New state college chief goes to work

Jennifer Knight

Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2002 | 11:02 a.m.

On his first day as president of the Nevada State College at Henderson, Kerry Romesburg was greeted with some unfinished business regarding accreditation.

Romesburg said Monday that he knew coming in he would have to win over the public, build enrollment and raise $10 million. What he didn't know is that the paperwork for the accreditation process has not been turned in yet and that the college's economics program has students enrolled but has yet to receive Board of Regents approval.

"It's irrelevant to me why some of these things aren't in place," Romesburg said. "Here we are and we'll get it done."

The loose ends that Romesburg must tie up are a side effect of the college's rapid evolution from concept to creation, officials said.

Plans to accredit the state college under the sponsorship of University of Nevada, Reno have been in place for a long time. But paperwork that was ideally supposed to be sent in by June of this year was delayed.

The result is that students wanting federal aid, such as Pell grants or student loans, will be unable to obtain them.

The snag has prompted some students to wait until spring, when the college is expected to have the problem ironed out.

"There are a couple of students holding off until the spring, but I wouldn't say there are many," said Lois Becker, dean of arts and sciences at the state college.

Romesburg also has several other items marked No. 1 on his "To Do" list. Among them are to woo private donors, to get the state college's message out to the community, and to quadruple enrollment by next February.

Of the 300 students who were accepted to the college, 178 showed up for classes, according to Monday's count. Figures are not yet available on how many students are taking full-time loads, 12 hours or more of classes. That number, however, will fall short of the 500 full-time students paid for by the state.

"We've got a little time to build enrollment," Romesburg said. "But if by the time the Legislature meets and we're only sitting at 100 full-time equivalent students, there will be some serious questions."

Romesburg plans big enrollment drives and a stepped-up advertising campaign. But this will be on a bare-bones budget with no academic vice president to help him, he said.

Romesburg said his background as president of Utah Valley State College in Orem, Utah, will help him. During his 14 years there, he supervised the growth of his institution from 6,000 to 23,000 students.

"I came because of the chance to start from zero," Romesburg said. "This is about as zero as you can get."