Regents to address outreach, development plans

September 9, 2010 by Haley Etchison 

Biennium budget proposal already passed, agenda includes no requests for budget cuts

After a meeting in June that saw the approval of deep cuts to the state’s two public universities, and a special session last month to pass the chancellor’s budget request, the Nevada System of Higher Education Board of Regents enters its current meeting cycle with a slightly lightened load.

The regents are meeting with administrators, faculty, student representatives and special staff today and tomorrow at Truckee Meadows Community College in Reno.

The board’s committees will meet on the first day of the session. The whole body will then convene to hear and act on agenda items including the following:

Handbook and Procedure and Guidelines Manual revisions
The board is expected to approve amendments to its Handbook and Procedure and Guidelines Manual to enstate rules about the management of funds gathered through the differential program fees.

The regents adopted a policy in their April special meeting that authorizes institutions to implement these fees as recommended by the Tuition and Fees Committee.

These fees would help fund high-cost or high-demand programs at individual Nevada schools.

The amendments requested at this meeting would allow the chancellor to develop policies and procedures for administrating the fees – like rules about how the money can be spent – as required by the new policy.

According to an agenda addendum on the proposal, the language of the amendments is expected to “clarify for the purpose of administration that a differential program fee may be in the form of a per credit or per course fee.

Efficiency and Effectiveness report
Chancellor Dan Klaich and Board Vice Chair Jason Geddes will present a report on the progress of the board’s Efficiency and Effectiveness Initiative. Board members are expected to offer direction to the project’s staff for future endeavors.

CSN Strategic Plan
College of Southern Nevada President Michael Richards will present revisions to the school’s strategic plan for 2011-17, developed by a 23-member committee led by Anneli Adams and Joan McGee.

Changes to the plan are based on the requirements of new accreditation standards for the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities, the school’s new mission and statements of vision and values, fiscal concerns, recognition of the involvement of community partnerships in CSN operations and perception of a need for annual updates to the plan and metrics for its success.

The presentation will serve to fulfill the requirements of board policies that demand periodic updates to institutions’ strategic plans.

Richards will seek the board’s approval of a six-year cycle for the plan’s implementation.

Honorary degrees
The regents are expected to award honorary degrees to Kenny Guinn and Proctor R. Hug.

“Honorary degrees shall be awarded to persons who have made significant contributions to the improvement of academic programs and academic life at one of the NSHE’s institutions,” according to NSHE rules.

Guinn was governor of Nevada from 1999 to 2006 and founded the Millennium Scholarship. He served as interim president of UNLV from 1994 to 1995 and was an emeritus trustee of the UNLV Foundation.

He died July 22.

Hug is a Reno lawyer and judge and was an elected regent from 1962 to 1972. He served as chair of the board from 1969 until the end of his tenure.

Potential renewable energy collaboration
Regent Jack Lund Schofield will report on his observations of the department of engineering and science at the University of Utah. He is expected to discuss potential collaboration between NSHE institutions and other schools’ renewable energy programs.

Contract requests
UNLV President Neal Smatresk will ask for the board’s approval of a three-year contract for head baseball coach Tim Chambers. The requested salary for Chambers, at $110,000, exceeds the budgeted amount, but the results of ongoing fundraising efforts and salary savings from other vacancies in baseball staff positions are expected to offset the cost.
Smatresk will also request approval of the three-year renewal of the $67,600 contract for women’s track & field and cross country head coach Yvonne Scott.

Desert Research Institute President Stephen Wells will request approval of a three-year employment contract for Terrence Surles as executive vice president for research with a base salary of $235,000 annually plus benefits.

Critical labor shortage designation
CSN President Michael Richards will ask the Board of Regents to approve the designation of the Emergency Services Academy executive director position as one for which there is a critical labor shortage.

The executive director will oversee CSN’s new Emergency Services Academy, which houses its fire science and law enforcement training programs.

Richards’ request to the board asserts that “the executive director must have existing relationships with Southern Nevada fire agencies in order to foster the success of the ESA.”

The position’s minimum qualifications include experience as a Southern Nevada fire department chief. All individuals who could fulfill that requirement would be participants in the Public Employee Retirement System.

The NSHE Procedures and Guidelines Manual holds that a PERS retiree may only hold a position for which there is a critical labor shortage – a designation defined in the manual by “the difficulty in filling the position due to special circumstances, including… special… experience requirements [such as] exceptional qualifications of a scientific, professional, or expert nature.”

Redistricting information
Scott Wasserman, chief executive officer and special counsel to the Board of Regents, will provide an update on census information and redistricting pertaining to the board.

This information may affect distributions of future electorates but will not change constituencies for the regents’ seats to be voted upon in the Nov. 2 general elections.

College access initiatives
Assistant Vice Chancellor of Student and Academic Affairs Magdalena Martinez and Director of Financial Aid Sharon Wurm will present information on two new statewide projects with goals of increasing college attendance.

The College Access Challenge Grant program, which began accepting requests for proposals Tuesday, is a federally funded grant aimed at increasing college attendance rates among Nevada students from low-income backgrounds and demographics that are traditionally under-represented in higher education.

Complete College America seeks to increase the total number of citizens with post-secondary degrees and to close gaps in college attendance statistics for students of traditionally under-represented racial, ethnic or economic backgrounds.

Nevada is a pilot state for the CCA program.

New CSN endowment
CSN President Michael Richards will request the board’s approval of acceptance of a new endowment from CSN faculty and staff, private donors and Southern Nevada car dealerships.

The endowment is expected to be used to establish a scholarship for CSN students pursuing associate degrees in applied science with majors in automotive.