Monday, March 15, 2004 | 11:10 a.m.
The Community College of Southern Nevada may be able to offer its first four-year degree program as soon as this fall if the Board of Regents approves a proposal at its meeting this week.
But the proposal is clouded in the controversy surrounding the removal of former college president Ron Remington and the school's lobbyist John Cummings.
While the bachelor of science degree in dental hygiene at the West Charleston campus has been under discussion since the 1980s, the work to turn it into a firm proposal came under Remington.
One of the reasons cited for removing Remington and Cummings in November was that they allegedly pursued money in the Nevada Legislature to develop four-year degrees at the community college and circumvented the regents in the process.
Some regents question how the board can approve the four-year degree program given the reason behind Remington's dismissal, but other regents say the program is long overdue and should be considered on its own merits.
Regent Jill Derby, who has a bachelor's degree in dental hygiene, said the proposed degree program met all of the board's requirements to have a four-year degree at the community college level and would provide an essential addition to the dental degrees offered in the state.
A bachelor's in dental hygiene "puts them (students) in a professional category and gives them a number of options besides private practice," Derby said.
The bachelor of science would allow current community college students to branch out into education, research or public administration, CCSN dental clinic coordinator Mary Ann Haag said.
If the proposal is approved by the board, the community college would be the first school in Nevada to offer the degree, Haag said. CCSN students who wished to pursue the advanced degree in the past had to go out of state.
The degree program has strong support from all six regents on the Academic, Research and Student Affairs committee, who are scheduled to review the proposal along with several other degree programs on Thursday.
But because of Remington's involvement, its approval was delayed in January and it was unclear whether it would have to be postponed again.
A district court judge ordered the regents not to revisit issues surrounding Remington's demotion without first serving notice to Remington that such discussions were going to take place.
The four-year degree proposal was postponed at the request of Regent Steve Sisolak in January because Remington had not been informed the four-year degree would be discussed, and Sisolak said he could not discuss the proposal without discussing Remington's involvement in it.
Sisolak said last week he is frustrated that Remington again has not been served notice that his history with the degree proposal was expected to be discussed this week. Because that notice never went out, Remington's name or involvement in the program cannot be discussed, Tom Ray, attorney for the University and Community College System of Nevada, said.
"I don't know why they are refusing to (provide) notice (to) President Remington about this," Sisolak said. "Clearly one of the reasons they are giving for his demotion was seeking four-year degrees. This is a long-coming proposal coming here, and I don't know how we can talk about it without President Remington."
Remington has not been served notice about several issues tied to his tenure as president on this week's agenda because of pending lawsuits against the board, Chancellor Jane Nichols said. Remington's attorney, Kathleen England, has repeatedly said she would oppose any board discussions on Remington's presidency until she has received a full list of the allegations against Remington and been allowed to prepare a defense.
But both Nichols and Derby stressed that the dental hygiene program and other issues should be evaluated on their own merits.
The program followed the criteria and protocol of the board in establishing the program, Derby said, and thus the committee should be able to approve the program without discussing Remington.
"It's important to the college and it's important to their future," Derby said. "I can't imagine the committee tabling it."
In addition to showing the degree program can be successfully administered and credentialed, community college officials must show there is a need for the program, that it fills a specific niche and that no other institution in the state can meet the need, Derby said.
Most dental hygienists in Nevada and across the nation have associate's degrees, which has created a shortage of more qualified professionals needed to teach future hygienists and to run community-based programs, CCSN Dental Sciences Chairwoman Theresa Raglin and Haag said.
More than 65 percent of 800 hygienists canvassed by the college in the Las Vegas community said they wanted to pursue a bachelor's degree, Raglin said. About 64 full-time students are interested in starting the program in the fall.
Students in the program would have to meet university-level general education requirements in addition to the professional training, Raglin said. Students would also take classes in either education, public health or research to "expand their role as a dental hygienists."
All students would complete a capstone project to promote or study oral health in the community as part of their degree, Raglin said.
The other universities have signed off on the college's proposal, Raglin said. The University of Nevada, Las Vegas dental school, only a year old, already uses CCSN's dental hygiene clinic to train its dentists.
Currently the State Board of Dental Examiners requires the minimum of a bachelor's degree for dental hygienists to work in secondary schools or other community programs that provide preventative dental services to impoverished communities, Haag said.
"We are going to need hygienists in the community," Haag said. "We don't have any right now."
Obstacles from the board have plagued CCSN efforts to develop the dental hygiene bachelor's degree since the early 1980s, Haag said.
"This isn't the first time I've watched this be thrown out," Haag said. "This is the closest we've come to getting it passed."
Haag said she thought the program was being unnecessarily connected to Remington.
"It's a needed thing in this community, very needed," Haag said. "And it's a shame that anybody would stop a need or stop an educational process."
If approved by the committee, and then subsequently the rest of the board, the degree program would be offered as soon as the fall.
Sisolak, who supports the program, said he did not know if he would again attempt to table the proposal because of the Remington issues.
"I don't want the ability of the college to move forward and function hindered because of these lawsuits," Sisolak said. "But I do want to discuss the issues."
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