AZ regent pursuing 'all legal remedies' after conflict of interest claim by UA faculty leader

Arizona Board of Regents Chair Fred DuVal is pursuing "all legal remedies" following questions posed by a University of Arizona faculty leader about his involvement with a former private investment company.

UA Faculty Chair Leila Hudson publicly challenged DuVal’s involvement with Amicus Investors, a private equity company focusing on higher education, in a special faculty senate meeting on Monday. Toward the end of the meeting, Hudson questioned whether DuVal’s former role as managing director of the company created a conflict of interest.

DuVal says the claim is defamatory in Thursday's board meeting.

“Even if Amicus had pursued or landed business in Arizona – which we didn’t – it would have been impossible to have had a conflict because the two engagements never overlapped," DuVal said Thursday. "This is obvious from a rudimentary search of corporate filings, or even my social media bio page."

DuVal said he worked with the company from 2015 to 2017 and never completed any deals, even though the company's website lists UA and Arizona State University as groups their team members had worked with in the past. He said the company went out of business in 2017 and he started his role on the board afterward in 2018.

DuVal went on to cast doubt on the faculty chair, saying she was not engaging with shared governance in good faith — a claim Hudson has also made against the board.

“The caliber of academic research skills that were demonstrated here are concerning," DuVal said. "I frankly now doubt the accuracy and credibility of any one of the many accusations that are being made against the university and the president."

The UA faculty senate has provided regular input on the university's financial stressors since UA's multi-million dollar budget shortfall came to light last November. In particular, the faculty called on the administration to protect the university's academic mission.

Regent Lyndel Manson also said the board has been concerned about the "culture" of the faculty senate for some time now.

"This body is and has been overtly confrontational and anti-administrative with an eye toward the expansion of their authority well outside the intention or norms of shared governance," Manson said.

The statement was met with boos from protesters at the back of the room, largely made up of members of the United Campus Workers Arizona calling for attention to UA’s ongoing financial stressors and pending legislation affecting higher education.

An attorney representing DuVal on Thursday issued a cease and desist letter to Hudson and three other senate leaders, saying the statements caused harm to DuVal’s reputation and demanding the immediate takedown of the meeting recording. It is no longer publicly available online.

Hudson's attorney, Jesse Ritchey, said she was practicing her constitutional rights when speaking to the faculty senate and is currently exploring her legal options.

ASU moves forward with new med school, improving academic ‘efficiency’

The board gave its approval of ASU’s upcoming medical school to open in 2026 in Thursday’s meeting, signing off on two programs.

The degrees, doctor of medicine and a master’s degree in medical engineering, are intended to be completed at the same time in an “interdisciplinary” approach applauded by DuVal.

The new school is just one component of the Board of Regents’ plan — called AZ Healthy Tomorrow — to aid the state’s need for healthcare workers. Northern Arizona University will also open a new medical school, and UA plans on doubling the number of graduates at its existing medical school.

“The new medical school will increase our state's health care workforce and lead to better access to care for Arizona,” DuVal said in the meeting.

ASU President Michael Crow updated the board on the state of his university, touting data showing how the school is becoming more efficient in awarding degrees and continuing to grow its student body. Crow pointed to the school's increasing value in its degrees, despite less public investment.

"The mindset is to stop waiting for someone else to do something and to do something now," Crow said.

Crow said when he started at ASU, each graduate cost the state $42,000. That number is now $11,000, he said. While the school was in a good position both academically and financially, Crow said ASU wasn't immune from the currents impacting the higher education landscape.

"That doesn't mean we don't have innumerable problems," he said.

Crow cited the long-term impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and the constant adaptation universities make when tackling unforeseen expenses.

Deadline pushed for Arizona Promise Program amid FAFSA woes

The process of submitting a Free Application for Federal Student Aid application was supposed to be simplified. Instead, students and parents have faced multiple glitches and delays.

While the U.S. Department of Education has promised to correct errors, the board moved to extend the FAFSA deadline for a guaranteed scholarship program to May 1 to give families more time.

The Arizona Promise Program covers the cost of tuition and fees for Arizona students from low-income families attending NAU, ASU or UA. Students previously needed to submit their FAFSA by April 1 to meet the priority deadline.

The FAFSA headaches have led to a drop in students completing their applications. As of early February, only 15.7% of Arizona students had completed their FAFSA, compared to 22.5% across the country. The board estimates that as many as 8,000 to 10,000 students across the state have been affected by the mishaps. The Department of Education says the application will be reworked by mid-March to allow families with parents with a different immigration status or citizenship to fill out the application.

Students and families struggling to complete the application can visit the board’s College Ready AZ site for resources and updates.

Helen Rummel covers higher education for The Arizona Republic. Reach her at hrummel@azcentral.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter: @helenrummel

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: AZ Board of Regents chair seeks legal action against UA faculty leader