Harter backs plan for another college

Shaunta Grimes

Tuesday, Nov. 30, 1999 | 11:08 a.m.

UNLV President Carol Harter publicly supported a proposed four-year state college in Henderson on Monday, although she admitted she is concerned about the competition such a college could present for state and private funds.

Harter said UNLV should be able to meet its goal of becoming a research institute focused on science and engineering in 15 years at a cost of at least $200 million. A state college in Henderson could cause "a nervousness of resources," she said on "POV Vegas," the Las Vegas Sun's news discussion show seen on channels 1 and 39.

Although UNLV has 40,000 alumni, many of them are young and unable to donate much money, meaning UNLV depends greatly on donations from "friends of the university who are not alumni," Harter said. A new college could draw some of those funds, as well as demand state and federal funding.

A committee charged with studying the Henderson State College issue has unanimously recommended going forward with the project. The university Board of Regents will consider that recommendation when it meets Wednesday and Thursday in Reno.

Off camera, Harter said her first reaction to the proposed new facility a year ago was to ask if UNLV couldn't build a regional campus in Henderson instead. "I don't think that was an unreasonable question for me to ask," Harter said.

She began then to push for a UNLV satellite campus in Henderson in an effort to keep higher education dollars in the current university system.

"The more units you have in the university system, the more competition there is for dollars," Harter said in November 1998.

A month later she had softened her position, referring to a partnership instead. "I want to be very positive about the new campus in Henderson, from the perspective of UNLV being partners," she said.

On Monday, however, days after the committee had agreed on its recommendation, she said, "It's gone past that now. This is going to happen, and I support it fully."

Regent Mark Alden, one of the five members of the committee studying this issue, said that the proposed Henderson State College may consolidate the already existing communications programs in the area.

"If approved, the Henderson State College could have a communications school that could bring together the resources of UNLV, CCSN and Channel 10 in one all-encompassing school of communication," Alden said last week. UNLV currently houses the Hank Greenspun School of Communication.

Because instructors are not obligated to devote time to research, the costs for running the state college would be less than that of a university, Alden said. "It would cost half as much to educate students at a state college."