President schedules campus forum on budget

NAU President John Haeger has scheduled a campus forum to discuss impending budget reductions proposed by the Arizona Legislature.

The forum is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 28, in the High Country Conference Center and will be webcast. Web viewers can send questions to Inside@nau.edu.

The chairs of the state Legislature’s Appropriations Committees, Rep. John Kavanagh and Sen. Russell Pearce, have proposed extraordinarily high budget reductions to the Arizona University System, which would cut NAU’s budget by about $32 million for the few months remaining in FY09 and nearly $50 million for FY10.

Haeger also has scheduled a discussion with campus leadership this weekend, which will include deans, chairs and leaders from the Faculty Senate, Classified Staff Advisory Council, Service Professional Advisory Council and the Associated Students of Northern Arizona University.

On Monday, Haeger, ASU President Michael Crow, UA President Robert Shelton and community leaders will hold a press conference at the state Capitol building to discuss the debilitating effects the proposed cuts would have on the universities.

The president, who has been seeking input on the budget, has launched a web site for sharing ideas.
Send suggestions, comments and questions to budgetinfo@nau.edu.