UNLV serious about being a ‘serious’ school

By Jerry Fink

Monday, Aug. 31, 1998 | 10:43 a.m.

UNLV is a Rebel with a cause.

An institution that has faced criticism of not being a "serious" school wants to transform its image to that of a nationally recognized university.

To accomplish this goal, UNLV officials have launched a mission to re-invent the university -- much as the gaming resorts on the Las Vegas Strip, whose skyline is visible from campus, have been doing for decades.

Apparently the launch has met with a degree of success, if a ranking by a major national publication bears any weight.

When fall classes begin today, UNLV students will find their institution ranked No. 7 on U.S. News & World Report's annual "America's Best Colleges" list in the category of public Western Regional Colleges and Universities.

"This is the first year we were ranked in that category," UNLV Director of Communications Tom Flagg said.

In addition to making its debut in one category, the university has increased its standing in a second category -- a list that compares all colleges and universities in the western United States, both public and private.

Last year UNLV was ranked No. 40 in the comprehensive list of 112 institutions; this year it moved up to No. 35.

Regional schools are in a category apart from nationally ranked institutions, such as the University of California at Berkeley.

"There are four tiers of rankings," Flagg noted. "UNLV is in the second tier."

While pleased with the two rankings reported by the magazine, UNLV President Carol Harter tempers her pleasure with the challenges that remain.

"Rankings are fragile things," she said. "I would never claim greatness on the basis of rankings. But it is a very nice thing to be included."

Harter's ultimate goal is to be in the first tier of rankings, in which it would be in a league with nationally recognized institutions such as Harvard and Yale.

In light of that, UNLV this year will offer two new doctoral programs, including programs in geoscience and anthropology, bringing its number of doctoral programs to 17. And the university will offer four new bachelor degrees -- art history, workforce education, early childhood education and senior adult theatre.

Classes at the state's first public law school at UNLV began a week ago today, as did classes at a new elementary school on the UNLV campus that will be a professional practice school for educating at-risk students, training current teachers and developing future teachers.

The law school began a week before the rest of the university because the American Bar Association requires a week more of classes than is required by UNLV.

And plans for a dental school to be established at UNLV in the near future are under way, if a feasibility study shows a need.

Since UNLV began an academic master plan in 1993, several new buildings have been constructed, including the Classroom Building Complex, a physics and an architectural building, a student-services complex and an amphitheater.

Construction is under way on a $50-million, 300,000-square-foot, five-story library.

Flagg sees the success of the school's ambitious drive toward national recognition in a variety of other statistics, including student enrollment.

The university is seeing a natural growth because of the increase in population of Southern Nevada. But at the same time, Flagg says UNLV is becoming more aggressive in recruiting students by using methods such as a series of "I'm a Rebel" ads appearing in local media.

This year officials expect to see a 5 percent increase in the number of students on campus.

Two sets of figures are kept on students -- those who are enrolled part-time and those known as FTEs, or full-time equivalents, upon which state funding is based.

FTE figures have shown a general increase over the past five years, with the only glitch coming in 1995 when the number of graduate students dropped slightly.

In 1993 there were 12,884 FTE students enrolled compared to 14,447 in 1997. Total head-count figures revealed 19,682 students on campus in 1993. By 1997 that number had grown only slightly to 20,272.

If the student enrollment grows by 5 percent, as anticipated, this year's FTE count will be about 15,220 and the actual head count about 21,290.

The general increase in FTE students is because of more students working toward specific degrees, Flagg said.

"More people are taking more credits in degree programs rather than dabbling in course work," he said.

"Our long-term plan says we will grow 2 to 5 percent each year -- our budget planning is 5 percent per year," said Harter, who came to UNLV in 1995.

More students means the need for housing is more acute.

There are only 1,100 dormitory beds on campus.

"There are 190 students on a waiting list," said Terry Piper, assistant vice president of Student Life.

But that number is misleading.

"We ran out of space in early June and stopped accepting contracts," Piper said, adding that otherwise the list would be much longer.

To help students who don't get into campus housing, UNLV has a computer database that allows them to go online to find off-campus residence space.

"They find housing, but the question is whether they find the kind of housing they prefer," Piper said.

Building more dormitory space is being discussed, according to Piper, but there are no specific plans to expand.

There is a strain on some classes, as well, because of an increase in the student population.

Though the average class size is about 25, there are those that have a lot more -- especially in lower-division courses that are required for graduation.

In an effort to keep up with more students, UNLV has hired more teachers.

This year 23 new teaching positions were filled.

UNLV has 742 faculty members, 112 of whom attended an orientation for new instructors last week.

More than 500 students attended a new-student orientation session.

A profile of students notes that 47 percent are part-time and the average age is 29. The average age of law-school students is 31.

The profile, based upon a survey taken last year, reveals that about 50 percent of the students will work part-time and 24 percent will work full-time to help pay for their education.

About 25 percent of the UNLV students are considered members of a minority. About 4 percent are international students.

Students are enrolling in increasingly larger proportions at the upper-division and graduate levels, officials say -- probably because of the growth at the two-year Community College of Southern Nevada.

"One of the first things Dr. Harter did when she arrived in 1995 was to set up a planning task force at a retreat and come up with a 10-year plan, with more emphasis on enhancing the university," Flagg said. "What we are seeing now is that the plan is starting to bear fruit."

And, Harter says, the ranking by U.S. News & World Report is another side benefit.

She says with confidence that it will be only a matter of time before UNLV is compared to national universities instead of regional institutions.

"The plan very clearly is committed to quality," she said. "Every program we mount will have quality as a goal."