The Arizona Board of Regents (ABOR) issued three percent raises to Arizona’s three university presidents, bringing their collective salaries to over $2.2 million, with the three also receiving nearly $600,000 in bonuses altogether.
ABOR issued the bonuses and raises during its meeting last Friday.
Arizona State University (ASU) President Michael Crow’s new base salary is now $834,100. Crow also received a $150,000 bonus. His contract was extended through June 2028.
The $150,000 bonus came from three annual at-risk compensation goals, each worth $50,000: designing and launching a premium brand for ASU online; developing and launching a plan to move the three core brands of the W.P. Carey School of Business, Fulton Schools of Engineering, and the Barrett Honors Colleges into three global brands; and designing and launching a new Health Futures Strategy which included development of a holistic approach around health sciences, similar to their engineering programs, and designing and preparing for the launch of the Public Health Technology School.
Crow will potentially receive another $180,000 bonus next year, should he accomplish the three proposed at-risk compensation goals for 2023-2024.
The first goal concerns a science and technology economic development strategy to design tools, levers, and processes necessary to move Arizona from the top of the third tier as determined by Milken Institute to the bottom of the first tier. The first goal’s metrics include active engagement and the role of tech transfer, with strategic pathways document being the product.
The second goal concerns the creation of an all-industry semiconductor industry training sector for the state: semiconductors, advanced battery technology, high-tech computation and systems, and artificial intelligence (AI). Additionally, Crow would have to build the Learning Enterprise training programs with advanced digital learning for enhanced and accelerated workforce development drawing from ASU content. This second goal’s metrics include the design and launch of the special digital training center across the sectors with industrial participation in each and every aspect.
The third goal concerns the creation of an AI strategy to optimize its use in teaching, learning, and discovery activities. This third goal’s metrics include a plan and launch strategy.
ABOR also proposed to take away $30,000 from any 2023-24 at-risk compensation awarded should Crow fail to fully implement the General Education Program for all first-time incoming students in Fall 2024.
Northern Arizona State University (NAU) President José Luis Cruz Rivera’s new base salary is now $594,100. Cruz Rivera also received a $135,000 bonus. His contract was extended through June 2026.
The $135,000 bonus came from three annual at-risk compensation goals, each worth $45,000: a new system encompassing in-person, online, and hybrid learning modalities, branch campuses, community college partnerships, and engagement with the state’s K-12 system; revamping NAU Online with focused external consultation regarding academic program offerings and operations in areas such as student outreach, recruitment and engagement, instructional design, and academic support; increasing enrollments and enhancing post-graduate career preparation opportunities.
Cruz Rivera will potentially receive another $150,000 bonus next year, should he accomplish the two proposed at-risk compensation goals for 2023-2024.
The first goal concerns the launch of NAU Health, part of ABOR’s Arizona Healthy Tomorrow initiative. The new program will double the number of credentials awarded in health-related fields by 2030, namely for physicians and practitioners targeted to serve in urban, rural, and indigenous communities. Milestones for this goal will include the establishment of the College of Nursing, launch of the Office of NAU Health, hiring senior leadership to structure and coordinate existing academic programs and research for medical academia expansion, and publication of a plan to establish the College of Applied Community Medicine.
The second goal concerns collaboration with ABOR to produce a multi-year strategic and operational plan for building a network of colleges powered and coordinated by NAU. One milestone for this goal is proposing actions for ABOR endorsement on market assessment, concept and structural mission, funding and advocacy strategies, and design specifications. Other milestones concern the launch of an A++ certified academic pathway for Fall 2024 with A++ certified partners, seeking intergovernmental agreements for implementation, and expansion into the K-12 realm using NAU’s Arizona Institute for Education and the Economy.
University of Arizona (UArizona) President Robert Robbins’ new base salary is now $816,100. Robbins also received a $132,500 bonus. His contract was extended through June 2026.
The $132,500 bonus came from three annual at-risk compensation goals, each worth about $45,000: secure $200 million in initial funding commitment from the state, local government, or private donors for establishing the Center for Advanced Molecular Immunotherapies; develop a plan and timeline to centralize responsibility and balance local authority in the administrative functional areas of Information Technology and Financial and Business Services; work with the Department of Education and accrediting bodies to fully absorb UArizona’s Global Campus. The first goal was only partially achieved.
