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State higher education board tweaks process for hiring school presidents

The state’s higher education board has tweaked the way it hires presidents at Nevada’s colleges and universities.

The 13-member Board of Regents on Thursday voted unanimously to decrease the number of regents required to serve on presidential search committees, which previously called for six members. Under the revised rule, committees can have four to six regents.

According to briefing documents for Thursday’s regular board meeting, regents considered the change because it’s often hard for so many of them to travel and convene as a committee.

Also on Thursday, regents voted to change the way colleges hire provosts, who are widely considered to be the second-in-command at higher education institutions. Revised rules now require that such hires be approved by the chancellor of the Nevada System of Higher Education “in consultation with” the chair of the Board of Regents, which oversees NSHE and its colleges.

Three regents cast dissenting votes — Sam Lieberman, James Dean Leavitt and Mark Doubrava, who objected against the possibility that a chancellor could make a unilateral decision without the board’s permission.

“What if the board chair…says, ‘No, I don’t think that’s a good move,’” Doubrava said. “You’re just creating a sand trap.”

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

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