Secrecy about chancellor post is questioned

Friday, April 8, 2005 | 8:49 a.m.

A retired Navy admiral who is also a physician and someone currently working in one of the nation's largest university systems have both applied to be Nevada's next chancellor, regents search committee chairman Bret Whipple said Thursday.

That's the word from Jan Greenwood, president of the search firm hired by the Board of Regents to find the system's next chief executive officer.

Whipple, in passing along the information from Greenwood, said it shows that regents shouldn't cancel the search and permanently name Interim Chancellor James Rogers, which some regents want.

"Jim Rogers could be the next chancellor, but we need to at least take a look at those people who put their name in," Whipple said.

No names or details have been released about the two candidates mentioned by Greenwood.

Five regents on the 13-member board asked for an agenda item Wednesday at next week's meeting to go ahead and appoint Rogers as the permanent chancellor. Those regents argued that Rogers is such a front runner that no one else could possibly beat him for the job.

But Whipple and the majority of the board have argued that the regents can't know that for sure until they see who else has applied.

Whipple said he spoke with Greenwood of Greenwood and Associates Thursday, and she assured him that there was a "strong pool of candidates."

Greenwood was on a plane most of Thursday and unreachable for comment. She has previously declined to discuss the search.

The University and Community College System of Nevada often hires a search firm to shield candidates during the recruitment process because regents say the better candidates will not want to put their current job at risk unless they are guaranteed to be a finalist.

But Rogers' public candidacy amid other unknowns has led regents on both sides of the current debate to question whether such secrecy is wise.

Regent Linda Howard, who has joined the movement to appoint Rogers next week, said she is still curious to see whether there are any good candidates. She said she's heard rumors that most have dropped out.

Regent Steve Sisolak, who wants the search process to go forward, said the "shroud of secrecy" keeps regents too far out of the loop. Under the current system, regents only know of the candidates the search committee brings forward as finalists, and they never get a complete list of who applied.

The chancellor item is one of the only controversial issues on an otherwise "tame" agenda, Regent Chairman Stavros Anthony and other regents said.

Other priority items on the agenda include two personnel sessions to evaluate the performance and renew contracts with UNR President John Lilley and Board of Regents chief administrative officer Suzanne Ernst. The sessions will likely be closed, Anthony said, but regents will discuss and vote on the contracts in the open. Both contracts may include raises.

Following in the footsteps of UNLV's foundation, UNR's foundation is also asking regents for permission to supplement Lilley's salary. The foundation is proposing to pay Lilley an additional $50,000 a year and set aside $40,000 a year in deferred income, payable whenever Lilley leaves the university. The foundation would also give Lilley an unspecified bonus if he successfully leads the institution in a future capital campaign.

The money for the salary supplements would come from annual earnings from the Lavery Estate Quasi-Endowment for Excellence, worth just under $2 million.

Regents approved a similar compensation plan for Carol Harter in January. Rogers has backed both plans, claiming the salary supplements are essential for Nevada's institutions to retain the presidents and be competitive in future searches.

Rogers is also asking regents for a couple of by-law changes he says will add efficiency to the system, including giving the chancellor authority to approve any institutional by-law changes.

Most of these changes are non-substantial alterations, Rogers said, but currently even items as minor as a title change have to be approved by the Board of Regents. Similarly, Rogers is asking for regents to change the way foundation members are appointed to speed up the process.

Rogers is also suggesting that regents consider giving the board chair position the authority to assign regents to be liaisons to other government entities, such as local school boards and the state board of education.

The goal, Rogers said, is to improve communication and cooperation between higher education and the K-12 system that feeds into the universities. Anthony does not have that authority now.

Most regents agreed that there needed to be increased communication, but several worried about finding the time to serve on several other committees. Regents are an unpaid, part-time layman board.

In two institutional items, UNLV President Carol Harter is asking regents to allow the university to sell its Sunrise Mountain/Rainbow Gardens property to the federal goverment through the Bureau of Land Management for $1.55 million.

The 517 acres, gifted to the university in 1982, are in the middle of a conservatory and are undevelopable, Harter said. Repeated problems with trespassing, illegal dumping and the burning of copper cable in the remote area have also made the land a major liability for UNLV.

Harter also plans to update regents on the current visions for Midtown UNLV, a proposed redevelopment project on Maryland Parkway led by university donor and Vista Group President Michael Saltman.

Harter and Saltman are just beginning to meet with developers, university and Clark County officials on the plans, which include narrowing Maryland Parkway.