Rogers offers a deal to Nevada business leaders

Thursday, Oct. 28, 2004 | 9:32 a.m.

If Nevada lawmakers will cough up the extra $9 million needed to construct Nevada State College's first liberal arts building, Interim Chancellor Jim Rogers says he'll be able to work with UNR and UNLV to raise $300 million privately.

That's the pitch Rogers shared with members of the Nevada Development Authority at a Wednesday morning breakfast meeting at the Stardust's Avalon ballroom.

Rogers appealed to the group of business executives to see the state's higher education system as a "good investment" in the economic diversification of the state.

Better state funding for Nevada State College and the Community College of Southern Nevada will make it easier to raise private money for the state's two universities because it will allow them to become more selective and compete with other institutions at a national level, Rogers said.

Rogers said it is also a lot easier to raise money privately for established universities because they are "sexier." It is impossible, Rogers said, to raise seed money for a state college that has consistently been plagued by naysayers.

Nevada State College's success is intricately tied to UNLV's ability to excel, Rogers said.

"The system cannot survive if any part of it fails," Rogers said.

"We need to continue to build underneath UNLV and UNR in order to get UNLV and UNR free to become major research universities."

Rogers has made securing money for the state college one of his pet projects because, he said, it's essential that UNLV and UNR be allowed to become more selective. In order for UNLV and UNR to raise admission requirements, there has to be somewhere else for students to go if they can't meet those requirements.

UNLV currently has to accept everyone who meets the 2.5 GPA requirement, President Carol Harter said, whether or not that student is ready for college-level courses. That in turn, drags down the university's retention and graduation rates, and limits the university's ability to excel in academic research.

The School of Dental Medicine and the School of Law have excelled because enrollment is limited and the school can accept only the top applicants, Harter said. About 1,800 students have applied for 75 spots in the dental school, and about 2,000 applied for 140 spots in the law school, Harter said.

Increasing UNLV's selectivity is the "missing piece" in becoming a major university, Harter said, and Nevada State College will make the system complete.

Rogers also discussed the need for a revenue stream at CCSN to fund a new $30 million classroom building. He has private donors willing to put up the initial money for the complex, but there is no money available in CCSN's underfunded budget to be able to pay back the loan.

About 2,200 students were turned away at CCSN this semester because there was not enough space available to provide more classes, Rogers said.

The system's capital improvement needs will not be met without private donations, Rogers said. The state can typically provide only $100 million for the system's construction projects per biennium, when the need systemwide is estimated at $300 million each biennium because of the rapid growth.

Rogers, the millionaire owner of Sunbelt Communications Co., has donated or pledged more than $60 million toward the system's needs, including a renewed pledge to UNLV for $25 million and a pledge of $2 million for Nevada State College.

The chancellor received a standing ovation from the business crowd and inspired at least one member of the Nevada Development Authority to volunteer her time to fundraising efforts.

Self-described "Jersey girl" Barbara Macknin, vice president of corporate client services for Right Management Consultants, said she knows from growing up near Princeton University that it is the private business community that makes a university great.

Macknin said Rogers' speech sold her on the need for Nevada State College and for private funding at the university, and she thinks she can help sell the idea to others.

"There's a lot of wealthy people that work and live in Las Vegas, and the thing is, people don't know what you need until you tell them," she said.