A modest base tuition increase of 3 percent for resident and non-resident undergraduate and graduate students is necessary for 2013-14 if the UA is to meet its local, institutional and Arizona Board of Regents-mandated goals. Tuition revenue generated will support key initiatives including the retention and graduation of students, seeding research and making engagement experiences possible for all students, among other priorities.

With 400 authors and nearly 300 exhibitors, the Tucson Festival of Books March 9-10 is expected to draw thousands upon thousands of people from across the region and the U.S. to the UA campus. Covering topics and genres that include teen novels, romance, culture, health, current events and culinary arts, the festival has broad offerings under the tenet of improving literacy and education.

Teri Lucie Thompson, vice president for marketing and media and chief marketing officer at Purdue University, was chosen following a nationwide search and will join the UA on May 20. She will oversee institutional communications, marketing, brand management, government relations, community relations and Arizona Public Media.

UA President Ann Weaver Hart has named Andrew C. Comrie to the permanent post of senior vice president of academic affairs and provost. Comrie, who has spent the last two decades at the UA as a professor and administrator, has served in the position on a temporary basis since August 2012.

The Arizona Board of Regents has approved a resolution to support Gov. Jan Brewer's fiscal year 2014 budget proposal, which calls for $58.6 million in new money for the state's public university enterprise. The request includes $8 million for further development of the UA College of Medicine-Phoenix.

Basketball legend Bill Walton will give a free talk on the UA campus on Feb. 6, co-sponsored by the School of Journalism. The UA is one of nine stops on Walton's speaking tour across the Pac‐12 Conference. While in town, Walton also will announce the UA vs. Stanford basketball game on Feb. 8.