Regents approve GPA hike to 3.0

Jennifer Knight

Friday, Dec. 7, 2001 | 2:20 a.m.

The Board of Regents this morning voted to raise admission standards under a compromise plan.

Under the plan, approved by a 8-2 vote, the entrance requirement will increase from 2.5 to a weighted GPA of 2.75 by 2006, and to 3.0 by 2010.

"This is the thing we need to do," said Regent Howard Rosenberg.

The adopted plan is more expansive than the board's original proposal, which came two months ago and called for students entering the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and the University of Nevada, Reno, to enter with a 3.0 grade point average, as compared to the current 2.5. The plan would have been phased in over four years.

Rosenberg and other proponents of the new adopted standards encountered opposition, primarily from Regent Linda Howard, who wanted a separate proposal submitted by the minority community included in the vote.

Howard and Regent Tom Kirkpatrick cast the dissenting votes. Regent Tom Wiesner did not attend the meeting.

Still, Tom Rodriguez of the Reynaldo L. Martinez Institute for Leadership and Research said he supports the new plan.

"I think this was a good move," Rodriguez said. "The proposal as approved gives us two-thirds of what we asked for."

Regents on Thursday discussed raising admission standards, but adjourned without voting.

Regents Kirpatrick, Howard and Steve Sisolak asked that the issue be postponed until they are better prepared to discuss the options.

Other regents, however, were prepared to vote.

"It strikes me that we may be on the verge of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory here," regent Jill Derby said Thursday. "I think that the process we've followed is really in some ways exemplary. The policy the presidents have brought to us clearly represents (the public's) concerns. I think this is a good proposal."

UNLV Vice President Juanita Fain said that she believes university officials had done everything they could to prepare regents for a vote on the new admissions' standards.

"This has been a very difficult debate but a very important one, sometimes even painful,' Fain said. "There's so much passion and care about the children of Nevada, sometimes we disagree on how to get there."

School officials say they plan to monitor how the new standards, if adopted, would affect minorities each year after 2006.

Alternative routes for students who fall below the minimum GPA requirement are also built into the plan. Up to 10 percent of applicants with hardships and special talents, for example, would qualify for admission.

University representatives also proposed a dual admission provision to students who don't qualify to enter as freshmen. Students would be granted guaranteed admission to the university if they complete two years at the community college and carry a 2.5 GPA.

Community college students are currently required to carry a 2.0 GPA if they plan to transfer to a state university. That requirement would increase to 2.3 by 2006 and 3.0 by 2010.

UNLV President Carol Harter pushed for the weighted average, which was added to ensure students don't take easier high school courses in an attempt to meet admissions requirements.

Howard supported the revised rules, albeit with several exceptions, which she proposed in a separate plan. These include:

* Establishing talks between university officials and local school districts to align curriculums from kindergarten through college;

* Setting aside 5 percent of the total budget to step up minority recruiting and retention efforts;

* Establishing a need-based scholarship for low-income students;

* Requiring a survival skills course for entering freshmen. The course would include study and library skills;

* Increasing the percentage of students granted admission under special circumstances from 6 percent to 12 percent, and limiting the number of athletes who can apply under this process.

* Establishing a citizens' evaluation committee to review enrollment and recruitment data.

Sun reporter Emily Richmond contributed to this story.