Complex dedicated to Harter

Saturday, May 13, 2006 | 7:07 a.m.

UNLV students, faculty and staff gave a touching tribute Thursday to outgoing President Carol Harter, dedicating the Classroom Building Complex on the west side of campus in her honor.

But discussion at the soiree afterward focused less on Harter's 11-year tenure and more on Harter's proposed successor, West Point Lt. Gen. William Lennox Jr., and the politics behind his selection.

Many faculty members, students and alumni believe the search went too fast and that their overwhelming preference for either of Lennox's competitors was ignored by regents on the search committee. The 29 advisory members gave input, but only the six regents on the committee were allowed to vote on which candidate to recommend to the full 13-member Board of Regents.

Some regents who were not on the search committee shared similar concerns, but most said they would probably vote in favor of hiring Lennox at a special meeting Wednesday at UNLV's Foundation Room.

Faculty and student support is important to a new president, said Regent Howard Rosenberg, an art professor at UNR, but ultimately regents have to vote for who they think is best for the university.

Regents on the search committee unanimously selected Lennox because of his leadership as superintendent of West Point, saying his management skills and connections would propel UNLV forward.

Lennox should be able to sell himself to the faculty, Rosenberg said. "You don't get to be a three-star general without a good sense of diplomacy, consensus building and the ability to form a team."

Faculty and students said they would support Lennox, despite concerns that their advice in the search process may have fallen on deaf ears.

"The decision has been made," Student Body President Jeff Panchavinin said. "We need to rally behind this new president and move forward."

Maybe students and faculty were taking their cue from the UNLV preschool graduates who serenaded Harter during the naming ceremony.

"The more we'll get together the happier we'll be," the preschoolers sang.

There was some consolation for partygoers: an open bar donated by Southern Nevada Wine & Spirits.

Adding fodder to faculty grumblings is the striking difference between how the searches for presidents at UNR and UNLV were conducted.

UNR's search started a full month earlier than UNLV's, and committee members had more time to discuss ad nauseam what they wanted in a president and what they thought of each candidate.

The UNR search committee also met more candidates and spent more time with finalists.

Part of the difference in timetables was uncontrollable; Harter resigned two months after her counterpart at UNR. But differences in leadership style between the two regents heading the search committees were also apparent.

Regent Steve Sisolak sped through the UNLV search committee meetings, letting people talk but constantly reminding committee members of time constraints. Regent Stavros Anthony let everyone on the UNR search panel speak their fill, no matter how repetitive or long-winded .

As a result, the interview process for UNR's presidency took 11 hours and UNLV's took six. UNR's search committee also debated which candidate to hire for nearly five hours; UNLV's, about two hours.

Interestingly, both Sisolak and Anthony said they were sensitive to time during the meetings. Sisolak wanted to keep the sessions brief out of respect for people's busy schedules. Anthony said because people were making such a time commitment to the search, they deserved as much time as necessary to give their input.

Regents on Friday saw the estimated price tag to expand the University of Nevada School of Medicine: $51 million in the 2008-2009 biennium budget.

That includes $29 million to expand the faculty by 83 professors and provide support staff, and $13.1 million for health and wellness initiatives throughout the state. There is also money to build the infrastructure for an academic health sciences center and to provide enhancements to the School of Pharmacy and the UNLV School of Dental Medicine. It doesn't include the cost of expanding the state's nursing programs, which officials are still estimating.

It also doesn't include the cost of new classroom and laboratory space at Las Vegas and Reno. Just converting and furnishing a former insurance building at UNLV's Shadow Lane Campus into classroom and office space may cost $28 million, said Dan Klaich, executive vice chancellor.

The enlarged facility is needed to expand specialty training programs by 207 students in the next four years.

Partnering hospitals have volunteered to help pay for training most of those students, said Greg Hart, a consultant on the project from the Minnesota-based LarsonAllen firm.

If the medical school gets the professors and classroom space it needs in the budget cycle for this biennium, officials plan to ask lawmakers in the next biennium session for money to increase the student body by 34 medical students a year.

Klaich and Hart presented the proposal Friday to a newly established regents committee that includes local doctors, hospital officials, city and county government representatives and other community leaders.