Short on time and input, regents cut

By Charlotte Hsu

Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2008 | 2 a.m.

When regents governing higher education approved controversial proposals to balance college budgets Monday, they did so without broad-based participation by campus communities.

Regents OK’d plans to defer faculty merit pay and to place a surcharge on student fees at selected schools even though some college leaders acknowledged they had yet to solicit student and teacher input on those proposals.

The lack of representation in recent budget discussions was largely a product of timing.

In mid-December, when Gov. Jim Gibbons announced 4.5 percent budget cuts to state services including higher education, many students were packing bags and boarding planes, celebrating the start of winter break with ski vacations or trips home.

Gibbons’ briefing coincided with the semester’s end, affording administrators slim opportunity to confer with stakeholders before drafting reduction plans.

Last week, the university system released campus cost-cutting proposals on a day so quiet that for a brief period in the afternoon, a bird and a trio of camera-toting tourists were alone in the foyer of UNLV’s business college building.

“The actual students had no chance to have an input on this,” said Regent Steve Sisolak, who voted against the campus plans.

“I don’t think faculty were afforded the opportunity, either.”

The level of participation in budgeting by students and professors varied by campus.

The leaders at Great Basin College and Truckee Meadows Community College said that coming off the holiday season, they had not yet been able to gauge how people on campus felt about their cost-slashing proposals.

Faculty representatives from schools including the College of Southern Nevada and UNR expressed satisfaction with the amount of time administrators had spent consulting with teachers.

Student leaders at those institutions backed surcharges that expire in 2009 and could add as much as $4.50 per credit to fees already paid at CSN and $5 per credit to those at UNR.

Sarah Ragsdale, UNR student body president, said student leaders backed surcharges without talking at length with their peers over winter break. But students who took part in about 10 fall town hall meetings on fees seemed to prefer paying more to losing services, Ragsdale said.

“Students were not looking for a cheap institution,” she said. “They were looking for value.”

At UNLV, officials did not recommend a surcharge. But their plans include deferring merit pay for faculty members.

Faculty Senate Chairman Bryan Spangelo said he would not back such a proposal, which takes money from the hardest workers. He added that although administrators and faculty leaders met in recent days to talk about cuts, the first time he saw UNLV’s plan was last week, after officials released it to reporters.

UNLV has hosted public meetings this year to discuss budget cuts. And, until now, faculty members had applauded administrators’ openness in governing.

Provost Neal Smatresk said he and colleagues made a strong effort to reach out to the campus community before submitting a proposal to the regents.

But with the school in between semesters, few people have been around to give input.

“This has all occurred,” Smatresk said, “at a terrible time.”