Robbins will potentially receive another $150,000 bonus next year, should he accomplish the two proposed at-risk compensation goals for 2023-2024.
The first goal concerns the establishment of a multi-institutional translational research, education, and innovation park in the city of Maricopa with focuses on food safety and sustainability, automation and autonomous systems, drug and vaccine development, digital health and biotechnology, climate technology, aggrotech, and battery technology. Milestones include achieving a planned vote or completion of annexation by the city; plans with local government leaders for a network of supportive infrastructure to sustain growth, attract and retain investment, retail services, office development residential and hotel development; a leasing plan with external developers; the launch of internal and external communications and campaign strategy; an initial catalog of proposed programs; tribal endorsement; ABOR approval of a governance model; a five-year funding plan for site development; and an initial construction proposal for the first buildings by fall 2025.
The second goal concerns the defining and funding of the Arizona Institute of Data and Computing in coordination with the Colleges of Engineering, Medicine, Science and Business, with a focus on AI, data, and computing. Milestones include a structural and funding plan presented by June 2024, at least $5 million in initial funding commitments secured by June 2024, and the organization of at least one summit or event involving key industry, government, funding, and academic leaders by June 2024.
ABOR also proposed to take away $20,000 from Robbins’ total at-risk compensation for 2023-24 if he fails to complete the centralization of Information Technology Services.
The three presidents also received another $45,000 bonus each for meeting collective annual at-risk compensation goals: proposing a comprehensive and sustainable model for state funding of the three universities ($80,000); developing and promoting the Arizona Promise Program with high public awareness and consistency across the three universities, especially regarding financial aid award letters ($20,000); completing a comprehensive risk assessment of online education using Department of Education regulations, projected demand, potential competitors, employer attitudes toward online education, online alumni wages versus immersion alumni wages, and impacts on university branding with corresponding recommendations issued ($80,000).
For 2023-24, ABOR proposed another $240,000 in collective at-risk compensation goals. The first goal concerns a plan to improve Arizona residents’ post-high school educational attainment outcomes by 10 percent over three years. The second goal concerns a comprehensive review of university international strategies and operations. The third goal concerns the implementation of the Arizona Promise Program through marketing, award deferrals, and protocols.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
Northern Arizona University (NAU) will play a key role in an effort to validate indigenous knowledge as scientific knowledge using millions in federal funding.
Ora Marek-Martinez, NAU’s associate vice president of the Office for Native American Initiatives and assistant professor of anthropology, will be part of the University of Massachussetts’ newly-established Center for Braiding Indigenous Knowledges and Science (CBIKS). Marek-Martinez will serve as the CBIKS Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) & Ethics Co-Lead for the center’s Southwest Hub.
Biden’s National Science Foundation (NSF) gave $30 million to CBIKS, a grant lasting five years. CBIKS may qualify for additional federal funding come 2028.
CBIKS researchers will focus initially on collaborating with indigenous Nanwalek Alaskans to study their traditional methods of salmon population preservation, indigenous Hawaiians to study their agricultural and food waste practices, and indigenous Australians to study environmental signs of climate change. Sonya Atalay, CBIKS Director and UMass Amherst Provost Professor of Anthropology, said that current scientific approaches were limited.
“CBIKS is about recognizing that Indigenous knowledge systems carry tremendous information and value, and it’s shortsighted to think that current research practices founded on Western knowledge systems are the only or ‘right’ approach,” said Atalay.
In one of CBIK’s initial postings, Atalay gave credence to the belief that rocks are alive, per indigenous knowledge.
Atalay criticized Michigan archaeologists for “disregard[ing] Native understanding of the rock as an animate being.” The rock in question bears Native American petroglyphs.
The rock wasn’t available for comment.
In order to obtain more indigenous knowledge beyond the consciousness of rocks, CPIKS will interact with 57 indigenous communities through its eight regional hubs across the country and in Canada, New Zealand, and Australia.
The initiative is part of a larger effort by the Biden administration to prioritize “indigenous knowledge” into “research, policies, and decision making,” as noted in a memo from the Office of Science and Technology Policy issued last November. The office, newly assigned cabinet-level status by the Biden administration, further declared indigenous knowledge to be “an aspect of the best available science” and directed its inclusion in “Highly Influential Scientific Assessments.” Those assessments directly shape costly federal policies.
