Removal of remedial classes at universities eyed

Jennifer Knight

Monday, Jan. 27, 2003 | 11:05 a.m.

Nevada's two universities could lose funding for thousands of students enrolled in remedial classes if a new Board of Regents proposal is approved.

Regents Mark Alden and Doug Hill are asking the board to explore a plan later this week to move all remedial-level classes to the community colleges by fall 2004.

The plan could save the state money since universities receive more funding per student than the state college or community colleges, Hill said. But university officials maintain that such a change would create funding and scheduling holes that would take time to fill.

The proposal is to be discussed at the Board of Regents meeting in Las Vegas on Thursday and Friday.

"It is almost a logistic implausibility," Ray Alden, provost for the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, said. "We obviously have a pent-up demand for classroom space, but we would have to shift around courses that we don't have space for and that will take quite awhile to make that change."

Remedial education has been a controversial topic in higher education because some argue that it is not the job of a university to teach high school level English and math. About 12.6 percent of the state's freshmen enroll in remedial-level courses, according to a University and Community College System of Nevada study.

Of the 11,353 students enrolled in remedial math and English in 2002, UNLV handled 2,148 students and the University of Nevada, Reno, enrolled 772 students.

Hill said such courses are not necessarily the best fit for a university.

"Universities are striving to make their institutions better and they tell me they have a shortage of space and funds," Hill said. "It would seem to me that it might be better to shift remediation to the community colleges."

There were no figures available on what the financial impact such a change would be, but if universities do not transition slowly away offering remedial classes, they stand to lose money in the short term, Alden said.

"There would be an effective loss of budget while those changes were made," the provost said.

Regent Steve Sisolak questioned the motive behind the agenda item.

"I don't know why the rush -- unless someone is trying to fill an unmet need that exists at the state college," Sisolak said.

The Nevada State College at Henderson would be one of the institutions identified to handle the shift in demand. The state college has only been able to fill one-fourth the amount of spaces funded by the Legislature. Sisolak said if more students enroll in remedial courses at the state college, it would generate extra money for the struggling institution.

"That linkage was never part of the rationale," Chancellor Jane Nichols said. "I think this (proposal) was clearly the result of (one regent) reading about this happening in California."

Regent Mark Alden, who helped put the funding shift on the agenda, said saving the state money was the key reason.

"It's an absolute waste of taxpayers dollars for these classes to be at the university," the regent said. "These people who are against it are not looking out for the best interest of the student or the state."

Universities have long professed a desire to get out of the remedial education business. But administrators are suggesting that regents wait until higher admissions standards go into effect in 2010.