Report clouds campus funding issue

Monday, Feb. 15, 1999 | 11:02 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- A legislative study kept under wraps for 10 months shows budget inequities between the Las Vegas and Reno campuses of the University of Nevada may not be as large as some advocates claim.

The report, done at the request of Sen. Bob Coffin, D-Las Vegas, shows a variance of $784 per student in instructional costs at the two schools. Regent Steve Sisolak of Las Vegas, who has complained that UNLV is being shortchanged in favor of Reno, maintains there's more than a $3,000 difference in student funding.

"I kept it quiet because I wanted to work behind the scenes" with Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio to correct the discrepancy, Coffin said. "I didn't feel like making it a campaign issue."

The study, conducted by the independent Legislative Fiscal Analysis Division, found per-student spending for instruction in fiscal year 1998 was $5,328 at the University of Nevada, Reno, and $4,544 at UNLV.

Program analyst Ginny Wiswell, who authored the study, said she excluded "noninstructional" categories such as the size of the campuses, the age and square footage of the buildings and "other factors not directly responsible for the educational value."

"I don't put a lot of weight in those figures," Sisolak said. "I would just like to see some progress made this session" of the Legislature.

Southern Nevada lawmakers agreed Thursday after a meeting with Sisolak to seek an independent study of spending disparities in the state's college and university system.

Sisolak has been citing total per-student spending figures of $10,378 at Reno and $7,310 at UNLV in his campaign to equalize spending at the campuses.

"Everybody's got their own studies and different figures," Sisolak said Friday. "That why we need an independent, unbiased study."

In her study, Wiswell said $314 of the $784 disparity in instructional spending was because of higher professional salaries at Reno. Thirty-six percent of Reno's faculty are full professors compared with 24 percent at UNLV. Full professors make more money.

Wiswell said UNR receives $301 more per student in operating expenses for faculty for such things as in-state travel, office supplies and equipment. And Reno receives $94 more per student because of its larger number of graduate programs.

According to Wiswell's study, $46 more per student goes to UNR for fringe benefits for faculty; $16 for average pay to classified employees at the school; and $13 per student for salaries of hourly employees, who are generally students. For instance UNR pays $25 an hour as opposed to $12 an hour at UNLV.

Sisolak's analysis takes into account all the spending at the two campuses, not just the money for instruction. At Reno, this includes statewide programs such as the School of Medicine, the Agriculture Experiment Station and the Cooperative Extension Service.

Coffin, who is married to UNLV professor Mary Hausch, said Friday he decided to request the legislative study on university spending after talking last year with UNLV President Carol Harter. "She went out on a limb with real big numbers, in excess of $3,000," he said. "I wanted to make sure she was correct."

When he received the legislative report last May, Coffin said, he thought he might be able to work out the inequities with Raggio, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee. But the problem was exacerbated when Gov. Kenny Guinn's budget allowed for only 2 percent growth in enrollment in the University and Community College System of Nevada.

Predicted student gains at UNLV and the Community College of Southern Nevada far outstrip the 2 percent, potentially leaving those two campuses short.

Enrollment at UNLV is expected to climb 5 percent to 15,618 next school year and then another 4.6 percent to 16,399 students the following year. In contrast, Reno is expected to increase by 2.8 percent to 9,711 students next year and then 3 percent to 10,021 the following year.

Coffin did not disclose publicly the existence of the report until asked Friday by the Sun for a copy.

The disparity issue will come before the Board of Regents at its Feb. 25-26 meeting in Las Vegas.

"This should be a fight fought in the Board of Regents" instead of the Legislature, Coffin said. "We give them a big pot of money."

"Let them (the regents) decide if they are spending the money in the right place."

He called it "baloney" that the regents take "a blood oath that they will be united before the Legislature." He said he expected open debate on the issues.

Clark County legislators on Thursday claimed there was a $12 million omission in the budgets of the universities and, when that is added in, about $10 million will go to Southern Nevada. State Budget Director Perry Comeaux said Friday that the $12 million is the university's figure. "We think it's a lot less."