TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Wednesday was day two of Doctor Suresh Garimella’s time as the University of Arizona’s new president, but his first day talking to the public in his new role. KGUN9 was on campus as the new president outlined his priorities—-and students talked about what they’d like to see from the new leader.
Even if you feel you have no direct connection to the University of Arizona there is plenty of reason to pay attention to what goes on there. It has a huge economic footprint. It is the largest employer in all of Pima County and now we’ve had a chance to hear a few words from the new leader.
Doctor Suresh Garimella will lead an operation with a 4.1 billion dollar economic impact, about 56 thousand students and 20 thousand employees.
He says he’ll put a high priority on campus safety, student achievement and work to build on Arizona’s success.
He says, “One of the most exciting things for me about it is what a research powerhouse it is.”
He did not talk about what created the opportunity to move from the University of Vermont to UA —-a budget deficit that ran as high as 162 million dollars and prompted former President Doctor Robert Robbins to resign.
In earlier statements Garimella said he’s confident he can rebuild U of A’s finances. Even before his arrival, financial managers said they had brought the deficit down to 63 Million.
We asked students what they’d like to discuss with the new President.
With a recent murder on campus, students like Freshman Camryn Valencia are thinking of campus safety.
“Like how there was just a shooting on campus. That's pretty intense. I know there was a lot going on with things afterwards, where people were (saying) ‘Here's where you can seek mental health guidance’. But it's not very involved.”
She also thinks academic advising can be too impersonal and rushed.
Alyson Blanco wants U of A to be more known more for academics than fraternities, sororities and parties.
“I kind of wanted to turn that more into the kind of academics end of it a bit. I am in Greek life. But I also want it to not be the main focus of our school. And I want it to be something that he works to improve for people that really care about academics.”
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Craig Smith is a reporter for KGUN 9. With more than 40 years of reporting in cities like Tampa, Houston and Austin, Craig has covered more than 40 Space Shuttle launches and covered historic hurricanes like Katrina, Ivan, Andrew and Hugo. Share your story ideas and important issues with Craig by emailing craig.smith@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook and Twitter.
