Nevada regents to consider college campus closures

The higher education system’s Board of Regents reversed course Friday, voting to again consider closing college campuses in response to budget cuts.

On a 10-3 vote, the regents undid a vote they took last month, which had undone a vote they took the month before.

The Board did not vote to actually close any campuses.

The vote came after two hours of public testimony, much of it from those advocating for their particular college or university. Most were from University of Nevada, Las Vegas and the College of Southern Nevada.

John Filler, a UNLV professor and former Faculty Senate chairman, for example, said the budget cuts are killing the university.

"We are hemorrhaging faculty at a rate that will soon be impossible to survive at UNLV," he said. "Our best and our brightest are leaving in increasing numbers, and the rest of us will soon follow."

Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford, D-Las Vegas, was also one of the public speakers. He urged the Board to reconsider its March vote, which had removed from consideration even talking about closing some colleges.

Horsford also encouraged the Board to publicly support efforts to raise more revenue. The Board did that later, passing a unanimous resolution that states the governor and legislators are "encouraged to seek additional revenue sources."

The March vote came after a vote in February in which the Board asked Chancellor Dan Klaich to prepare a report that would analyze how much could be saved from closing or consolidating some campuses. Estimates ranged from $7 million to $15 million per year.

But higher education officials expect state budget cuts to total much more than that. Under Gov. Brian Sandoval’s proposal, the higher education budget would be cut $162 million in 2013 compared to 2011.

The presidents of the state’s eight higher education institutions presented their budget cutting plans, which called for hundreds of layoffs, 5 percent salary cuts, the elimination of dozens of programs, large tuition and fee increases, and potentially shutting out more than 20,000 students by eliminating class sections. Most of the details in the plans have been public for weeks now.

"This is one of the most important meetings I think this Board has ever had," Board Chairman James Dean Leavitt said as the meeting got underway. "We’re facing an unparalleled crisis in the history of Nevada."

The board took no action on any of the specific budget-cutting plans. The Legislature has yet to act on a budget, so any cuts are only potential at this point.

While all of the budget-cutting plans are controversial, the plans to consolidate some colleges have generated the most heated rhetoric.

Plans analyze consolidating Nevada State College into either the College of Southern Nevada or UNLV, consolidating the three Northern Nevada community colleges into one unit, and consolidating Desert Research Institute into the two universities.

In effect, the state college would cease to exist as it does now. The 3,000 students who go there would attend either UNLV or CSN. That plan could save as much as $4.3 million a year.

Merging the three northern community colleges could save $3 million, while consolidating DRI into the universities could save $4.6 million. Those potential savings do not take into account transition costs or the loss of outside grants, a particularly important topic when it comes to the Desert Research Institute. The institute receives about $8 million in state funding each year but brings in more than $40 million in outside grants.

Regent Ron Knecht fought hard against any consideration of mergers or closures. He pointed out that the community colleges and the state college are cheaper to the state and to students than the universities are. Eliminating them would, in effect, be like cutting the cheapest parts the budget to benefit the more expensive parts.

"I can’t for the life of me figure out why we would consider this," he said.

But Regent Andrea Anderson pointed out that lawmakers wanted to see the proposals to close or merge campuses.

"I don’t think it’s a good idea to get the Legislature mad at us," she said. "They’re the ones who can give us more money."

Contact Richard Lake at rlake@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0307.