College chief Romesburg takes job in Florida

Wednesday, June 2, 2004 | 11 a.m.

Nevada State College President Kerry Romesburg swears that he loves his job, loves the college and loves this state.

Just not enough to stay.

Romesburg also loves a challenge, and so he is leaving Nevada to become the new president of Jacksonville University in Florida after his selection by the university's board of trustees.

"I've spent 30 years on the public side, and I think this will be a very different opportunity and a great challenge," Romesburg said Tuesday.

State higher education officials, regents and Nevada State College faculty and staff said they were saddened by Romesburg's decision. But while regents bemoaned the loss as a blow to Nevada's entire system of higher education, the college's faculty and staff asserted that the start-up school will continue to forge ahead.

"I'm heartbroken and devasted for higher education in Nevada," Regent Mark Alden, whose district includes the college, said. "He's irreplaceable. You don't often get this caliber of person. You just don't."

Most of the university regents reached Tuesday were unaware of Romesburg's decision but echoed the sentiment that Jacksonville's gain is Nevada's loss.

"I wish him well," Regent Steve Sisolak said. "It's a tremendous opportunity for him but it's unfortunate for Nevada. He really was instrumental in getting the state college up.

"It's going to be huge shoes to fill," Sisolak said.

Alden worried about the college losing ground in its efforts to raise private money for its first building, which would hamper the college's enrollment if it is not finished in time. That in turn, would affect the state's mission of training more nurses and teachers, one of the key goals of the state college. About $8 million in private money still needs to be raised.

"Does this set us back?" Alden continued. "Yes, it does. Are we going to recover? Yes, of course."

Administrators and faculty members at the college, however, were far more positive. They said Romesburg's decision to move to the private sector made them resolved to build on the foundations that Romesburg helped lay.

"We will surge forward," said Lois Becker, associate vice president for academic affairs and dean of arts, sciences and history. "We have tremendous enrollment, our academic structure is in place, our commitment to student success is in place.

"We're an unstoppable train now," she said.

Erica Beck, chairwoman of the psychology department, said the team-focused atmosphere that Romesburg instilled ensured that the college would succeed despite the loss of any one individual.

"We have a team of outstanding faculty, and the team is here to support the mission of the college, and we will continue to flourish," Beck said.

Romesburg said he had "mixed emotions" about his decision to leave Nevada State College.

"This is one of those bittersweet moments that we often have to deal with in our careers," Romesburg said.

What drew Romesburg away, he said, was the chance to do something completely different.

Jacksonville University is a small, private college in downtown Jacksonville, with a student body of about 2,100 students, according to the college's Web site. A junior college until 1956, the institution primarily offers bachelor's degrees and a few select master's degrees in teaching, business administration, nursing and orthodontics.

Working in the private sector is also an entirely different experience, with no legislative bodies to answer to, no open-meeting laws to worry about and no state funding to fight for.

"It really was the fact that this is an independent private university (that drew me to Jacksonville)," Romesburg said. "I really think it has some great potential and it is one thing I haven't done."

Another benefit, Romesburg said, is that his son lives within an hour-and-a-half of Jacksonville. He would not comment on the compensation package Jacksonville offered him, other than to say it was satisfactory.

"The great thing about a private institution is that we don't have to say," Romesburg said, noting that his salary has been published for the past 30 years.

Romesburg said he had no doubts that Nevada State College would continue with its recent success.

Interim Chancellor Jim Rogers, a major supporter of Nevada State College and of Romesburg, and who previously served on the college's foundation, agreed that Romesburg's success will make it easier to find a replacement.

"I will miss him because I like him and I think he's a superstar," Rogers said. "But I think that, with what he's built here, we can get someone who is just as good if not even better because I think he built the foundation for us to do that."

Rogers said the regents will have to establish a search committee and approve an interim replacement for Romesburg, but Rogers did yet not know whom he would recommend for the job.