University of Idaho outlines recovery measures, INL partnerships and pending Phoenix transaction

At a Jan. 27 Joint Finance‑Appropriations Committee hearing, Kevin Campbell of the Legislative Services Office presented the University of Idaho’s budget overview and President C. Scott Green answered committee questions about financial recovery, national‑lab partnerships, the status of a possible affiliation with the University of Phoenix and recent reorganization of diversity‑related offices.

“We took a $26,000,000 reduction to our budget,” President C. Scott Green said, describing actions the university took to align expenses with revenues after earlier structural shortfalls. He told the committee the university has been working to stabilize finances and enrollment, and said recent steps produced stronger cash reserves and operating results even as certain accounting and legacy liabilities affect unrestricted reserve ratios.

Why it matters: the University of Idaho is the state's land‑grant research university. Its budget and partnerships affect statewide research capacity, workforce pipelines (including health professions), and collaborations with Idaho National Laboratory (INL). Decisions about affiliations,…