UNLV insider interviewed for president’s job
UNLV provost and presidential finalist John White was about halfway through answering questions during a public forum Thursday when economics professor Bill Robinson stood and asked how White would be different as president than he has been as provost.
“We have seen a change in how shared governance operates on this campus. There is less communication between the provost’s office and the faculty than I have ever seen in 35 years. …The lack of communication between the provost’s office and the faculty leadership is stunning to me,” Robinson said.
Robinson’s comments resonated in the standing-room-only auditorium in Greenspun Hall, made up mostly by faculty who White was charged with overseeing for the past two years.
“How are you, as president, going to be different than your office has been as provost?” Robinson asked.
White, the third finalist to meet with the university community this week, defended himself. “I don’t agree with your characterization,” he said, adding that he has been diligent about meeting with department and faculty leaders.
But White said he recognized that faculty morale is an issue that must be addressed, noting that furloughs still continue at Nevada’s largest public university.
If “the faculty is not inspired to do the work the campus needs than we won’t be successful,” White said.
White recently came under media fire in the wake of a report by UNLV’s Center for Business and Economic Research on The Education Initiative, which said the so-called margins tax could be an economic boon and create about 20,000 jobs. The initiative was soundly voted down during last week’s elections.
Emails sent after the report was made public over the summer showed gaming executives expressing their displeasure with it to Interim President Don Snyder, who called for an academic review.
White’s emails have not been made public and his role remains unknown.
The provost said after the forum that he has been and remains a strong advocate for academic freedom.
“As provost I advised the president, but the president does what he has to do. One can debate the propriety of his (Snyder’s) statement, but I don’t think it’s debatable that academic freedom is strong at UNLV,” White said.
White said it was not his decision to release or not release the emails after a public records request was made. “I don’t know which emails were redacted or which ones were given because I shouldn’t have a role in that and I didn’t,” White said. “I don’t think it’s appropriate to go into the details of my advisement of the chief executive. If what folk are interested in, ‘Do I care about academic freedom?’ Absolutely. I’m a strong defender of it.”
White, the son of a civil rights lawyer in Louisiana who fought for desegregation of schools, came to Las Vegas via Louisiana State University, where he taught for 15 years. White, who holds a juris doctorate, and whose scholarly work focused on civil rights was the second dean of Boyd Law School before becoming UNLV’s provost.
Earlier on Wednesday, Len Jessup, dean of the University of Arizona’s Eller School of Management and the second finalist to visit the university’s campus, continued to stress the need for public higher education institutions such as UNLV to free themselves of government money and focus on creating revenue through large fundraising campaigns.
Jessup has faced his own career difficulties. While working as a lead fundraiser at Washington State University, he had a close relationship with a female employee he supervised. Eventually she was removed from his supervision, but embarrassing emails surfaced showing Jessup and the woman exchanging flirtatious notes with each other.
Earlier this week, Georgia Regents University president Ricardo Azziz toured the school and met with university staff, students and patrons. Azziz drew fire in his current position for attempting to build a $70,000 carport at the president’s home at the Georgia school without permission of the board of regents, a plan that was ultimately scrapped. He’s also been criticized for allowing dogs to be used in university science experiments.
A Nevada System of Higher Education presidential search committee will meet Monday and decide whether to recommend one of the candidates to the full Board of Regents. A special meeting of the Board of Regents is set for Tuesday and a president could be chosen.
Contact Francis McCabe at fmccabe@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5512. Find him on Twitter: @fjmccabe
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