Rogers brings Nichols back

Tuesday, Aug. 16, 2005 | 10:44 a.m.

Chancellor Jim Rogers has persuaded his predecessor to return to the Nevada System of Higher Education as his vice chancellor for academic and student affairs.

Jane Nichols, 62, left the helm of the university system in May 2004 because, she said, the stress and travel of the job aggravated her health. She suffers from Meniere's syndrome, a disease that has left her with virtually no hearing in her right ear and poor hearing in her left.

Rogers said the system needed Nichols' experience and knowledge in academics, and that he and Dan Klaich, vice chancellor for legal affairs, persuaded her to return after a national search turned up no viable candidates for the job.

"We're really asking her to do us a favor," Rogers said. "And I think her sense of duty and love of the system is what is bringing her back."

Rogers said Nichols' travel would be limited because of her hearing issues, but that she was more than able to take on the duties of the vice chancellor position. Nichols will be based in Reno and will only travel to Las Vegas for Board of Regents meetings.

"I think there is a big difference between the stress that being the chancellor creates for you and the stress when you are vice chancellor in a limited area of academic affairs," Rogers said. "People don't tend to beat on you in those other positions."

Nichols was regularly "beat upon" during her last year as chancellor, and she resigned at the height of the Board of Regents court battle over violations of the open meeting law.

The controversy over the removal of Community College of Southern Nevada President Ron Remington and lobbyist John Cummings did not play into her decision to leave, Nichols said, but the stress of the situation was detrimental.

Nichols said coming back was "not an easy decision, but I am looking forward to it." And while her hearing is still impaired, she said she "functions just fine" with the help of hearing aids and is doing much better overall.

"I have a strong commitment to the work that still needs to be done in Nevada," said Nichols, who was scheduled to return to the UNR sociology faculty. "Whatever I did, I wouldn't be sitting on the porch sipping ice tea, I would be involved in doing good work in promoting education."

Several university regents said they were "ecstatic" and "thrilled" to hear Nichols was returning to the system office.

"It would be hard to find anybody that knows the system better than her," Regent Chairman Bret Whipple said.

Regent Jill Derby said Nichols has a "national reputation that is just sterling."

Nichols serves as Nevada's representative on the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education and is on the advisory boards for the National Science Foundation's Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research and the National Collaborative for Post Secondary Education Policy.

Nichols, who has her doctorate in higher education from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, has more than 20 years of experience in the Nevada system. She started at UNR as a sociology professor in 1984 and then worked her way up to associate dean for the College of Education.

Regents appointed her as the interim vice chancellor for academic and student affairs in 1997, later naming her to the permanent position. From there, Nichols was promoted to interim chancellor in May 2000 and earned the permanent job in September.

Nichols will start as vice chancellor Sept. 1, Rogers said, at a salary of $180,000 a year. She has signed just a one-year contract, but Rogers said the door is open for her to stay longer.

Nichols was a little more hesitant to commit beyond that, but she was enthusiastic about working under Rogers.

"Jim is such a dynamic leader, and his style is so different I think it will be exciting to work under him and with him," Nichols said.