University of Arizona President Ann Weaver Hart won't seek contract extension

• Position on board of director of for-profit DeVry Education Group ignited controversy
• Hart has been president of the UA since 2012

The Arizona Board of Regents expects to begin a search for a new president at the University of Arizona in the fall after the school's embattled leader, Ann Weaver Hart, said she will not seek an extension when her contract expires in two years.

The regents announced her decision late Friday morning following the board's regularly scheduled meeting in Flagstaff.

In a statement, Hart said she looked forward to "returning to full-time faculty work as a teacher, scholar, and citizen of the university."

Hart's contract runs through June 30, 2018. The regents typically vote on one-year extensions in September of each year so that university presidents have rolling, three-year contracts.

"After some time for strategic review we expect to devise and begin a search for her successor sometime in the fall," Regents Chairman Jay Heiler said in a statement issued Friday.

Last September, the board voted to give Hart and ASU President Michael Crow contract extensions and six-figure bonuses for meeting a series of goals set by the regents related to increasing bachelor's degrees, boosting enrollment and other academic measures.

But more recently, Hart has been at the center of controversy for deciding to take a side job as a board member for the company that operates DeVry University, a for-profit school facing a lawsuit from the Federal Trade Commission, alleging that it misled students about job prospects. DeVry has denied wrongdoing.

She also faced questions about the school's college of medicine.

The Arizona Medical Association earlier this week asked the regents, who oversee state universities, to conduct an independent investigation of the University of Arizona College of Medicine-Phoenix's leadership churn. Former Dean Stuart Flynn and five other senior leaders of the medical school have resigned in recent weeks.

"The decision not to seek an extension is hers," Heiler said in the statement, "and true to her character she has made it in full consideration of both her personal aspirations and her institutional commitments.”

UA spokesman Chris Sigurdson said Hart would not be doing media interviews Friday related to her decision and instead would let a statement sent to faculty and staff speak for itself. The statement said in part that during the UA's spring commencement she realized she would be presiding over her 14th commencement as a university president.

"This is a natural choice," Hart said in her statement, "and one that all of us must make some time in our lives. I am excited for the years ahead working on behalf of this great university."

However, Hart found herself in the center of a  controversy earlier this year,  as Arizona lawmakers and faculty objected to her taking a position on the board of the DeVry Education Group, a for-profit college company.

DeVry is paying Hart $70,000 plus $100,000 in stock annually. Critics say the appointment is a conflict of interest and tarnishes the UA's name.

Rep. Bruce Wheeler, D-Tucson, was one of 22 lawmakers who signed a letter published in the Arizona Daily Star in April, saying Hart should resign from the UA after she refused to step down from her position at DeVry.

Wheeler said he's not surprised by the regents' announcement on Friday, adding that "preferably she should be resigning immediately."

That April letter prompted a response by 13 other Arizona legislators, voicing their support for Hart's decision to join the DeVry board.

"We should be encouraging collaboration and communication between educational facilities, not attempting to shut it down," said the letter co-authored by Sen. Steve Pierce, R-Prescott, and Rep. T.J. Shope, R-Coolidge.

Hart remained steadfast in her decision to remain on the board, telling the Associated Press earlier this year that "I will remain on the (DeVry) board for the same reasons I accepted the appointment — I believe my experience helping public university students achieve their academic goals will benefit DeVry's students."

Hart was hired in 2012 as the UA's 21st president to oversee the state's flagship research institution after then-President Robert Shelton left to take a job overseeing the Fiesta Bowl organization. She was the president of Temple University for six years before coming to Arizona and before that, president at the University of New Hampshire for four years.

In 2014, the regents voted to extend Hart's contract despite controversy at the time, including complaints from some of the UA's noted philanthropists. Among the issues: a $13.5 million remodeling of Old Main, the oldest structure on the Tucson campus, turned controversial after donations were slow to materialize.

During her time at the UA, Hart created a new strategic plan called "Never Settle" aimed at preserving quality and key university initiatives. She also put in place money-saving measures because of state budget cuts related to the Great Recession.

Some of those were also controversial, including cuts to Arizona Public Media, a TV, radio and news unit of UA.

Hart has a bachelor's degree and a master's degree in history and a Ph.D. in educational administration from the University of Utah.

It's not known yet what she will be teaching at the UA.

The Associated Press and Arizona Republic reporter Ken Alltucker contributed to this article. 

Reach the reporter at 602-444-8072 or anne.ryman@arizonarepublic.com.