Plan would start new college’s classes at CCSN

Jennifer Knight

Monday, June 18, 2001 | 10:29 a.m.

An offer is on the table to help the Nevada State College save money on its first year of operation by beginning classes at Community College of Southern Nevada's Henderson campus, CCSN officials say.

"Obviously we're going to have to pull together for a while," said Ron Remington, who becomes CCSN's new president July 1. "We'll have to help support the state college, and I think that (Mike Meyer) has a plan for that."

Meyer, CCSN's outgoing interim president, first proposed the idea after learning that the 2001 Legislature did not approve $1 million in first-year startup costs for the state college, he said.

The financial crunch has left three positions at the state college unfunded. Because of the funding problem, state Board of Regents, which oversees Nevada's higher education institutions, approved an unusual two-year contract on Friday to allow Richard Moore to stay on as the state college president as long as the money was there.

"I've never seen a contract like that in my life," said Regent Linda Howard, who did not vote to approve Moore's contract.

Moore has until June 30 to come up with the money. In the meantime, the CCSN option could offer Moore some relief in his fund-raising efforts, because it would save him the extra expense of building out space on the state college's new site.

The city of Henderson has pledged 73 acres of land on Wagon Wheel Drive off of U.S. 95 to the state college. A vitamin building on that site was planned to temporarily house classrooms in the first year of the college's operation in fall of 2000.

Before the building is occupied, however, classrooms would have to be constructed, potentially eating up precious dollars from the operating budget.

There is no indication yet whether Moore will take the offer to begin classes at CCSN. Moore could not be reached this morning.

If Moore can meet the first year's costs of running the college and raise $10 million for construction, the college will have access to all of the other funds approved by the 2001 Legislature.

In the second year the state college will have $7 million for operating costs and $13.4 million for construction.

CCSN's plan would lend the use of 10 classrooms on the Henderson campus for the state college's first year of classes. Meyer did not explain how the two colleges would co-exist.

It was originally feared that CCSN and the state college would compete for freshmen and sophomore students, but Remington said that is not the case.

"I think there are many different models where institutions can complement each other," Remington said. "We're going to have to have to borrow from (the California) model and learn how to work together."