Regents lament possible loss of college president

Tuesday, May 18, 2004 | 9:37 a.m.

As Nevada State College faculty and staff were still basking in the success of the infant institution's first graduation, they were hit Monday with the news that another obstacle may lie ahead.

President Kerry Romesburg, the man whom system officials and university regents credit with making the college a reality, was one of two finalists for the top job at Jacksonville University in Florida.

"If we do lose him, it will be a huge, huge loss for our state," said Regent Mark Alden, whose district includes the college.

Alden was one of many regents who said they were saddened to hear of Romesburg's candidacy for the Jacksonville presidency, but he was also one of many who said he was not surprised Romesburg was being recruited.

"He's one of the most respected educational leaders in the country, so I'm not surprised," Alden said. "If I were a trustee for another school, I would have him in my sights too."

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.

Jacksonville's last president, retired Navy Adm. David Harlow, left the university following revelations of financial and management troubles.

Romesburg was expected to visit the campus today, according to a Jacksonville press release. His competitor, John Byrd, executive vice president of the University of Evansville in Indiana, will visit the campus Wednesday, and the selection committee expects to make a recommendation to the college trustees by mid-June.

"I think it would be a big loss to us because he is such a superstar," interim Chancellor Jim Rogers said. "But if you have superstars, you can't expect that someone won't try to recruit them."

Rogers, who had been scheduled to have breakfast with Romesburg this morning, said Romesburg had told him he was recruited for the position but had not said whether he would take the job.

"There's been no indication that he has been seeking the job or that he had any interest in it," Rogers said, adding that he hoped Romesburg would choose to stay.

Romesburg was unavailable for comment. College spokesman Spencer Stewart was surprised to hear of Romesburg's candidacy and said he could not comment until after he talked with Romesburg, who was out of the office until Thursday.

For a Board of Regents that is generally torn on the issues, Romesburg's successes as a president is one of the few things all 13 regents agree on, Regent Steve Sisolak said.

"I believe he is the reason the Nevada State College has made it through the problems that it has," Sisolak said. "Without Kerry Romesburg, I don't think the college would be in the place that it is."

Romesburg replaced founding president Richard Moore three weeks into the college's first semester in September 2002. At the time, naysayers had doubted the college would even open its doors, and they predicted the college would fold before it could produce a graduate.

Instead, under Romesburg's leadership, enrollment at the college has soared from 165 to 738 students in two years, doubled its academic offerings and celebrated its inaugural graduation class of 13 students.

Romesburg has also overseen the establishment of a master plan, worked to improve transportation access to the Henderson college, made the first steps to become a Hispanic-serving institution and raised an initial $1 million in private money toward construction of the college's humanities building.

Romesburg managed all that even though the 2003 Legislature cut his funding and some lawmakers threatened to shut the college down altogether, Alden said.

"He got stuck with a lot of tough tasks and he's done extremely well," Alden said. Alden added that Romesburg still has many difficult tasks ahead as president, including raising another $8 million for the humanities building.

Most regents interviewed by the Sun Monday said they doubted Romesburg could be replaced.

The news even got the typically quiet Regent Thalia Dondero to claim that she was going to "put together a posse to keep him here."

"He's done such a tremendously good job, and I would just hate for him to go now before he is able to enjoy the fruits of his labor," Dondero said. "Because he has worked very, very hard."

Regent Jack Lund Schofield seconded Dondero's comment, adding that he would "join her posse."

"He's just a very classy person and he's done a lot for the universities that he has been at," Schofield said.

Both regents and system officials, however, acknowledged that Romesburg would have to decide what was best for him, and if Jacksonville "made an offer he couldn't refuse," as Schofield put it, then they would have to let him go.

"They couldn't get a better president than Kerry Romesburg," Sisolak said. "Our loss will be Jacksonville's gain if in fact it happens."

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