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StumbleDAILY MEMO: EDUCATION:
Gibbons’ new ideas for education have a familiar ring to them
Chancellor Dan Klaich, left, stands by Governor Jim Gibbons during a regents meeting at the College of Southern Nevada, Charleston campus Thursday, March 3, 2010.
Saturday, March 6, 2010 | 2:01 a.m.
Jim Rogers
Sun Coverage
Sun archives
- Gibbons outlines six-step plan for higher education (3-4-2010)
- Budget gets OK as session ends; sales tax extended for roads (3-1-2010)
- Education cuts could mean bigger class sizes (2-28-2010)
- Please, sir, may we tax you more? (2-27-10)
- Lawmakers say progress made in closing state budget shortfall (2-26-10)
- Democrats: Trim education cuts to 5 percent (2-24-10)
- Gibbons’ budget plan risky in an election year (2-24-10)
- Budget crunchtime: Lawmakers set to tackle historic deficit (2-23-10)
On Thursday, Gov. Jim Gibbons unveiled his plan for “an entirely new way of thinking” about how the state’s colleges and universities are funded — with the words italicized in the news release for emphasis.
But in fact, most of the planks in Gibbons’ platform are familiar wood to Nevada System of Higher Education officials, who say they’ve been advocating for similar changes for the better part of a decade.
“People have been talking about these things since the beginning of time,” said Jim Rogers, who retired as chancellor in July. “You don’t get credit for putting it all on one piece of paper.”
During a news conference at the Board of Regents’ meeting Thursday at College of Southern Nevada’s West Charleston Campus, Gibbons told higher ed officials it is his intent to give them “the flexibility and autonomy you’ve always sought ... If there ever was a silver lining to the dark cloud of an economic recession, it’s the reform that comes out (of it). The circumstances of the recession will literally drag some of us to change.”
Board Chairman James Dean Leavitt said the regents have expressed nearly all of the ideas in Gibbons’ plan in recent years and months, with an aim toward making the higher ed system more self-sufficient, effective and efficient.
“We’re glad the governor has a listening ear,” he said.
Gibbons’ plan seeks to:
- Let individual campuses keep control of increases in registration fees and out-of-state tuition.
- Integrate employees in nonteaching positions into the higher ed system and out of the state’s classified personnel system.
- Exempt higher ed capital projects from the control of the State Public Works Board.
- Give regents greater flexibility in spending state dollars, provided additional accountability measures are met.
- Allow the system to keep 25 percent of its unspent general funds each year, instead of having those dollars revert to the state.
- Create a policy in which the system is guaranteed a minimum appropriation to bring greater stability to the long-range planning process.
All of the changes would require approval by the 2011 Legislature.
Rogers told the Sun that changing the state’s tuition structure so that individual campuses retained their revenue was one of the first issues he tackled when he was named chancellor in 2005. He pushed the issue with both Gibbons and his predecessor, Gov. Kenny Guinn.
And he lobbied “damn near every legislator about getting Public Works off our back,” Rogers said. Being subject to the Public Works Board’s regulations significantly drives up the cost of capital projects, Rogers said.
During the recent special session, lawmakers cut education funding by 6.9 percent. The higher ed system’s presidents are preparing to eliminate programs, services and staff as a result.
Gibbons’ list won’t undo the damage that’s currently being done to higher ed, Rogers said, and compared the proposal to “someone beating your brains out and then giving you a napkin to wipe up the blood.”
Acknowledging the severity of the budget crisis, Gibbons told Thursday’s audience: “I would like to stand before you today as governor and tell you that I can and will increase funding to higher education, which I believe is critical to our future and our economy. Unfortunately, we simply do not have the revenue to allow me to make that promise.”
He pledged to work with the Legislature to at least maintain appropriation levels for higher ed, and push for a minimum guarantee on funding to make it easier for the system to do long-range financial planning.
Gibbons said he was in Congress (in 2006) when UNR President Milton Glick suggested to him that each higher ed campus be allowed to keep the student fees they generate, rather than having those dollars revert to the state’s general fund. He supported the idea at the time, and “those discussions many years ago led us to where we are today,” Gibbons said.
Glick said the four-year lag time between his conversations with Gibbons and Thursday’s announcement isn’t unreasonable. A fiscal study needs to be conducted to determine the potential effect to the state’s general fund, as well as whether some campuses might fare better financially under the current funding model, Glick said.
“It’s not as simple as, ‘Let’s just do it,’ ” Glick said Friday. “You have to make sure you don’t create more long-term financial problems. There’s a reason why major public institutions — the higher ed system, the Legislature — take time to change.”
But Leavitt said that if the higher ed system had been allowed to save its unspent general fund dollars, instead of having them revert to the state, it would have almost certainly blunted the effect of the past two years’ budget cuts.
“A rainy-day fund is a good idea for every public agency; it’s a good idea for every family,” Leavitt said. “It’s fiscal prudence.”
Regardless of the freshness of the some of the key concepts in the governor’s plan, “these are good proposals, there’s no question about that,” said UNLV professor John Filler, chairman of the Faculty Senate, who attended Thursday’s regents’ meeting. “But it’s going to take a lot of people working together over a long period of time to make this a reality. Until the Legislature supports these proposals, until the citizenry comes together, until the Board of Regents is able to make this a reality, we’re still at risk.”
