Dean of UNLV’s medical school receives contract extension

The founding dean of UNLV’s medical school will be on the job for at least another year.

Barbara Atkinson has signed a one-year contract that will become effective July 1, with future renewals possible, just after her former contract ends June 30. Medical school faculty learned the news Monday, but Atkinson was publicly congratulated during a meeting of the Board of Trustees of the UNLV Foundation on Wednesday morning.

“I think everybody in the school feels very comfortable now,” Atkinson, 75, said. “We’re beginning to talk about what we’re going to do.”

There’s been some concern from faculty, students and the community about the stability of the university given UNLV President Len Jessup’s decision to leave with about two years left on his five-year contract.

“Barbara’s been a great leader for the med school. She’s a National Academy member. She’s well respected in the field. We’re coming up for another piece of our accreditation this spring,” said Diane Chase, executive vice president and provost. “I think this is one of those times when continuity is just really important.”

Jessup said he helped to ensure Atkinson remained in her role.

“It’s primarily the provost’s job to do that,” Jessup said. “But I worked with Diane to make sure we had continuity in leadership for the medical school. Barbara was very happy to sign a one-year extension.”

Atkinson joined the university in 2014 to get the fledgling medical school off the ground. She’s been with UNLV since, with the exception of a four-month hiatus last year when she was on medical leave.

She will earn $547,740 with the new contract, which includes a 3 percent cost-of-living increase that all Nevada System of Higher Education employees receive.

Official duties as outlined by the agreement are budget, personnel selection, evaluation of current programs and curriculum, as well as management of all of the school’s academic, fiscal, physical and human resources, which are “all responsibilities inherent as founding dean.”

Regent Patrick Carter is not happy with the decision.

“I am a huge advocate for UNLV, but I think this is a mistake,” Carter said. “Barb did her job to get us to this point. Now we need to search for a permanent dean that can rebuild a relationship with the state and fix the direction of the (medical education) building. It is disappointing that we will be stuck in the mud for another year.”

The School of Medicine is also one of five key areas within the university that NSHE Chancellor Thom Reilly wants a new chief operating officer to address. In the meantime, Chase said that Atkinson is part of a working group that Reilly created to address policies and operations at the school.

“We’re finishing out the hiring and making sure we have all the appropriate policies and procedures in place to be a fully functioning School of Medicine,” Chase said, adding that the school has almost fully secured its second class of 60 students.

Supporting the medical school as it continues to move forward was among the top goals set by the board’s incoming president, Greg McKinley, during Wednesday’s meeting.

However, Scott Roberts, vice president for philanthropy and alumni engagement at UNLV, said the university has seen a “pause in philanthropy,” especially when it comes to the medical school and the medical education building.

“It’s a tough time,” he said. “And so, we’re going to continue to press forward.”

Trustees and UNLV staff members also showed their support for Jessup and expressed their sadness regarding his departure.

“We’re not only losing a talented leader in higher education, but we are also losing a dynamic couple who have poured their heart and soul into UNLV and their community,” said Greg Lee, the outgoing board president.

The trustees also heard from the foundation’s attorney, Peter Bernhard, who researched the $14 million donor agreement that both Atkinson and Jessup signed with the Engelstad Family Foundation. The agreement included a provision that both of them keep their jobs through 2022. The agreement raised ethical concerns, and Reilly sought an outside legal opinion.

“There was a lot of work on his (Bernhard’s) part to get us to where we now feel very confident in the process that occurred and are not concerned that there was any issue with unethical behavior on behalf of the UNLV Foundation or our president,” Roberts said. “The one entity who benefited from that agreement was UNLV, and that was it.”

In an interview afterward, Jessup said he was “very happy” with what was said at the meeting.

“It confirms what I’ve known all along,” he said.

He

did not provide additional clarity regarding his decision to leave UNLV and what ultimately led to that decision, saying the letter he sent to the campus community April 3 “speaks for itself.”

“The letter, I thought, was very thorough and kind of stands on its own and addresses that question,” he said.

Contact Natalie Bruzda at nbruzda@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3897. Follow @NatalieBruzda on Twitter.