New UNLV president announces capital campaign

UNLV’s 10th president asked about 500 members of the university community to support Gov. Brian Sandoval’s budget plans for higher education, even though that plan holds a lot less money for Nevada’s largest university than officials had sought.

President Len Jessup, who was hired by the Board of Regents in November, also announced on Thursday that planning was underway for the University of Nevada, Las Vegas’ next capital fundraising campaign, something the school hasn’t undertaken in years.

During the hourlong town hall meeting, Jessup, wearing a dark gray suit with a red tie and handkerchief, cracked jokes and lauded the school’s achievements, while laying out what’s needed to make UNLV a top research university.

But the specter of funding for the university will remain a shadow over the school in Nevada, which is surrounded by Western states where legislators are reducing public university funding.

In Arizona, where Jessup was the University of Arizona’s business school dean, lawmakers cut public university spending by 14 percent — or about $99 million.

Jessup said he was saddened by the situation in Arizona, but remained confident that the Nevada governor and legislators “are doing and will do everything they can and it’s much appreciated. We just know that, from learning what is going on around the country, that it won’t be enough to get the university to where it needs to get to. We have to rely on other sources of funding in addition to state support.”

Nevada’s two-year budget has yet to be approved by state legislators. UNLV had sought more money to launch its nascent medical school and to construct a new building for its hotel management school than was allocated by the governor in his budget. For instance, UNLV had asked for about $27 million over two years for the medical school. The governor allocated about $8 million.

“We need to be in a comprehensive capital campaign. We will be redoubling our fundraising efforts shortly,” Jessup said.

Jessup said private giving will be a key part of that. He said the capital campaign is still being planned and a goal has not been set as of yet.

Jessup also sought to redefine how UNLV will reach its stated goal of becoming a top-tier university. For months, UNLV leaders have sought to earn a Tier 1 ranking as a research university, a prestigious designation from the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

But Jessup said that will be only one of the goals of his strategic plan to elevate UNLV’s academic and research status. “The strategic planning that is going on involves all of the research, from a faculty member in chemistry to a faculty member in fine arts,” he said. “That’s why we’ve been talking about changing the name of this process from the Tier 1 process to the top tier planning process or strategic planning process for the university.”

During the town hall, Jessup took questions from a seemingly hesitant crowd, after joking that they wouldn’t want to see him sing or dance.

The university crowd was made up of mostly faculty and administrators, as well as some students.

One faculty member asked Jessup about freedom of expression related to the University of Oklahoma, where a video surfaced of fraternity brothers singing a racist chant.

That resulted in the fraternity being kicked off campus and at least two students being expelled.

Jessup called the act “despicable” and said he believed the university’s president, David Boren, handled the situation appropriately.

Jessup added that he separated what the students did to that of a speaker with controversial ideas being asked to come UNLV.

The school will not shy away from controversial speakers, he said. “This is the place where controversial ideas are vetted,” he said.

Contact Francis McCabe at fmccabe@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5512. Find him on Twitter: @fjmccabe