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February 11, 2012

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As senior population grows, UNLV may cut gerontology

Program on chopping block to help budget, but some wonder if university is going in the wrong direction

By Emily Richmond

Tuesday, March 30, 2010 | 2 a.m.

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With senior citizens expected to make up the fastest-growing segment of Nevada’s population over the next decade, it might make sense for the state’s public universities to offer academic programs and training in elder-care issues.

It might indeed.

But UNLV’s gerontology program has been recommended for elimination to help the university trim its academic budget by $4 million.

In terms of potential dollars, cutting gerontology would save UNLV just $10,000 in direct operating expenses and $70,000 for one full-time faculty position.

But by cutting the multidisciplinary program, which serves about 80 students, its faculty could spend more time teaching classes in their home departments — nursing, community health sciences, allied health, liberal arts and the Hotel College.

Students might seek certification in gerontology to boost their qualifications for careers in related fields, such as nursing, social work and allied health. The program also reaches caretakers and social service professionals through community outreach initiatives, Director Ann McDonough said.

The certificate requires 24 credits — nine in core courses such as the psychology of aging and counseling older adults, nine in electives and six in field work. For a full-time student, the requirements typically take a year to complete, costing $4,110 in tuition.

McDonough, tenured in the theater department, receives an annual stipend of $4,500 for her work heading the gerontology program, which is attached to the Fine Arts College. Similar director positions at other universities draw salaries of $80,000 to $100,000. She teaches senior theater classes, which also may be eliminated and are part of the gerontology program.

Cutting the gerontology program would be a shortsighted move, says Lee Drizin, a Las Vegas attorney who specializes in elder-care issues and serves on the program’s advisory board.

Gerontology students, including caregivers and social workers, will benefit from coursework addressing such issues as dementia, elder abuse and exploitation, Drizin said.

“We’re talking about educating workers who are going to be dealing with a significant population in our community,” Drizin said.

The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that by 2020, Nevada will have more than 530,000 residents age 65 or older, an increase of 61 percent in 10 years. Only Alaska and Arizona are projected to see bigger jumps in senior population.

The Silver State’s infrastructure for serving older adults is seen as severely lacking, and numerous commissions, panels and legislative committees have formed to address the lack of adequate services. At the same time, some state officials are looking for ways to draw more seniors — and their retirement dollars — to Nevada.

State Assemblywoman Kathy McClain, D-Las Vegas, who heads the Legislative Committee on Senior Citizens, Veterans and Adults with Special Needs, worries about the repercussions if UNLV cuts the program. She earned her certification there in 2004.

Senior welfare and elder-care issues “should be a public priority,” McClain said. “This is a segment of our population that will need intensive services. You can expect people to live to be 100 nowadays.”

In addition to cutting off a source of advanced training and certification, partnerships with other higher education programs and community organizations are at risk.

The private Touro University Nevada, an osteopathic medical school that offers degrees in allied health fields, has long planned to launch a gerontology center, and had been working on a joint federal grant application with UNLV to support the endeavor.

“UNLV is right in our backyard,” said Dr. Mitchell Forman, founding dean of Touro’s Henderson campus. “Our model is one of collaborating with the community. This is a chance for an ideal partnership to educate students, the public and the community on geriatric issues.”

Losing the program would set back Nevada’s efforts to move up from the bottom of the many national lists that rank the state’s health care options as substandard, Forman said.

At UNLV, gerontology is just one of just eight programs and eight full departments recommended for elimination by Provost Michael Bowers to meet the Legislature’s goal of slicing the higher education budget by 6.9 percent. Factors taken into consideration include cost, faculty productivity and whether the academic endeavor supports the university’s overall mission.

A committee appointed by the Faculty Senate is reviewing Bowers’ list, and will make its recommendations to UNLV President Neal Smatresk next month. Smatresk will then take his list to the Board of Regents for consideration.

The departments being considered for closure are educational leadership, informatics, management information systems, marriage and family therapy, recreation and sport management, sports education leadership, women’s studies and the teaching and learning center.

Within those departments are programs proposed for elimination, including gerontology, clinical laboratory sciences and landscape architecture. (On Monday, several hundred landscape architecture students staged a campus protest.)

UNLV’s Faculty Senate has elected six members — five from the academic disciplines and one administrator — to evaluate the possible cuts and make recommendations to Smatresk.

The committee’s list might differ from the provost’s, said history professor Gregory Brown, who was chosen to head the review committee.

“We’re looking at all the information available,” Brown said Monday. “We’re trying to make as thoughtful, deliberate and well-informed decisions as possible.”

And that might be the upside, McDonough said.

“We have an opportunity to go before the committee and make our case that this program is really needed,” McDonough said. “I believe we have the community support to do that.”

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