Arizona Board of Regents’ Chair and Executive Director Leave Their Positions After Governor’s Criticism

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Armand Alacbay, senior vice president of strategy for the American Council of Trustees and Alumni, which advocates for university boards to exert stronger oversight, found it “hard to ascribe fault here.” On the one hand, with many colleges struggling with enrollment and finances, all board members should examine their institutions more closely. On the other hand, “there’s a huge information asymmetry with boards.” Boards depend on colleges to give them good data.

As for Hobbs’s sharp and public criticism of DuVal and Arnold, Alacbay pointed out that it’s unusual for a governor to have the power to remove public-university board members, even though they are frequently responsible for appointing them. Board members often have terms that span different governors’ administrations; Duval is an appointee of Doug Ducey, the Republican governor who preceded Hobbs. The point is to protect board members from political interference and allow them to focus on the good of the university, Alacbay said. But also: “It’s normal for a governor to be concerned about the higher-education policy in her state,” he said. “It’s the governor’s prerogative to make public statements.”

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