Nevada community colleges may see new management

CARSON CITY — Community colleges could soon be managed under separate boards of trustees instead of by the Nevada System of Higher Education Board of Regents, under a bill heard by lawmakers Wednesday afternoon.

Senate Bill 347 was presented by Senator Fabian Doñate, D-Las Vegas, who took sharp aim at regents during the bill hearing.

“Is this bill a direct attack on the governance structure of the Board of Regents and … will it begin to rein back the problems that we have seen over the last few years? The answer to that is yes, absolutely,” Doñate said.

The bill would create a board of trustees at each state college and community college within the Nevada System of Higher Education. Each board would consist of nine members appointed by the governor.

State universities, which include the University of Nevada, Reno, the University of Nevada Las Vegas and the Desert Research Institute, would be remain under the Board of Regents. All the boards would remain under the Nevada System of Higher Education.

A board of trustees would be able to hire, fire and discipline the president of its college, would be able to work with stakeholders at the school to develop policies and would have the power to review budget requests. The board would also have the power to spend money allocated to the college and would set the salaries of the president and administrative officers.

The proposed legislation was heavily amended, with more than 450 sections struck from the bill’s original language. The amendment removed a section creating the Nevada Office of Higher Education Administrative Services, which would provide technical and administrative support to the Board of Regents and the other new boards of trustees.

The amendment added a section that would require the Joint Interim Committee on Education to create a higher education subcommittee, which would recommend governance and oversight for each college and evaluate funding to “support the differing missions and constituencies” of each university and college in the state.

The subcommittee would also create procedures for the higher education system to transfer property it holds to the various colleges and community colleges, and a system for transferring credits between institutions.

The Council for a Better Nevada and the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce spoke in support of the bill.

“I do think it’s time for the Legislature to get back in the copilot seat with regard to higher education,” said Warren Hardy, a lobbyist with the Council for Better Nevada.

But the Board of Regents opposed the bill, said acting Chancellor Dale Erquiaga.

“I come before you to oppose this bill. I don’t think that surprises anyone because the system does not support deconsolidation,” he said.

Erquiaga said the board supports the interim study, but raised concerns about whether employee protections currently provided under the higher education system would be protected under new boards.

The Nevada Faculty Alliance also opposed the bill.

Contact Taylor R. Avery at TAvery@reviewjournal.com. Follow @travery98 on Twitter.