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Once turned down for UNLV president, professor may now lead all Nevada colleges

A law professor who was turned down for UNLV’s presidency may soon claim a job overseeing all of the state’s public colleges — a move drawing skepticism from legislators already bristling at the state of Nevada’s higher education system.

The state’s Board of Regents on Friday will decide whether John White will temporarily lead the Nevada System of Higher Education, a powerful job left vacant after this month’s contentious retirement of former Chancellor Dan Klaich. Some lawmakers and education insiders have raised concerns that the appointment would create an awkward relationship between White and UNLV President Len Jessup, who both sought the university’s top spot two years ago.

“It’s an odd position, potentially, for the regents to put him in,” Sen. Ben Kieckhefer said. “In terms of his ability to do the job — I don’t question that. But the political dynamics of higher education seem to be worse than at the Legislature in some points.”

JESSUP UNDER PRESSURE

The recommendation comes at an uncomfortable time for Jessup, who has been pummeled with criticism as the university grapples with issues such as low faculty morale, lackluster graduation rates and political wrangling over its nascent medical school.

“He is many things,” Regent Sam Lieberman said of the second-year president before hundreds of angry students who confronted him last fall with demands to boost diversity efforts. “But he is no longer new.”

At a meeting the following month, Regent Allison Stephens told Jessup and his cabinet that she was “unimpressed with the work at UNLV,” urging the group to pay more heed to the school’s shortcomings. She has also told university leadership to communicate better with the board.

Asked to address perceived disatisfaction from regents, Jessup said “things are going well” between him and the panel. “I feel like we have good relationships,” he said in April.

CONTENTIOUS SEARCH

White’s nomination, led by board Chair Rick Trachok, follows a tense presidential search that drew objections about his recommendation as a finalist for UNLV’s top job in 2014.

Regent Mark Doubrava, who chaired the presidential selection committee, protested after Klaich added White to a candidate short list after the committee had rejected him.

“The circumstance is highly unusual,” Regent James Dean Leavitt said. “But I’m sure Chair Trachok had a very good reason for this recommendation.”

Attempts to reach Doubrava were unsuccessful. White declined to be interviewed until after Friday’s meeting.

Jessup, meanwhile, issued a statement lauding White’s leadership.

“John was an exceptional dean at the Boyd School of Law and served UNLV well as executive vice president and provost, and in his current role as adviser,” Jessup said. “He would be an asset to the Nevada System of Higher Education and all its member institutions.”

POWERFUL JOB

For more than a decade, NSHE’s chancellor has been the state’s most powerful higher education figure — one who wields the ability to reprimand or fire any college president.

If selected, White would directly oversee Jessup, his current boss. A longtime UNLV law professor, White served as the school’s second-in-command from July 2012 until February 2015 — a month after Jessup was chosen to lead the university. The former law school dean has since served as an adviser to Jessup.

Former UNLV President Carol Harter, who was ousted in dramatic fashion by Klaich’s predecessor, Jim Rogers, criticized NSHE’s hierarchy, noting she hopes the agency’s board will claim more direct control over college leadership. “Regardless of who the interim is … campus presidents really should be reporting to regents,” she said.

A former panel of regents wrangled with Rogers for months before almost unanimously granting him unprecedented authority in 2005. Rogers — a headstrong businessman and generous philanthropist credited for donating hundreds of millions to universities — clashed with UNLV and UNR presidents, leading both to quit.

“The regents gave up so much power,” said Andres Ramirez, a Las Vegas-based political consultant who credits Rogers with turning around the struggling system. “Once they started heading in the right direction, the regents should have taken back the power. But that never happened.”

KEY LEGISLATIVE SESSION

With higher education poised to be a priority during next year’s legislative session, NSHE’s chancellor will soon play an especially critical role.

Lawmakers and community leaders have spent months crafting a policy agenda to improve the state’s colleges and universities, driving Gov. Brian Sandoval’s signature issue: weaning Nevada’s economy from its dependence on tourism. With a session last year that brought sweeping changes to the state’s public education system, state leaders anticipate similar reform efforts for NSHE as policymakers aim to develop a specialized workforce.

Legislative proposals include redrawing the governance structure for the higher education system, which oversees all of the state’s public colleges and universities. Reform interests have intensified in the wake of Klaich’s retirement, which followed a Review-Journal investigation raising concerns that the ex-chancellor misled lawmakers about a new formula for distributing money among NSHE schools.

Assemblyman Elliot Anderson, who is among a handful of legislators drafting a pair of bills to overhaul NSHE, praised Trachok’s recommendation of White. “Hopefully, he’ll smooth over the relationship with the Legislature,” Anderson said.

“All of it’s weird considering the situation the regents were faced with,” Anderson said, referring to White’s relationship with Jessup. “But I think it was a good call.”

Contact Ana Ley at aley@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5512. Follow @la__ley on Twitter.

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