Will CCSN offer 4-year programs?

Jennifer Knight

Monday, Aug. 27, 2001 | 10:57 a.m.

A majority of the members of Nevada's higher education board say they'll consider a proposal for the Community College of Southern Nevada to become a four-year bachelor-degree granting institution.

"I'm perfectly willing to listen to the proposal," said Regent Howard Rosenberg, one of six regents reached last week who said they would remain open to the concept. "The whole idea of a third tier in education is to provide access."

Ron Remington, CCSN's newly appointed president, is exploring the possibility of offering limited bachelor's degrees at the Cheyenne campus to reach the school's high population of blacks and other minorities.

"The Las Vegas Valley has nearly 1.5 million people, and we need to provide them better access to higher education," Remington said last week.

At CCSN's Cheyenne campus, 47 percent of the students are minorities, and 14 percent of the student body is black, according to CCSN. That is larger than at the Charleston campus, where 40 percent are minority, only 9 percent black.

In Henderson, where the Nevada State College will be built, the minority makeup is even smaller. The CCSN campus in Henderson is made up of 25 percent minority students, 4 percent black.

Remington successfully brought four-year programs to his former institution, Great Basin College in Elko. His program so impressed the Legislature that a few members on the Education Committee cited it as an example of what other community colleges could do.

Regents on Thursday will meet for a work session on Nevada's future in higher education. Regent Tom Wiesner said that it would be a good forum to discuss the option to determine whether it is a viable plan.

But not everyone is hot about the idea. Regent Dorothy Gallagher said that Las Vegas isn't like the remote, underserved community of Elko. Besides, she pointed out, "Ron Remington is new. He's barely gotten his feet on the ground."

More important, she said, is timing. The idea comes when the floundering state college is trying to start its four-year institution under the umbrella of CCSN's Henderson campus.

"I don't think it's in the master plan, and I don't think, with the Nevada State College at Henderson coming on, it's a particularly good idea," Gallagher said.

Regents approved the concept of a state college more than a year ago and appointed former CCSN President Richard Moore to lead the institution. The college's mission is to fill the demand for teachers and nurses in the state by offering bachelor's degrees in both fields.

Financial shortages have led Moore to ask Remington to house the startup institution at CCSN's Henderson campus until enough money can be raised to build a more permanent facility.

CCSN also would like to offer bachelor's degrees in nursing and teaching, Remington said.

"I don't think there's a conflict between the two institutions," he said. "Truly, we should be looking into the future. Eight to 10 years down the road, I see several institutions that would grant baccalaureate degrees."

A Rand Corporation study commissioned by the university system backs the idea of multiple four-year colleges. The study suggested that four to six four-year institutions be established over the next decade to increase access at many different levels to higher education.

Right now UNLV is the only bachelor degree-granting institution in Southern Nevada and is unable to fill the growing need for teachers and nurses in the state, according to university and community college system officials.

That need was underscored during a recent regents meeting in Reno, when representatives from the Nevada Hospital Association told the board that hospitals were short by about 500 nurses. That shortage is expected to double over the next 10 years if more isn't done by the state's higher education system, regents were told.

In light of the national teacher shorgage, which is expected to worsen, the the Clark County School District wants more teacher training in Nevada. Keeping potential teachers here would help, district officials say, because the county can't afford the higher salaries and perks other states are offering.

The suggestion of expanding CCSN's two-year programs is not a new one. Moore suggested the idea several years ago and received positive feedback from legislators and regents. An official proposal was never given to regents, however, because the idea for the state college came along.

"I think it's by far the most cost-effective option," Regent Steve Sisolak said. "If you really want to address the need for teachers and nurses and take the egos out of it, it's a good idea."