Motives for college questioned

Jeffrey Libby

Monday, April 9, 2001 | 11:16 a.m.

State legislators are suggesting that Henderson officials have larger plans in mind for the proposed Nevada State College at Henderson.

The institution was proposed two years ago as the state's first four-year college to help fill teacher and nursing shortages in Southern Nevada.

But legislators and regents publicly questioned who really is planning the college after the Sun reported Friday that Henderson officials in an application for federal land put the projected cost of building the college at as much as $1.3 billion.

"I think that they may have bigger plans," Sen. Bob Coffin, D-Las Vegas, said.

"They may not be satisfied with a state college or a city college."

"It's important to know that if this project comes to fruition, the college will not be run by Henderson City Hall," university system Regent Steve Sisolak said. "It will be run by university regents."

Several legislators, including Sen. Majority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno, said it was doubtful that the college would receive $1.3 billion in construction funding alone over the 16-year construction period estimated by Henderson city planners.

"Even over that period of time it would be highly unlikely that that kind of commitment could be made," Raggio, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, said Friday afternoon.

The $1.3 billion figure could require $163 million in state funding over each of the next eight bienniums. In 1999, the legislature approved $133 million in new construction and building improvements for the entire state university system.

Gov. Kenny Guinn has requested $23 million in funding from the 2001 Legislature to get the school off the ground.

"This has been envisioned, if at all, as a small institution for training nurses and teachers. That's been the representation anyway," Raggio said.

Coffin said the long-term cost estimate "sounds like a budget for a full-fledged university campus."

In an application to the Bureau of Land Management to acquire 555 acres of land, Henderson planners estimated construction costs for seven colleges on campuses of 42 acres to 105 acres. Those plans were drawn up without consulting state university system regents or officials.

The initial campus would be built on 22 city-owned acres in a light industrial park in the foothills of the McCullough Range. The federal land is adjacent to the site.

Sisolak said the planning of the college needs to slow down so that regents and Henderson planners can get on the same page.

Sisolak said he is also concerned about "degree creep." In a meeting Friday, state college planners and regents proposed several new degree programs in addition to training teachers and nurses.

"We don't have a firm site. A shovel isn't in the ground. We don't have one student. And already plans have expanded," Sisolak said. "This has opened up a lot of people's eyes. Some people are starting to feel like we have to get a handle on this project."

Assembly Speaker Richard Perkins, D-Henderson, who led the two-year study to justify building Nevada's first state college, did not return calls for comment this morning.

But state Sen. Jon Porter, R-Henderson, said today that plans have not grown more grandiose. He emphasized the difficulty of projecting construction costs nearly 20 years into the future. He called the billion-dollar figure a rough estimate.

"From testimony I've heard, and from research, I believe in the need for a four-year college," Porter said. "Right now we need to focus on what dollars we have today."

Assemblywoman Barbara Cegavske, R-Las Vegas, said the long-term cost estimate is just one piece of information she had asked for but never received answers on during discussions of the need for a new state college.

Cegavske said she is still waiting to hear back on why the university system is proposing a new college to train more teachers when UNLV and other community colleges have no waiting lists to get into classes. She is also concerned about preserving funds for salary raises for teachers and for state employees.

"I'm not willing to sacrifice either one of these for that (state college) project," Cegavske said.