Update on the Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education

Dear campus community,

The University of Arizona was one of nine universities invited on October 1 by the U.S. Department of Education to provide feedback on their proposal to advance excellence in higher education. The proposal has generated substantial feedback on our campus, in our community, and through a national discussion.

Since receiving the draft, we have engaged in a robust consultation process with the Arizona Board of Regents, our faculty, staff, and students and shared governance groups, campus leadership, higher education associations, community members, alumni, and leaders in the state and federal governments as well as from universities across the nation. Thank you to everyone who has provided constructive and detailed feedback. Your input helped inform our response.

We also received further clarification during a recent call with federal government representatives that they were seeking constructive dialogue rather than a definitive written response. Given the importance of the issues at stake, engagement is in the best interest of the university.  

A number of the proposed federal recommendations deserve thoughtful consideration as our national higher education system could benefit from reforms that have been much too slow to develop. In fact, many of the proposed ideas are already in place at the U of A.

At the same time, principles like academic freedom, merit-based research funding, and institutional independence are foundational and must be preserved.

As a result, the university has not agreed to the terms outlined in the draft proposal, but instead submitted a Statement of Principles to the Department of Education that I am sharing with you.

I encourage you to review the response letter and the University of Arizona’s Statement of Principles articulated in the letter which were informed by the feedback from hundreds of U of A stakeholders and partner organizations.

This response is our contribution toward a national conversation about the future relationship between universities and the federal government. It is critical for the University of Arizona to take an active role in this discussion and to work toward maintaining a strong relationship with the federal government while staying true to our principles.

We will continue to collaborate with other higher education institutions and associations, as well as with our community, Gov. Katie Hobbs, our state legislature, Congress, and the administration. Strengthening higher education and reaffirming the values that make the University of Arizona one of the country’s preeminent educational and research institutions requires that we all work together.

Thank you again to our campus community for your engagement, feedback, and passion for our institution and our mission.

Sincerely, 
Suresh