New football complex among projects on Nevada Board of Regents agenda

The Nevada Board of Regents will convene Thursday at Great Basin College in Elko for a two-day meeting to discuss and take action on myriad issues impacting the state’s public colleges.

The issues the Nevada System of Higher Education board will consider include:

Student fees

UNLV will present a plan to reduce the $12 million balance that has accumulated over the past few years in the university’s financial-aid coffers. The plan is in response to concerns the board raised in June about the balance in the account, which comes from student fees.

Officials will report that as of July, the university has awarded nearly $22 million to needy students. The amount includes the balance, as well as the estimated fee revenue from fiscal 2018.

Building projects

UNLV is requesting approval to finance the construction of a new football training complex at an estimated cost of $28.5 million. The 73,000-square-foot, two-story facility will be located at the north end of the existing UNLV football practice field. The university has received more than $18 million in cash gifts and donor pledges toward the project.

The university is also engaged in fundraising for its medical education building.

UNLV President Len Jessup will tell the board that project options for the university’s new medical school have varied widely. Construction estimates range from $135 million to $230 million. While the university received an anonymous $25 million donation toward the project, which was matched by the state Legislature, it is short of its original fundraising goal of $100 million.

College of Southern Nevada President Michael Richards is asking for revenue bond financing for three new student unions. In March, the board approved the $80 million project, a majority of which will be funded by student fees.

Police consolidation

The board will consider hiring an outside expert to work with the Southern Nevada institutions on consolidating their police and safety services. The study would examine consolidation from the cost efficiency and public safety perspectives.

Newly hired Chancellor Thom Reilly is requesting the expert after officials at UNLV and CSN were unable to agree on consolidation terms.

Consolidating police services for the state’s northern campuses one year ago resulted in a cost savings of $432,000.

Emeritus status

The board will consider granting emeritus status to former Chancellor Dan Klaich.

Klaich resigned in May 2016 in the wake of a Las Vegas Review-Journal article detailing emails that showed the Nevada System of Higher Education misled lawmakers who were studying equity in distribution of state funding.

Regents will also consider granting emeritus status to former chancellors Richard Jarvis and Jane Nichols.

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