Editorial: Student government needs more controls

Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2001 | 8:34 a.m.

In July the Sun reported that there had been years of unchecked spending by student government at the Community College of Southern Nevada. A lack of oversight meant that student leaders made many questionable expenditures involving thousands of dollars. They lavished meals on themselves and went on costly out-of-state junkets. Shortly after the story was published, the Board of Regents, the elected body that oversees the state's community colleges and universities, said it would take steps to prevent future abuses. But, as the Sun's Jennifer Knight reported Monday, so far the regents haven't implemented any structural reforms.

The community college president has appointed new advisers to help student government leaders comply with regents' policies and adhere to budgeting guidelines. But this new advisory team didn't help matters when it told student government leaders that they should send 10 people to Primm in August for a retreat, ostensibly to allow themselves to get to know one another better and learn more about how student government works. Apparently it didn't dawn on the advisers to save $10,000 by finding a room at the community college to accomplish the same thing for free.

The community college's student government collects $2 from students for every credit hour, which means the student government has nearly $600,000 every year for discretionary spending on student activities. The Board of Regents said this summer that they would reduce the student fee from $2 per credit hour to 50 cents, a move that would put the institution in line with other student governments. The Board of Regents not only should decrease the fees collected from students, but the board also should place tighter reins on spending.