Dental school deal commits students to seven years

Jennifer Knight

Friday, Oct. 10, 2003 | 9:48 a.m.

UNLV officials presented a plan to the Board of Regents Thursday that would mean a multimillion-dollar deal for the dental school but would potentially lock students into a seven-year agreement that some regents described as a form of "indentured servitude."

Under the deal, which is still under negotiation, University of Nevada, Las Vegas officials would accept nearly $47 million from a private orthodontics company to build a 20,000-square-foot facility, staff it with faculty and offer scholarships to students.

In exchange for the money, UNLV would provide the land for the facility and would use some of the money to pay for eight scholarships for students wanting to specialize in orthodontics. Students who receive the scholarships would have their tuition paid for and receive a $30,000-a-year stipend with the agreement that they work for the private orthodontics company for a period of seven years after graduation.

"That's one of the complaints ... there is concern that (the school would be) compromising the program with outside financial influence because it's sort of like indentured servitude," Regent Steve Sisolak said.

Regent Doug Hill also expressed concern about the potential arrangement, using similar terms.

"The concern that this raises is suppose you have 30 applicants and the top 12 that you select do not want to do this -- well, I was going to say indentured servitude -- but we'll say contract," Hill said. "How does that affect the donor?"

Dr. Patrick Ferrillo, dean of the dental school, said even if students don't agree to those terms and do not take the scholarships, the school could still stay afloat on money that is not earmarked for the scholarships.

The deal involves separate sources of money, including an initial gift of $3 million that would be endowed, and $37.5 million to be used on student scholarships over 30 years.

"It looks great and whenever anything looks great you always wonder what the hell could go wrong that you can't see," Regent Howard Rosenberg said.

The company UNLV would contract with, Orthodontic Education Co., is the subject of a complaint filed by the American Association of Orthodontists. The association claims that a similar arrangement with Jacksonville University in Florida does not satisfy accreditation standards.

"(Accreditation standards) provide that programs must ensure that financial support from entities outside the institutions does not compromise the integrity of the programs or the professional options of the students and/or graduates," association executives wrote in a June 5 letter.

According to the association a seven-year contract locking students into working for one of Orthodontic Education Co.'s clinics undermines that integrity.

But UNLV President Carol Harter was careful to point out that students are free to get out of the contract if they choose. They would have to repay any tuition and scholarship money if they did so.

Ferrillo said that complaint is now moot, because the Department of Education ruled that the accrediting agency, which gave the orthodontics program provisional approval, is the final authority. He added that the program will help disadvantaged students.

"It offers a group of students (a chance) to enter into a practice that they wouldn't previously have been able to afford to enter," Ferrillo said.

Regents will receive the donor's final offer in December and decide then whether to accept the terms.