University system chancellor moved by news of $200 million for new buildings

Thursday, June 2, 2005 | 11:16 a.m.

It's highly unusual to hear a grown man fight back tears when discussing budget issues over the phone.

Especially when he's the head of the Nevada System of Higher Education.

But that's just what Chancellor Jim Rogers did minutes after the head of his lobbying team, Dan Klaich, informed him Wednesday afternoon that state lawmakers on both budget committees had approved an "unprecedented" $200 million for new buildings for the system's institutions.

The Senate Finance and Assembly Ways and Means committees' joint recommendation to the Legislature includes more than $100 million in projects that were not part of the governor's recommendation, Klaich and Rogers said, and helps leverage more than $62 million in additional private funds.

"I am delighted. I'll just tell you that I am so proud of this (lobbying) team," said Rogers, becoming so emotional over the phone that he couldn't speak for a moment. "... You have no idea how hard they have worked. They have called me at midnight and at 4 a.m., and on some of the calls they have gotten so where they don't have much voice left."

Klaich, Rogers' so-called "hero" in a team of "superstars" that included Gene Porter, Josh Griffin and Tim Crowley, said he got a little choked up too.

"It can only be described as the most ambitious public works program for higher education in the history of the state," said Klaich, vice chancellor for legal affairs.

The legislative finance committees approved several buildings that were not funded in the governor's initial $96.14 million recommendation and approved using the $29 million in estate tax money for capital construction needs, Klaich said.

About $9 million of that will go to finishing Nevada State College in Henderson's first liberal arts building, $5 million will go to a new classroom facility at the Community College of Southern Nevada's West Charleston campus and $14.4 million for a Computer Automated Virtual Environment facility (CAVE) at the Desert Research Institute in Reno.

Lawmakers also approved another $15 million for the CCSN classroom facility, $10 million more than regents asked for on their wish list, Klaich said. The classroom facility is desperately needed on the space-crunched Charleston campus and was originally slated to cost $30 million, he said.

Rogers had system officials size the request down because he had initially feared it would never get funded.

Assemblywoman Chris Giunchigliani, D-Las Vegas, said she pushed to add $10 million to the CCSN classroom because the campus had to turn away students last semester. That decrease in enrollment led to a decrease in funding for the college, limiting its ability to meet future need.

The recommendation approved a new $9.4 million automotive technology facility for CCSN on the Cheyenne campus. The one CCSN building they didn't fund was a $5.3 million education complex in Pahrump.

Under the plan UNLV will receive $9 million for a student services building and $9.8 million in additional state funding to expand the Greenspun College of Urban Affairs at UNLV. Also approved was $24.17 million for the building as part of the governor's recommendation.

The Greenspun family, which owns the Las Vegas Sun, has already pledged an additional $10.2 million toward the expansion and $16 million toward the original cost of the $40 million building.

Finally, lawmakers approved $32 million in state money toward a $50 million science and math complex at UNR and allocated $1.5 million toward an academic medical center in downtown Las Vegas.