Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Rogers is ‘right person at right time’

Interim Chancellor Jim Rogers will likely drop the interim from his title next Friday after a Board of Regents search committee unanimously recommended him for the permanent position Thursday.

Rogers went into the interview process Thursday as the front-runner, having won the support of most of the 13-member board in his nearly yearlong tenure as the University and Community College System of Nevada's chief executive as well as the support of many of the state's movers and shakers.

The six-regent committee said that while Rogers' competitor, State University of New York system Chancellor Robert King, was impressive, they preferred to stay with Rogers as "a known commodity" with multiple connections in the state.

"Out on the frontier, one thing you learn is that you don't change horses midstream," said Regent Doug Hill, quoting President Abraham Lincoln and referring to the current legislative session. "Mr. Rogers is the right person at the right time and the right place."

The advisory committee of presidents, faculty and students expressed similar sentiments, although the committee didn't vote. Richard Carpenter, president of the Community College of Southern Nevada, and Fred Maryanski, president of Nevada State College in Henderson, said it would hurt their institutions to change chancellors at this juncture, as they would lose continuity in the Legislative session and in their current attempts to raise money and develop partnerships in the private sector.

"The stop and go costs us," Carpenter said in endorsing Rogers.

Students and faculty on the search committee also said Rogers was the better choice.

George Ambriz, president of UNLV's graduate student government, said Rogers stood out as someone who could "tame the Board of Regents."

Rogers' approval came as no surprise to anyone who watches higher education, as some regents had moved to just appoint Rogers earlier this month to the position. Rogers himself put a stop to that, citing the concerns of other regents who believed there needed to be a search process and saying he didn't want a "cloud" to hang over whoever was appointed.

Still, in his interview, Rogers banked on his proven capability to do the job.

"We have a relationship," Rogers told the 20-plus regents and institutional representatives sitting around the conference table in the Las Vegas system office. "You know who I am. You know what I can do."

Rogers also laid out his plans for the future of the system in his interview. If allowed to stay on as chancellor, Rogers said he would fill the holes in his staff, something he has been hesitant to do as interim chancellor, and delve more into academic affairs.

For the most part, however, Rogers said he will continue to focus on pushing the system's needs through the Legislature, raising private money and developing private-public partnerships. He said he would also push presidents to become more media savvy in selling higher education to the public.

The multimillionaire owner and chairman of Sunbelt Communications Co., parent of local TV station and NBC affiliate KVBC Channel 3, said his ultimate accomplishment in life was having the financial ability to support higher education. He and his wife Beverly have donated or pledged $275 million to higher education and Rogers said he has spent the past 16 years raising money and promoting higher education for universities nationwide.

Most recently, he all but adopted one exceptional student applying for a scholarship he and his wife offers, Rogers told the committee. The young woman had a 1580 on her SAT, a slew of college prep classes and extracurricular activities, and admittance at many of the nation's top Ivy League colleges. Her family, however, made less than $40,000 a year with another sibling already at Boston University.

Rogers pays for her tuition, room and board, books, transportation and other related expenses and also gives her a $900 stipend each month to cover other needs so that she can focus on her education at Stanford University, he said. He has agreed to put her all the way through graduate school so that she can be a biochemist.

"It's going to cost me probably $250,000 to put her through school," Rogers said.

"... If I go down and buy a $240,000 Ferrari, that buzz will last maybe six weeks, but the buzz I get from putting her through school will last forever."

Rogers received about 65 endorsements for the permanent position from all levels of government and private businesses, including one from every member of the state's Congressional delegation, Gov. Kenny Guinn, Sen. Majority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno, and several other state policy makers, casino executives and private businessmen, many of them donors to the university system.

"Clearly he was the governor's choice and the governor has a lot of faith in Jim Rogers," Greg Bortolin, Guinn's spokesman, said.

"I think the chancellor has a had a presence in Carson City and has represented higher education well."

Raggio said Rogers was "clearly the best choice at this time."

Rogers has been effective in the Legislature, Raggio said. "He certainly has the knowledge and the understanding at this point."

Assemblywoman Chris Giunchigliani, D-Las Vegas, said she thinks Rogers has "taken care of business in his own way."

But she said she has heard concerns from some regents that members of the board defer to him too often, partly because of his wealth and status in the business world.

That's not Rogers' fault, she said. But she said she hopes some Regents assert themselves more in the future.

"They're the boss of everybody," she said. "They shouldn't be in awe or in fear of someone's wealth."

Although Rogers earned the unanimous approval from the search committee, some regents were impressed enough with King's background as SUNY chancellor and in New York politics that some questioned whether he might be suitable for another executive position in the system.

"In the best possible world it would be both," Rosenberg said, noting that Rogers was the most adept at raising money in Nevada but that King had more experience than Rogers in other aspects of the job.

King said he would be open to that possibility, but it depended on the job.

"I certainly congratulate Mr. Rogers and I think the board made a sound decision for the system," King said.

The full board must rubber stamp the committee's recommendation and approve Rogers contract at a special meeting May 6 before the decision becomes official. Rogers has agreed to commit three years to the chancellorship and has refused pay beyond the minimum required by law.

Initially, when Rogers was appointed as interim chancellor last May, that minimum was about $8,000 a year. It was increased to $23,660 a year in August to comply with the new Fair Labor Standards Act regulations, Carla Henson, director of human resources, said.

Rogers' paycheck is donated back to students. He was on a plane to Reno and not available for comment after the committee's decision.

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