Editorial: Rogers clearly is best choice

Thursday, April 7, 2005 | 9:27 a.m.

The Board of Regents, the elected body that oversees the University and Community College System of Nevada, has undertaken a national search to find a permanent chancellor for the system. Jim Rogers, a media executive who currently is the interim chancellor, wants the job permanently. We're not surprised, in light of Rogers' considerable talent, that regents have been inundated with letters from Nevada's top elected officials and business executives, praising him for his leadership and accomplishments.

The university system needs a chancellor who is intelligent, creative, strong-willed and understands firsthand the needs of improving higher education in Nevada. Going ahead with a national search just doesn't make much sense -- not when the man who currently is in the job is the perfect candidate.

Rogers, quite simply, can make things happen. In the year since he has been interim chancellor, he has brought calm to a Board of Regents that too often had been riven by controversy. He also has laid out a coherent vision to increase the quality of higher education in Nevada, one that will require more state funds and private donations. A critical part of being chancellor is getting Nevadans to invest in the university -- and Rogers is making great strides. For example, Larry Ruvo said that if it hadn't been for Rogers, he might have sent the $25 million to $35 million he is donating to the University of Nevada School of Medicine -- for an Alzheimer's center -- to another cause.

The Board of Regents, at its meeting next week, should go ahead and do the right thing by making Rogers the permanent chancellor. Doing so would be a huge step forward for higher education in Nevada.