EDITORIAL: New writing faculty is best use of UNLV’s short funds 
January 25, 2010 by The Rebel Yell
The UNLV Master of Fine Arts program in creative writing is hiring.
Despite budget cuts that have affected virtually every corner off the higher education community in Nevada, this area is being allowed to fill its open position.
Why? Because the MFA program is consistently ranked in the top five to ten in the United States, which means UNLV is very strongly on the map.
The open seat, a full-time position, was vacated by acclaimed novelist, poet and translator Pablo Medina after spring of 2009. Though the names of candidates for the job are not yet public, we can be sure the writer who is selected will bring honor and prestige to UNLV.
And that’s exactly what we need.
We face review for regional accreditation in April, and slashes to programs university-wide will not help the effort.
The best thing UNLV can do is bolster its best programs and let them shine. The hiring of a full-time writer to teach in one of UNLV’s most prestigious schools is a huge step in the right direction.
If we want to maintain this university as viable candidate for students looking to gain diverse, valuable educations, we have to spend money.
If the new faculty member was awarded a salary comparable to Medina’s (about $100,0000), it would hardly break the bank.
What better purpose could that money be put to? A $3.50 rebate to each of UNLV’s 28,000 students? The retention of an adjunct faculty member or two?
It will bring the most benefit to the largest number of students to bring a great name to UNLV and keep the most able and fastest-developing programs going strong.
Remember students, your degree is only as good as the reputation of your alma mater. Faculty and staff, your job is only as good as your colleagues.
When the newest member of the UNLV family is chosen, let us welcome him or her with deserved respect, and with the gratitude due one of the people who stands at the public front of UNLV’s race toward academic excellence.
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