Supporters vow to fight on for Henderson college

Jeffrey Libby

Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2000 | 11:10 a.m.

The proposed state college at Henderson may not be in Gov. Kenny Guinn's 2001 state budget, but supporters of the four-year school say the project still will go through.

But some expressed surprise at Guinn's willingness to comment on the budget before state agencies have had a chance to review an initial draft.

"It's not in my budget," Guinn said of the Henderson college in an interview with the Sun published Tuesday. Guinn's priority for the $3.74 billion budget, he said, will be carving out nominal salary increases for state employees.

University Chancellor Jane Nichols said this morning she was "quite astounded" by Guinn's remarks.

"We have not yet seen the details on the governor's budget," Nichols said. "Normally we get to see the budget in advance, but we have not seen anything."

Nichols said it would be difficult for her to comment on Guinn's remarks without first knowing their exact implications. Nichols called the governor Tuesday, but was unable to determine which part of the three budget requests he had cut from his budget.

Jack Finn, Guinn's press secretary, said Tuesday he could not confirm which budget requests for the Henderson college Guinn was addressing.

As part of a $1 billion budget for higher education through the next biennium, regents asked for $34.5 million in state dollars for the Henderson college.

They want $3 million for planning expenses through 2002 and another $5.5 million for operating expenses through 2003, when the first students are expected to enroll.

Regents hope to pair up another $26 million in state dollars with $10 million in private money for an initial academic building. That budget item was listed as an eighth priority for new buildings last fall, however, and has been considered unlikely to receive funding.

But other higher education officials and supporters close to the project say Guinn's draft is a proposal only. They say funding will be decided by the Legislature.

They say the merits of the school, billed as a long-term solution to growth in the Las Vegas Valley and as a more immediate solution to teaching and nursing shortages, will win over legislators.

Part of that wooing of legislators will come in February. Higher education officials are expected to report the results from a $500,000 study on the feasibility of a school in Henderson.

University Regent Howard Rosenberg, who is also a professor at the University of Nevada, Reno, has already reviewed many of the findings in the report, which was conducted by Nichols.

"I don't know if the state of Nevada can afford the school now, but the need has been demonstrated (in the report)," Rosenberg said. "Now the question is whether we can convince the Legislature as a whole. And if we don't do it now, we're going to have to do it down the road, and it's going to cost us double."

Rosenberg, an early critic of the proposed school, said that the teaching college would provide a needed middle tier for higher education, serving the needs of students who are overqualified for the community college system but not yet ready for the demands of a university.

"We knew all along that money was going to be tight," Regent Steve Sisolak said. "It's incumbent upon the initial proponents of the project to go out and lobby for funding. Now maybe we can see how much private money is available."

Henderson Mayor Jim Gibson, one of those early supporters, said regents are asking the state "for very little in the first biennium."

Gibson, like Rosenberg, believes that the report, which will be released through the Legislative Council Bureau, will sway legislators.

"The case is made compellingly there, and many people, now and in the future, will be urging that the college be funded," Gibson said.

Several legislators continue to suggest that funding for the college will be found in the final days of the 2001 session, when an expected $200 million surplus is appropriated.