Consultants say state college plays vital role

Friday, June 18, 2004 | 9:28 a.m.

Though it is consistently a popular target for budget cutters, the state college in Henderson plays an important and necessary role in higher education in Nevada, a trio of consultants told a Legislative committee Thursday.

The consultants said that if Nevada wants to be able to handle the state's massive growth, diversify its economy and meet the educational needs of citizens, the state needs the University and Community College of Nevada System to have institutions that play various roles.

That means the state's universities need to begin restricting growth and increasing the selectivity of its students in order to become true research universities, and that a second-tier of state colleges need to pick up that enrollment growth, Dennis Jones, president of the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems, told lawmakers.

The community colleges should also stick to their mission of providing vocational training and access to higher education for as many people as possible, Jones said, and should not delve into four-year programs.

Interim Chancellor Jim Rogers said he couldn't have agreed more with the consultants.

"I buy into this 100 percent," Rogers said, noting that the Board of Regents has already been working on many of the consultants' recommendations.

"It isn't new and shocking," Rogers said of the suggestions. "It's what is done in every other state."

The Legislative committee, which included lawmakers, university regents and advisers from the private sector, approved several of the consultant's recommendations -- including the need for a strategic financial plan -- at Thursday's meeting.

The committee is working on a final draft of the consultants' report and their recommendations that will be forwarded to university regents and Rogers, giving the system the authority and responsibility to implement the recommendations.

Not everyone, however, was gung ho about the need for the state college. During the consultants' presentation, state Sen. Barbara Cegavske, R-Las Vegas, repeatedly took jabs at Nevada State College, saying that it would be amazing if it "survives after yesterday's IFC (Interim Finance Committee) meeting."

Several members at the finance committee meeting had been upset that the college planned to ask for $9 million from the state for its first building after college officials had promised to raise the money privately. Cegavske said she thought the state would be better served by allowing community colleges to offer more four-year programs.

Sen. Warren Hardy, R-Las Vegas, chairman of the higher education committee, said his committee was lucky in that it got to focus on what the needs are, not how to pay for them.

"Our mission is to focus on Nevada State College and how it can help out needs in higher education," Hardy said.

Developing a better financing plan for higher education, however, was another major component in the consultant's recommendations.

Jones and fellow consultants, David Longanecker, executive director of the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education, and Paul Lingenfelter, president of the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association, recommended that the Legislature work with university regents to develop a strategic financing plan that would better reflect and meet the needs of all of the system's institutions.

The finance plan should establish minimum funding levels, consultants said, and should provide remedies for when institutions went under or over that level. The plan should include provisions for one or more investment funds each biennium to provide for other budgetary priorities, such as economic development and K-12 improvement.

The consultants also recommended that state officials revisit the tuition policy, and even consider raising tuition with the provision that money be set aside for a better, need-based financial aid program.

They also recommended that the Legislature include capital budget requests for new buildings as an integrated part of that budget plan, possibly even increasing higher education's share of that state money.