Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Regents reverse decision, put campus closures back on table

Regents

Steve Marcus

Regent Michael Wixom, right, listens to budget-cutting options during a Board of Regents meeting at the College of Southern Nevada in this February 2010 file photo. On Friday, regents decided to consider closing or merging some of the state’s higher education institutions to save money.

The option of closing or merging some of the state’s colleges is back on the negotiating table after the Board of Regents on Friday reversed an earlier decision.

In a meeting last month, regents voted not to consider the budget implications of closing, consolidating or merging some of the Nevada System of Higher Education institutions.

But after hearing two hours of sometimes-emotional public comment from students and faculty, and an hour of debate among themselves, regents voted 10-3 to rescind that decision.

Regents also unanimously approved a resolution calling on the Legislature and governor to consider raising additional revenue to support higher education.

Regent Ron Knecht argued against considering the closure or consolidation of institutions, saying the savings from doing so would only solve a tiny part of the necessary budget cuts and would do more damage than they were worth.

“I cannot see for the life of me why we would consider these,” he said.

The vote was largely a response to anger from some in the Legislature, who said everything has to be on the table as the state deals with its budget crisis. Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford had asked the board to consider the closures so the governor would know the full effect of his proposed budget.

Before voting, some of the regents said they didn't necessarily support the idea of closing or merging institutions, but they didn’t want to anger the Legislature or remove options at this point.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea to get the Legislature mad at us at this time,” said Regent Andrea Anderson.

Regent Michael Wixom said it’s too early to make decisions since regents don’t have all of the information on what the state budget will look like and what the effects would be on campuses.

After the vote, regents heard updates from each of the system’s institutions on budget cuts.

UNLV President Neal Smatresk said morale on his campus is the lowest he has ever seen and UNR President Milt Glick said his campus already has lost a number of quality faculty members -- and the ones remaining are considering their options.

The governor’s budget calls for cutting higher education by $162 million, while closing campuses would likely save between $7 million and $8 million.

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