UNLV officials spoke with confidence Monday about the accountability of the Institute of Security Studies, one of several controversial subjects the Board of Regents will discuss in a special meeting Friday.

University of Nevada, Las Vegas officials have released a performance assessment, which concluded the institute has successfully accomplished half the goals it presented to the board three years ago, when regents approved the institute.

"There's been some indications that they haven't met all their initial goals and so forth, but what they have done has been substantial," said Mark Rudin, interim vice president of UNLV's Division of Research and Graduate Studies, which conducted the assessment.

The institute has made limited progress implementing three of six goals: developing its academic mission as well as an office exploring the social impact of terrorism and an office of cyber security. The institute is in its infancy and is working toward goals which in time will be fulfilled, Rudin said.

The glass half-full view presented in the report is what Regent Steve Sisolak said he expected from an institution reviewing itself. He questioned the institute's dependence on private consultants and the infrequent use of a bidding process to select them.

The state commissioned the institute to assess security threats. The institute spent $479,000 of the $500,000 grant on a private consultant in Arizona who already had a contract with the institute and did the bulk of the work.