The Biden administration wasn’t the first to attempt to assign parity to indigenous knowledge in scientific inquiry: as Washington Free Beacon reported, Canadian researchers reported adverse results after their country incorporated indigenous knowledge into policymaking, ranging from counterproductive at best to dangerous at worst.
“[T]he acceptance of spiritual beliefs as ‘knowledge’ by governments was dangerous because it could be used to justify any activity, including actions that were environmentally destructive,” stated a 2006 academic assessment.
One apparent outcome of catering to indigenous knowledge occurred when Hawaii’s Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) deputy director M. Kaleo Manuel, a Native Hawaiian cultural practitioner, delayed the release of water to combat the Maui fires because he insisted that officials obtain permission from a local taro farm. Taro is integral to Native Hawaiian agriculture and tradition.
Washington Free Beacon also reported some of the early fruits of the Biden administration’s indigenous knowledge labors: reinterpreting time as cyclical rather than sequential, entertaining proposals to pay tribal elders to assist in federal rulemaking, scrapping peer review processes, acknowledging alleged interdimensional relations between animals and humans,
NAU’s involvement in the Biden initiative aligns with the university’s policy of prioritizing Native American individuals in admissions and employment.
In February, NAU established a program providing free tuition regardless of income to Native Americans while requiring a financial threshold for students of all other races. They also pledged $10 million to “indigenous,” or prioritize indigenous people, in their curriculum. The equitable treatment of Native Americans resulted in a boost to the university’s enrollment.
The Office for Native American Initiatives, which Marek-Martinez helps lead, played an integral role in these equity efforts.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
The Higley Unified School District (HUSD) will now allow for students to wear more revealing clothing, which parents have criticized as risque.
The district’s new dress code removed previous policy language prohibiting attire which “immodestly exposes the chest, abdomen, midriff, genital area, or buttocks.” The new policy prohibits exposure of undergarments or “undergarment areas” in relation to exposure.
Live in a small, suburban, conservative school district and you think it's fine?
You HAVE to watch this school board meeting to believe it.
One father, Ira Latham, wore a black sports bra with spaghetti straps as an “object lesson,” or visual example, of permitted attire under the new dress code as a criticism of the district’s judgment. Latham said that anyone who took issue with his attire for a board meeting should question among themselves whether it was appropriate for a classroom. Members of the audience appeared amused or visibly uncomfortable with the display.
“Now if you ask me it’s inappropriate for a board meeting,” said Latham. “If you have a dress code policy that allows this in a classroom it does not promote a safe classroom environment as well as limits the amount of distractions in the classroom. I can’t think of any place of work where I can walk in and be taken seriously in something like this.”
Board members Kristina Reese, Tiffany Shultz, and Amanda Wade voted for the policy.
Board members Michelle Anderson and Anna Van Hoek voted against the new policy.
Anderson pointed out that grievances brought up by the community about spaghetti straps and clothing measuring didn’t exist in the now-discarded policy. Anderson also shared that she surveyed “not conservative” or “less conservative” students, namely females, about whether that policy made them feel like their bodies were disrespected or sexualized; reportedly, those surveyed felt the opposite.
“I specifically asked the less conservative females if they felt like having a dress code with our current policy’s expectations — to cover the midriff, the chest, the buttocks — if it made them feel like their body was not okay. Unanimously, they were like, ‘No,’” said Anderson. “It’s important to know that not all females feel a dress code like ours makes them feel shameful or bad about their body.”
Anderson disclosed that some of the female respondents felt like pop culture, not dress codes, marketed the sexualization of females. She also pointed out that modest apparel is a standard outside of schools in nearly all jobs available.
“We are not saying skin is not professional. We are saying that there is a professional and respectable disposition that can show skin in moderation. We are a school district in which students are mandated to attend, we are not a parks and rec entity,” said Anderson. “In school, just like in jobs, there is a time and place for certain dress. Not all places of employment have the same expectations for dress, but the majority of different career fields in jobs available have dress codes that expect employees to cover their midriff, their bust, and their buttocks for decency, for the representation of the business, for safety, for camaraderie and professionalism.”
Anderson also read aloud from the dress codes upheld by the top-10 performing schools in the nation, which had modesty provisions in their policies.
Reese contended that the dress code policy change was a non-issue because students on most campuses were already violating the policy to some extent, namely girls wearing tops that show a little bit of midriff.
In a May board meeting discussing the policy, Shultz and Wade said that nixing the immodesty provision and allowing girls to expose more of their body would lead to less sexualization.
