Regents OK plan to reduce layoffs

The higher education system’s governing Board of Regents unanimously endorsed a plan Friday that the chancellor said would dramatically reduce potential layoffs and an anticipated enrollment drop because of budget cuts.

The board also appointed an interim president at the University of Nevada, Reno, and OK’d sending a redistricting plan to the Legislature for approval.

The budget plan, which Chancellor Dan Klaich presented to legislators last month, would reduce proposed cuts to the higher education system by about $80 million.

Gov. Brian Sandoval has proposed cutting state funding to the higher education system by $92 million next year, compared with this year’s funding, and $162 million the year after, compared with this year.

Klaich’s plan calls for a 5 percent salary cut, student fee increases of 13 percent in each of the next two years and more revenue from the state.

Without more money, higher education leaders say the system might have to lay off up to 1,500 employees and could lose as many as 19,000 students because courses and programs will be eliminated.

With the extra funding that Klaich’s proposal seeks, layoffs could be reduced by 500, and lost students could be 12,000 instead of 19,000.

“It is still not a plan without impact, without results or without pain,” Klaich said.

Reacting to news that revenues over the next two years could be higher than anticipated, Sandoval this week proposed lessening cuts to the higher education system by $20 million.

That’s not enough, higher education leaders said. To reach the target in Klaich’s plan, they say the system needs another $60 million on top of the $20 million.

The board’s vote carries no weight. It is, in effect, a request to state lawmakers for more money.

The board named UNR Provost Mark Johnson as the university’s interim president.

Johnson, who joined UNR in 2008, has been serving as acting president since President Milton Glick’s death last month.

Johnson’s contract runs through June 2012. He will be paid a base salary of $246,424 with a supplement from the private UNR Foundation of $98,571, and he will receive an annual $8,000 car allowance, an $18,000 housing allowance and $5,000 hosting account.

That is nearly identical to the contract UNLV President Neal Smatresk was hired under in 2009.

Board Chairman James Dean Leavitt said he intends to launch a national search in the fall for a president at UNR.

The higher education system’s chief executive officer, Scott Wasserman, presented the board with a redistricting plan, as required by law every 10 years.

The plan rearranged the 13 districts around the state to accommodate population growth, particularly in Clark County.

Each of the 13 districts will have about 207,000 people in it. All of the districts would see their boundaries change, particularly District 13, which encompasses the western suburbs of Las Vegas.

Regents endorsed the plan unanimously with little comment. The Legislature must approve the plan before it becomes final.

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