Small steps: Henderson college enrollment makes modest gain

Jennifer Knight

Thursday, Jan. 30, 2003 | 11:04 a.m.

The Nevada State College at Henderson, which kicked off its spring semester this week, saw a small increase in its enrollment over last fall.

Enrollment at the new college jumped from 116 full-time students in its inaugural semester last fall to 199 full-time students this semester, officials said Wednesday.

"It's not a large difference, but for us, it makes a difference," said Kerry Romesburg, NSC's president.

The state college's enrollment still falls far short of the equivalent of 500 full-time students, the enrollment for which it was funded by the state. But no matter how small the increase in students is, state college advocates are expected to use every bit of it to show lawmakers that the institution is worth spending millions of dollars on.

The University and Community College System of Nevada had originally requested $15 million in funding for the state college over the next two years; earlier this month, that request was trimmed to about $6 million, Romesburg said.

The Legislature begins its four-month session next week.

Romesburg said he believes the enrollment surge this semester is a result of two things: word-of-mouth recommendations, and full classes at UNLV and the Community College of Southern Nevada.

Many classes in areas such as nursing, teaching and biology at CCSN and University of Nevada, Las Vegas are reportedly can't take any more students, and that's more proof of the need for the state college, Romesburg said.

At CCSN, the admissions office recorded about 20,000 failed attempts last fall to register for nursing classes online. This semester is more of the same, said Ron Remington, CCSN's president.

"Some of these classes form bottlenecks for people who want to get into programs such as nursing," Remington said. "I think the state college will help with the overflow from the two institutions."

UNLV saw a 31 percent increase in students signing up for biology courses this semester. Enrollment in education courses is up about 15 percent, said Ray Alden, UNLV's provost.

"What we're facing is growth on top of growth," Alden said. "Certain departments are just hitting a wall with how many students they can accommodate."

Some new students taking classes for the first time at the state college said they left UNLV because it was too difficult to negotiate getting into classes and to find parking on campus.

"I transferred here from UNLV this week," said Jane Thurlow, a junior majoring in English. "I went to UNLV for three years and couldn't get into the classes I wanted. It's just a mess. Parking. Everything. I hated it."

Like Thurlow, many of the students said they heard about the state college through word of mouth.

"Someone else told me Friday about this school," said Marisa Hester, a junior majoring in nursing. "I got accepted like that."

Alden said the problems that UNLV students say they experience with campus services are a function of the state's budget problems.

After the announcement by Gov. Kenny Guinn last summer that each higher education institution would have to cut 3 percent from its budget, areas such as the registrar's office and bursar's office, where student enrollment and payment are handled, were directly affected.

"That is where a lot of the hiring freeze hit," Alden said. "If you take as many students that you can handle and don't hire additional staff, services are going to suffer."

Newly elected state Sen. Barbara Cegavske, R-Las Vegas, said UNLV and CCSN would have an easier time if the state college was not sucking so much funding out of the system.

"It's sad that we would jeopardize supporting one program at the expense of the others," Cegavske said Monday.

According to Guinn's proposed budget, the state college would receive $2.8 million from the state General Fund in 2003-2004 and $3.2 million in 2004-2005.

Cegavske pointed out that those figures would give the college about $9,333 per student the first year and $6,400 per student the second, based on projected enrollment.

"That's too much," Cegavske said. "There's just not enough students to outweigh the benefits. To support building an institution for 276 students is not a very good investment."

Cegavske said that she plans to recommend that funding for the state college be cut completely this legislative session.

Romesburg said he has heard of Cegavske's plans, but believes there is not enough support in the Legislature to kill all of the school's funding.

"It doesn't make a great deal of sense to do that," Romesburg said. "If they were to eliminate this institution right now, it would cost us $2.8 million in salary commitments. I don't really gamble, but I don't think those are really great odds." Certain departments are just hitting a wall with how many students they can accommodate.