“It makes a female feel bad about their body, and that we’re saying that they need to cover up because of the way it might make someone else feel,” said Wade.
Wade said that the modesty provisions sexualizes kids, and implied that community members concerned with expansive sexual education and LGBTQ+ ideologies ought to be more against modesty-focused dress codes.
“I find the message that we are expressing to our children to look at their bodies in a sexualized nature, we routinely have people in the community come up and talk about how they’re concerned with our efforts to sexualize kids and, in my opinion, that’s what this [dress code policy] does, completely,” said Wade.
Here's more video of the Higley board meeting. Just to be clear, when this school board member refers to sexualizing children, she's saying NOT ALLOWING girls to expose their midriffs is sexualizing them. pic.twitter.com/k90VAJAx5H
— Arizona Women of Action (@azwomenofaction) May 19, 2023
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
Teachers who tutor can earn up to $8,000 in stipends as supplemental income, according to Arizona Department of Education (ADE) Superintendent Tom Horne.
The superintendent offered this estimate during the Arizona State Board of Education meeting on Monday. Horne called the supplemental income a “stipend for success,” since only teachers who bring students to proficiency through tutoring may achieve that $8,000 maximum.
“This [tutoring program] will have a secondary benefit, which is that it’ll improve the income of teachers, which we also place a very high priority on,” said Horne. “Teachers who take maximum advantage of [this program] can add as much as $8,000 to their income.”
The funds were made possible by the ADE’s reappropriation of $40 million in Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) federal funding earlier this month. The millions will cover an estimated 1.3 million hours of tutoring.
Horne’s predecessor, Kathy Hoffman, had issued that funding out of a total of $130 million to various vendors promising to counter the learning loss caused by the COVID-19 school shutdowns and remote learning. Those organizations were either unable to provide evidence of the academic impact of their work or show reasonable impact for the money received, according to Horne.
Horne noted that the $40 million for the tutoring program was on the low end. He disclosed during Monday’s meeting that vendors representing another $35 million hadn’t responded satisfactorily to his department’s request for proof of impact on learning loss.
Horne said those vendors representing an additional $35 million have been under further review. As a result of this ongoing review, Horne revealed that another $10 million in ESSER funds have been reappropriated as well.
“In our first go-around we had about $75 million that we were going to take back to use more directly for learning loss, but I only promised in my discussion with the press $40 million because we expected that some would come in and talk to us,” said Horne. “We’re in the $50 millions now.”
The tutoring program is open to students from grades 1-8 who didn’t test proficient in reading, writing, and/or math, at no cost to parents, beginning Oct. 2. Parents may choose between public school teachers or private tutoring companies to tutor their children.
In the ADE announcement of the tutoring program earlier this month, Horne explained that public school teachers would be paid $30 an hour and a $200 stipend for every student that shows a half-year learning gain from tutoring.
Horne also said that he was supportive of teacher pay raise legislation, citing a $10,000 proposed raise that Democratic leaders opposed.
“I believe teachers deserve more pay, which is why I supported Rep. Matt Gress’s recent bill for a $10,000 raise. I was shocked to see that the Governor and teachers’ union opposed it,” said Horne. “If they won’t help teachers get more money, I will.”
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
The Peoria Unified School District (PUSD) is facing a lawsuit from one of its own board members after prohibiting her from quoting Scripture during meetings.
The First Liberty Institute filed the lawsuit on Tuesday on behalf of board member Heather Rooks.
The lawsuit noted that public officials have a storied history of quoting Scripture and using religious references to solemnize public occasions, opening with President Joe Biden’s citation of the Book of Isaiah in his 2021 address to the nation following his withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan. Accordingly, Rooks defended her Scripture citations as a continuation of a longstanding American tradition.
“Heather Rooks isn’t a famous historical figure or a household name, but she too wants to be part of the longstanding tradition of government officials solemnizing public occasions in this way,” stated the lawsuit. “To vindicate her statutory and constitutional rights as a Board member and citizen, Rooks respectfully brings this action to declare those rights — and to dispel the confusion that has regrettably clouded a practice as old as the Republic itself.”
Rooks joined the board in January. From her first board meeting until the district ordered her to stop in July, Rooks made it a regular practice of hers to cite Scripture as part of her comments to the public.
