Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

CCSN chief plans reform of extended education programs

The Community College of Southern Nevada's extended education programs have been targeted by President Richard Carpenter for a major overhaul.

Carpenter began his house-cleaning of the department by removing dean Theo Byrns, continuing education manager Ralph Goudy and continuing education program developer James "Jim" Shaw from their administrative posts prior to the winter break.

Carpenter said the removals were necessary because of the changes he wants to make to the college's extended education programs and because of a need to streamline the entire administrative structure of the college.

Currently, CCSN's extended programs include everything from the college's rural sites in Mesquite and Pahrump, distance education such as online courses, and continuing education, the truck driving school and apprenticeship programs.

Carpenter said he wants to bring the rural sites and distance education more closely under academic affairs, and he wants to refocus continuing education on more workforce development courses taylored to area businesses.

He also wants to see the financially strained programs become self-sufficient and preferably profitable. Right now, some programs are running in the black but others are in the red, Carpenter said, and overall extended education is about $200,000 to $300,000 over budget.

The proposed changes are part of many other overhauls Carpenter already has in the works or is planning, he said. Because of the size of the college, with more than 34,000 students, 2,000 employees and 13 campuses, many of those changes are being made in segments.

Carpenter spent the first several months of his presidency working with college officials to revise the human resources policy, and made several administrative changes prior to arriving on campus. The new human resources policy is scheduled to be released today.

Both Bob Palinchak, the vice president of academic affairs, and Robert Anderson, the vice president for student services, were issued letters of non-reappointment earlier this summer, effectively terminating their service at the college. Carpenter said he was involved in that decision even though he had not yet assumed the position of president.

Both have contracts with the college through the end of June, but Anderson left before the beginning of this semester and Palinchak said he was cleaning out his desk Thursday.

Palinchak declined to comment about his removal, but he said he is hoping to continue his work as an administrator at another urban community college somewhere. In his 35 years of experience, he has served as a dean, a vice president and even president of a college, Palinchak said.

He was paid $138,633 as vice president of academic affairs, which oversaw the extended programs.

Anderson, Byrns, Goudy and Shaw were not reachable for comment.

Byrns will go back to teaching English as a second language, Carpenter said, and Goudy and Shaw "mutually agreed" to resign.

Byrns made $130,044 as dean, Goudy made $58,828 and Shaw made $59,034, according to college records. Anderson's salary was not immediately available.

Assemblywoman Chris Giunchigliani, D-Las Vegas, said she had long been concerned that the continuing education program at CCSN was not "self-sufficient," and had expressed her concerns to Carpenter in a letter earlier this fall.

She said she became concerned about the program after Byrns, Goudy and Shaw and Topazia "Briget" Jones requested a legislative bill in 2003 from then Assemblyman Wendell Williams, D-North Las Vegas, for $1 million for the college's truck driving school and continuing education program.

The bill request was done without then-President Ron Remington's approval and without the Board of Regents approval, Giunchigliani said. Giunchigliani was the college's spokeswoman at the time but has since resigned.

Legislative records show that then Chancellor Jane Nichols asked the education committee to amend the bill to make it come in line with regent priorities, particularly a $3 million budget enhancement request for workforce development money for all four of the state's community colleges. The bill, as amended, failed in the Assembly Ways and Means Committee.

Byrns, Goudy and Jones were also interviewed last fall in connection to sketchy lobbying practices by CCSN in an investigation that led to the removal of Remington and lobbyist John Cummings by a split vote of the Board of Regents.

Carpenter said the recent removals were not connected in anyway to those incidents and were not reflective of the individuals' performances in their positions.

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