Saturday, Feb. 25, 2006 | 8:41 a.m.
UNLV's Faculty Senate isn't happy with Chancellor Jim Rogers, who is in charge of the day-to-day operations of Nevada's public universities and community colleges. Last week the Faculty Senate voted 32-7 to ask the Board of Regents, the elected board that sets policies for Nevada's university system, to curtail Rogers' powers. UNLV's Faculty Senate also wants faculty members to have more input into major decisions, including the hiring and firing of university presidents.
The recommendation by the Faculty Senate is in the wake of Rogers pushing UNLV President Carol Harter out and his role in UNR President John Lilley leaving to become the president of Baylor University in Texas. Although the Faculty Senate wants to curb Rogers, members of the Board of Regents still are comfortable with their decision, made in December 2004, to give Rogers the authority to discipline and fire presidents. By the way, that vote a year ago was sweeping: 12-1.
UNLV's Faculty Senate may not be pleased with Rogers' power, but it doesn't mean this sentiment is shared widely. Sun reporter Christina Littlefield notes that faculty leaders at UNR and the Community College of Southern Nevada have backed Rogers since Harter's departure. Professor Jim Richardson, a lobbyist for the Nevada Faculty Alliance, cites Rogers' willingness to meet with faculty members. "He tells it like he thinks it is, but he also listens," Richardson says.
That is what is needed in a chancellor - someone who truly is in charge and is going to be forthright and not worried he might offend someone along the way. The job of the chancellor, while tough, is pretty straightforward. It is to get the right people in place, including university presidents, and then demand results from Nevada's higher education system. All Nevadans, particularly students and the faculty, should expect no less.
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