The lawsuit noted that after PUSD received a complaint from Secular Communities for Arizona about Rooks’ recitation of Scripture in February, the board’s legal counsel advised board members in an email that they couldn’t pray or recite Scripture during meetings because it allegedly violated the Establishment Clause.
Rooks was one of two board members chastised by district counsel for quoting the Bible during board meetings. The other board member, Rebecca Hill, resigned last month.
Prior to Hill’s resignation, the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) threatened to sue PUSD in May if Hill and Rooks didn’t cease their religious speech.
“While board members are free to promote their personal religious beliefs however they wish in their personal capacities outside of the school board, as government officials they cannot be allowed to commandeer the board in order to impose their personal religious beliefs on district students, parents, and employees,” stated FFRF.
Around the time of the lawsuit threat, PUSD held a public presentation warning against Scripture readings. The presentation was reportedly shared later with staff and parents.
Andy Gould, senior counsel at First Liberty, said in a press release that Rooks’ use of the Bible was part of a historical American tradition.
“Heather takes her responsibilities serving the parents and students in her community seriously, and quotes Bible verses as a source of courage and strength in performing those duties,” said Gould. “Like so many dedicated public leaders throughout our history, Heather most certainly can use inspirational quotes from religious, historical, and philosophical sources and figures as a source of personal inspiration, as well as encouragement to the community at-large.”
Rooks stated in the press release that she was grateful for her membership on the PUSD board, and that Scripture serves as a source of encouragement.
“As a member of the school board, I understand the weight and significance of all of our decisions, and simply find quoting scripture out loud to be encouraging to myself and to many in attendance,” said Rooks.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
Vice President Kamala Harris plans to visit Northern Arizona University (NAU) next month as part of a tour to sell college students on key Democratic causes and increase young voter turnout.
Harris will encourage support for abortion rights, gun control, climate change reforms, progressive voting policies, and LGBTQ+ acceptance. The vice president alluded to the critical role of young voters in the upcoming presidential election.
“This generation is critical to the urgent issues that are at stake right now for our future,” said Harris. “It is young leaders throughout America who know what the solutions look like and are organizing in their communities to make them a reality. My message to students is clear: We are counting on you, we need you, you are everything.”
In Harris’ most recent appearance at Reading Area Community College in Pennsylvania last week, the vice president said that those who disagree with the progressive Democratic views on abortion, guns, climate change, voting, and sexuality are “extremists.”
Harris told the students that abortion was a constitutional right opposed by “extremists,” and that the Supreme Court had taken it away from them. The Constitution doesn’t enumerate abortion among individual rights; it doesn’t mention abortion at all.
“You all […] in your lifetime, witnessed the highest court in our land take a constitutional right that had been recognized from the people of America, from the women of America,” said Harris. “You all — your generation will have mothers and grandmothers that had more rights than you will have.”
Harris said that Biden would sign any bill passed by Congress codifying a right to abortion. Until then, Harris recommended the college students to mimic Mexicans, who “took to the streets” to codify abortion.
As for gun control, Harris advocated for an assault weapons ban, more extensive background checks, and nationwide red flag laws. The vice president characterized opponents to these reforms as “extremists.”
Also last week, President Joe Biden created the first-ever Office of Gun Violence Prevention. Biden placed Harris as the head of the effort. It appears that Harris may be more active in this role in contrast with her other role as the lead on mitigating the border crisis.
On voting policies, Harris took a shot at Georgia’s Christian leaders for their “hypocrisy” in banning the distribution of food and water to voters in line. Harris promulgated a debunked characterization of the law that Georgia made voting more difficult by criminalizing gifts of food and water. The Georgia law prohibits political entities seeking to influence voters from handing out refreshments.
“What happened to ‘love thy neighbor?’ The hypocrisy abounds,” said Harris.
Harris lamented the fact that not all states allow voters to use their student ID to vote. She promoted the practice of automatic voter registration.
Harris also painted opponents to diversity, equity, and inclusion as “extremists.”
“[D]espite what these extremist, so-called leaders are trying to do when they’re trying to get rid of DEI — diversity, equity and inclusion — we know that we’re going to stay committed to issues like equity,” said Harris. “Yeah, we want everyone to have an equal amount, but not everyone starts out on the same base. And so, if you give everyone an equal amount but you don’t start out on the same base, you’re still going to end up with people being treated differently.”
The White House announced Harris’ tour earlier this month. Harris is scheduled to appear at NAU on Oct. 17.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
