Regents consider ethics question

Friday, July 8, 2005 | 8:53 a.m.

A subcommittee for the university Board of Regents planned to take a look this afternoon at whether the board needs to revamp its code of ethics.

Several regents have pushed for a cooling-off period before a regent may seek a position within the Nevada System of Higher Education, but that may be just one of a handful of additions to the code, last revised in December 2002.

The demand for the cooling-off period arose in May after then Regent Doug Seastrand resigned to take a position in homeland security at UNLV's private research foundation.

Chancellor Jim Rogers and several regents said they had no doubt that the move was above board, but most also said there were enough questions raised about how Seastrand gained the position to look at whether there needed to be a policy against it.

"He (Seastrand) didn't violate any specific code, but a lot of people were troubled by the appearance, so whatever we can do to stay away from even the appearance of impropriety we should do as a board," Regent James Dean Leavitt said.

Leavitt said he didn't see the need for a cooling-off period per se, but that there definitely needed to be a ban on applying for a position while still in office.

"We just don't want the influence of the position to be used to curry personal gain," Leavitt said.

Rogers, who was on a cruise to Alaska this week and unavailable for comment, and Regents Steve Sisolak and Mark Alden, have pushed for a year-long period before a regent can work for the system to ensure that there cannot be the presumption that favors were somehow traded.

Alden, on the board since 1994, also said he'd like to see a cooling-off period before regents can run for another public office. He said too many people try to use being a regent as a springboard to other political offices.

"I think that's wrong," Alden said. "We are trustees for higher ed. There should be no politics."

Even regents who supported prohibiting regents from applying for system jobs, however, questioned whether Alden's suggestion was necessary or even doable.

"That's absolutely unnecessary in my opinion. The day you lose office is the day you lose power," Leavitt said.

State law specifically prohibits anyone on the Nevada Gaming Commission or Public Utilities Commission from taking a job in those industries within one year of leaving office, but there are no regulations that apply to the Board of Regents.

Regents attended a workshop on the state's ethics laws and on cordiality in March.

Regent Thalia Dondero, chairwoman of the board development committee, said regents would be looking at their roles and the chancellor's role as they revise the code of conduct.

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