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Friday, Feb. 25, 2011 | 2:30 p.m.
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Chancellor Dan Klaich
In a sweeping memorandum on budget cuts dated Feb. 19, the chancellor of the Nevada System of Higher Education asked college presidents to plan for enormous budget cuts assuming, for example, that Nevada State College in Henderson was merged into UNLV “and/or” the College of Southern Nevada.
Daniel Klaich said he did not recommend the consolidations. He said the planning involved “various scenarios” and nothing more.
The moves resemble a plan circulated at UNLV last week by Bryan Spangelo, a UNLV chemistry professor. It would consolidate nine campuses into four.
Ten of 13 regents strongly oppose or are leaning against the Spangelo proposal. The remaining three take no position.
The scenarios, Klaich wrote, are designed to provide information to the Board of Regents, who meet March 10, on possible consequences of $162 million in budget cuts proposed by Gov. Brian Sandoval.
The Legislature must approve a budget by June.
“To be absolutely clear, we are not recommending any of the options that are referred to in this memorandum, and we do not construe your questions as an expression by the Board to that effect,” Klaich wrote in a short memorandum.
The six scenarios are:
• Consolidation of Desert Research Institute into UNR and UNLV.
• Consolidation of “all northern community colleges.”
• Consolidation of Western Nevada College and Truckee Meadows Community College.
• Consolidation of Nevada State College into UNLV and/or College of Southern Nevada.
• “Closing of all satellite campuses, branch campuses, centers, and the like.”
• “Consolidation of similar programs at like institutions.”
It is about time.
The problems with consolidating community colleges with UNLV is that students might be taking community college courses for (1) lower fees and (2) open enrollments. If you suddenly close that avenue off to many of them, it is not a given that they will automatically be taken in by UNLV. (Unless UNLV agrees to give them lower fees and open enrollments, which is not UNLV's policy.) I fail to see how that particular proposal is a problem-solver.
Looks like the bank is going to get my house - they deserve it.
Consolidation, yes. And where have we heard a similar idea before? I think I heard it from Dr. Spangelo, who was accused by the Chancellor and one of the Regents of just trying to protect his job. I'm sure Dr. Spangelo will receive no apologies, but I'm happy to see that the Chancellor at least listened, even if he won't admit it publicly.
Unbelievable! The community colleges are not prestigious, but they fill a niche to educate people that fill jobs that Nevada needs! However, not every major/program at UNLV and UNR produces students that obtain relevant careers that the state needs. Keep the educational leadership, golf management, drama, Renaissance history, or whatever has low graduation and low job placement rates in order to get rid of the nursing students at the community colleges....
psss--we need TECHNICAL COMMUNITY COLLEGES, not universities. We need nurses, home health care associates, welders.
Mr. Klaich, I don't like it either. Perhaps now higher ed has realized SERIOUS BELT TIGHTENING IS INEVITABLE. Lower ed, time to tune in. There is a new normal and it's perhaps 20-25% more modest than 2006. LONG TERM, IF we deal seriously with DEPORTING ILLEGALS AND THEIR ANCHOR BABIES and not paying them to come here, we have a change of economy recovery in our lifetime. Homeless vets and abandoned 99ers so we can adopt Latin America. No way. LET'S GET ON WITH IT. STOP ADMITTING ILLEGALS INTO THE UNIVERSITY SYSTEM--as students and employees. STOP WASTING OUR MONEY. How about using that think-tank to come up with SOLUTIONS ON HOW TO EXPEDITIOUSLY DEPORT ALL THE ILLEGALS. They're betting on amnesty but they don't recall Viet Nam. We even deported our sons.
yeh but they have the money to build a stadium,pay big bucks to athletic coaches,bring in bigger money from sports television contracts,live-gate receipts and merchandising but they say they're broke.whats wrong w/this picture
What's wrong with this picture is Chancellor Klaich acting like he's entitled. He is supposed to be at the service of taxpayers not unethically trying to upset everyone so that they hound Legislators to give him more money.
There appears to be a lot more support to take an ax to UNLV than the community colleges.
They are undervalued assets. They repair the damage of 12 years of public education in a short time at a reasonable cost.