Analysis: Regents show a kinder, gentler side

Saturday, Dec. 3, 2005 | 7:59 a.m.

Regent Doug Hill and outgoing UNR President John Lilley agreed with Regent Howard Rosenberg at this week's university Board of Regents meeting.

It may not sound like a news flash, but to higher education officials, it was almost as if the planets had aligned in some mysterious manner, so notorious is the animosity between Rosenberg and his fellow Northern Nevada colleagues.

Hill said he was surprised to find himself agreeing with Rosenberg for "the third time this month."

Lilley similarly found himself in "rare agreement" with Rosenberg, as many in the audience laughed knowingly at their past disagreements.

"And," Rosenberg said, smiling and promising to use the occasion for future blackmail, "it's on the record."

On the record indeed. It may be a sign that the regents' fractious past is, well, in the past.

This past week's regents meeting gave the board plenty to squabble about with a slate of controversial agenda items, including a proposal to raise grade point average entrance requirements at the state's universities; a plan to provide domestic partner benefits to university system employees; and a proposed cooling-off period for regents before they can seek or accept a job in the university system.

Not too long ago an agenda like that could have caused a meltdown. But that wasn't the case this past week.

Case in point: Over the two days of meetings -- 17 hours' worth -- the greatest tension came during discussion of the cooling-off period, a measure that ran into controversy in September.

One of the key issues this week: How Robert's Rules of Order worked to speed up the vote. (Regents approved the measure.)

The board, which was caught in controversy, name-calling and dysfunction in 2003 and 2004 after the demotions of Community College of Southern Nevada President Ron Remington and his aide John Cummings may have reformed.

Jim Rogers, chancellor of the Nevada System of Higher Education, has been credited with working to rein in the board. There have been other reminders as well.

Before launching into the domestic partnership issue, Boyd Law School Dean Richard Morgan asked regents to have a "searching and civil" discourse on it.

Regents certainly debated both the GPA issue and the domestic partnership issue passionately, but it was without any personal attacks or dust-ups. (They pushed off votes in favor of more study on both issues.)

Regent James Dean Leavitt, who has pushed board togetherness since his election campaign last year, credited the improvement to Rogers, the recent workshops regents have attended to improve board relations and a general desire to work together.

"There has clearly been an improvement in feeling among board members," Leavitt said. "I think people are figuring out that it's a lot more fun when you work together."

There was such a lovefest atmosphere that UNLV President Carol Harter even gave Lilley a set of books as a parting gift -- he recently resigned -- and the pair presented a united front together on the GPA increase.

The two had long squabbled over territory, but Rogers had given them clear warnings to knock it off.

Morgan, Regent Michael Wixom and Rosenberg all commented publicly during the meeting how pleasantly civil everyone was during what could have been a tense debate.

Wixom said what few have said in recent years: "It's nice to have discussion in such a civil way."

Christina Littlefield can be reached at 295-8813 or at clittle@ lasvegassun.com.