficult compensation issues,\u201d Haeger said.<\/p>\n The president has scheduled a campuswide forum for 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 4, at the High Country Conference Center to discuss the next steps with regard to the university’s budget.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"