Regents to decide on chancellor post at May 7 meeting

Thursday, April 22, 2004 | 9:17 a.m.

The Board of Regents is slated to decide May 7 whether television station owner Jim Rogers will be interim chancellor of the University and Community College System of Nevada.

The item was added to the agenda of an already scheduled retreat, Suzanne Ernst, the regents' chief administrative officer, said. Nearly every regent called the office to express support for the item's addition to the agenda and it was approved by board Chairman Stavros Anthony, Ernst said.

Rogers, owner of Sunbelt Communications Co., which includes KVBC Channel 3, has volunteered his services as interim chancellor for a stipend of $1. He would replace Jane Nichols, who is retiring because of hearing problems and intends to return to a teaching position.

He has also said he is willing to serve as permanent chancellor for up to a four-year term if the job were offered to him "further down the road."

The immediate goal, Rogers said Wednesday, is to give the regents the support and stability they need to do their jobs.

Rogers has donated more than $200 million to higher education causes across the country -- including $28.5 million to the Boyd School of Law at the Unviersity of Nevada, Las Vegas. He is also chairman of a $1 billion capital campaign at the University of Arizona -- where he earned his undergraduate and law degrees -- that has exceeded its goal a year ahead of schedule.

If chosen by the regents in May, Rogers said he would likely bring several members of his personal staff with him to the chancellor's office. In addition to his personal administative assistant, Rogers said he would ask his law partner of more than 40 years, Earl Monsey, to work with him at the chancellor's office part time.

Rogers said he would pay the salaries of any employees he brought with him and would not replace any existing university system staff.

"I don't have any intention of disrupting anything," Rogers said. "These are just people who coordinate everything that I do and take care of my special needs."

Tom Ray, the system's general counsel, said he hadn't been briefed on Rogers' staffing proposal and therefore couldn't comment on the specifics or potential legal liabilities that might be entailed. But it isn't unheard of for such arrangements to take place, Ray said.

"We've worked out similar situations in the past with volunteer agreements," Ray said. "It can be done."

Regent Steve Sisolak said he met with Rogers for about 90 minutes Tuesday and was pleased with the outcome of the discussion. The immediate priority for the Board of Regents should be getting someone into the chancellor's office as quickly as possible so that any learning curve is conquered well in advance of next year's legislative session, Sisolak said.

"Jim Rogers obviously cares tremendously about education. He doesn't just write big checks, he gets involved personally," Sisolak said. "He brings a perspective we could certainly use."

Longtime political consultant Sig Rogich said hiring Rogers as interim chancellor would be "an excellent move" for the Board of Regents.

"With him in place the regents would have time to reach out with a national search and not rush to judgment," Rogich said.

As for Rogers' plan to bring some of his employees with him, Rogich said that would be a benefit, not a conflict.

"We'd want someone like Jim because of the business-like approach he would bring to the university system as a whole," Rogich said. "If that means bringing in some other people on his dollar and his watch, then the more the better."