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90 days until his Republican prmary and Gibbons finally has an idea about higher education? This was another campaign speech at a campaign stop for someone who is so desperate and campaign-cash broke he will promise ANYTHING.
Don't trust him.
This idiot Gibbons has no right, nor any invitation to discuss education. We are just waiting for election day to get rid of him, and that's it!!
Gibbons again demonstrates that he is the governor to govern during the the present climate.Gibbons policies are the ones that will become the template for the times across America. Koolaid drinking,budget busting liberal whiners will be overwhelmed by the voice of the people in today's troubled financial times. Watch governors like Chis Christie and Gibbons lead the states through difficult times.
Houstonjac :
Your kidding right?
Gibbons is the worst Nevada governor more than Bush was the worst US president. Or maybe it's a tie.
environprotector--your username says it all!
Hug those trees. Spend money. Waste our financial resources--Too bad your user name isn't
"budgetprotector".Now there's a new idea.
While the governor may be suggesting a lot of higher education's long-standing ideas, he still disagrees with the philosophy that higher education has a direct impact on the state economy. In Gibbons' mind, the economy is going to recover magically, like getting a royal flush in video poker.
HOW ABOUT THIS NEW IDEA:
AUDIT.
AUDIT DOWN TO THE LAST PENNY ALL STATE EDUCATION FUNDS AND HOW THEY ARE SPENT.
AUDIT AUDIT AUDIT.
HERE'S A LIL' BEAUTY FROM KLAICH IN THE SUN IN OCTOBER OF '09:
"...Since April, nearly $205 million in federal stimulus money has poured into Nevada's public colleges and universities, supporting about 2,100 jobs, according to a report by Chancellor Dan Klaich...."
THAT WORKS OUT TO:
$97,619 PER JOB...??
AUDIT AUDIT AUDIT AUDIT AUDIT AUDIT AUDIT....
Here's the link, read it for yourself buried at the bottom of the page:
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2009/oct...
is the tea party party running a gov candidate? do they have a website?
Na Na Na Na, Na Na Na Na, Hey Hey-Ey GOODBYE!
Did the Gov.consult Sig Rouge-ich on this matter first...
wizardofoz: Are you for real? Audits happen regularly and their information is available to the public. Of course, you already know this because people have been typing this for you as far back as I can remember. It would be beneficial if you actually focused on posting real problems and not just the ones that exist in fairy tale land.
Gibbons' political career is cooked.
Even that Armenian-Mormon-Teabagger candidate is likely to win more votes.
Ouch.
In the academic world, his "plan" is called "plagerism". And the blatant fact is that he cuts education at every chance. He either has a twin or is bi-polar.
Any idea of getting rid of ancestor's truth is doomed. Education written by holy truth and nothing but truth, is as good as said Bingo B found America. Where as Bobo B send him on journey. Time to greet new education statistics and publish new literature.
Vote them all out! Vote nonpartisan this election day. Down with the party system, heed my warning once and for all Nevadans. The solution is simple.
CarsonReader:
WHY DON'T YOU CRAWL BACK INTO YOUR GOVERNMENT HOLE AND STAY THERE.
FOOL.
YOU PROBABLY ARE AT THE TOP OF THE 'WASTER' LIST.
OR ARE A TENURED CLAUDHOPPER WHO POLISHES A CHAIR ON MY DIME.
GOOF BALL......
Oh,
Did I mention
AUDIT AUDIT AUDIT AUDIT AUDIT AUDIT AUDIT...
is he an Armenian? Well maybe he gets the Cher vote?
Its nice to have a dummy for governor. I plan on voting for him again. Imagine if we had someone that had a brain. First we would be getting all the Federal money, to help keep our 200 K a year firefighters in a job. Roads would be getting tore up and rebuilt again, imagine the delays. Hospitals would of been funded properly. Lastly taxes would have been raise, most likely on gambling and businesses and gasoline. Life as larryvegas knows it would of came to end.
This pants down RepubliCON (governor?) would not know a new idea if it bit him in the butt. Can not wait to vote this moron out of office!
Its real simple stop funding education in Nevada and import all of our workers from India, or China. The industries here could pay them half the wages of Americans. Perhaps, we could add a workers tax to their visas and use that money to pay the politicians. We could also charge these highly educated workers from other countries higher premiums on their health care. Why should any company have to provide it's workforce with health care?
Just look at Walmart everyone there works part time for minimum wage and their health care is paid for by the government. They also qualify for section 8 housing because their income is so low. Wait Isn't this socialize? Basically we the tax payers are subsidizing everything for the working poor while the major corporations pay nothing and keep all of their profits.
I don't quite understand what all the smiling and laughter in the photos represent. Budget cuts to Education are a very serious matter, and I fail to see the humor in cutting 6.9 percent to Education. I'm wondering where our current Executive Leadership was when Education budget issues were first being discussed? Most everyone involved in Education understands that Gibbon's six point plan will never become actuality and support Rory Reid as our next Governor.
wizardofoz: I again ask if you are for real...audits happen and the results are public information. Also, you'd have to actually pay taxes to use the "my tax dollars" claim. It is no wonder we are in this predicament with people like you spouting off at the mouth. Go back into your cave if you aren't going to address the real issues.