Editorial: Goals come with a price

Friday, Dec. 3, 2004 | 6:27 a.m.

WEEKEND EDITION

December 4 - 5, 2004

There are three things to bear in mind when pondering the future of higher education in Nevada: Money, money and money.

Interim Chancellor Jim Rogers did not put it exactly like that in his "State of the University and Community College System" speech, delivered Thursday at UNLV before the Board of Regents. But he did point out that in the seven months since he was appointed chancellor, he's learned that the system is severely underfunded. He devoted much of his speech to ideas for increasing the system's revenue, so that it can accommodate its potential for growth and academic development.

"There is no shortcut or cheap fix to creating a world-class system of higher education," Rogers said in prepping his audience to begin thinking of ways to increase the system's cash flow.

We support Rogers' theme, as there is no denying the correlation between revenue and excellence when it comes to the quality of education at any state's system of higher education. Well-financed schools can build the kinds of facilities and attract the quality of teaching staff that lure top students and produce noteworthy research. In his 2003 State of the State address, Gov. Kenny Guinn said, "I want to see higher education in Nevada become a center for research ..." This has been a goal of Nevada's for more than a decade, and Rogers emphasized a boost in revenue because that's the way to achieve it.

Rogers all along has recommended stepped-up fund-raising in the private sector and he repeated that call Thursday. At the close of the 2003 Legislature, higher education had received a budget boost of nearly $45 million for each of the next two fiscal years, which is about all it could have anticipated. So Rogers is rightly zeroing in on other avenues. He suggested, for example, that local governments pitch in and help fund the community colleges.

Another idea was that universities and colleges should be allowed to keep any unused budgeted funds, instead of turning them back over to the state. Forfeiting unexpended funds encourages wasteful spending, as it provides incentive to spend the money even if there is no immediate pressing need, Rogers said. Rolled-over money, he suggested, could be used to set up need-based scholarships. Although giving back unused money is standard procedure throughout government, it has long been criticized as leading to wasteful spending. We'd like to see the university be allowed to adopt this idea as a pilot program. It could lead to savings elsewhere.

Rogers spoke of other issues, such as strengthening the executive power of the chancellor and preserving the Board of Regents as an elected, 13-member board as opposed to an appointed board with fewer members. But it was his theme of generating more financial support for the university system that registered most with us. The state can set goals from now until the end of the century, but it needs a financial plan -- beyond biennial budget increases -- for achieving them.