Students mum on colleges’ budgets

University system regents pleaded Friday for students to take up their side in the fight against budget cuts that soon could be ordered by Gov. Jim Gibbons.

"I expected there to be a march on the governor's mansion at this point because the students should be very concerned about this," Chancellor Jim Rogers said.

The budget cuts would force the closure of some college campuses, the layoff of staff and the delay of construction projects, college and university presidents told the Board of Regents.

Students would see larger class sizes, fewer classes overall, and Nevada's roughly 45,000 university students will see sharp fee increases, they warned.

Regent Steve Sisolak said he frequently receives complaints from students that they can't get into classes.

"If students think they have problems now, if these cuts go through, it'll be unbelievable," he warned.

Yet the state's 100,00 college and university students have been strangely silent on the issue, regents noted.

Even the student body presidents, those leaders elected by students who also receive tuition waivers and monthly stipends from the fees of their fellow students, didn't utter a word during Friday's discussion.

UNLV Student Body President Adriel Espinoza wasn't in attendance.

After the meeting, Jeremy Houska, president of the Graduate & Professional Student Association at UNLV, refused to comment.

Nevada State College Student Body President Ryan Crowell, who has typically been a vocal proponent for students at his school at past meetings, said afterward that he would organize something to get his peers involved. He wasn't specific.

"If this would have a happened at Berkley, the students would have rioted and there would be no problems," Rogers said, referring to the University of California, Berkley, which has been the site of more than a few student uprisings over the years.

Regents are trying to gain support by as many people as possible to defend against the looming tax cuts.

Gibbons has asked the Nevada System of Higher Education to come up with a plan to cut its budget by 8 percent in light of revenue shortfalls.

A day after Rogers released details of what the cuts might do at the state's two universities, the leaders of Nevada's smaller colleges painted a similar dire picture.

"These cuts would be devastating to our small campus," said William Reinhard, vice president for administrative services at Great Basin College in Elko. "I leave positions vacant now so I can pay utility bills."

"Next year, I would have to close campuses" to accommodate the budget cuts, Carol Lucey, president of Western Nevada College in Carson City.

The College of Southern Nevada would have a "probable closure of learning sites" and would be "probably facing some layoffs," interim President Mike Richards said.

"If that doesn't get the attention of our faculty and students that are here, and our citizens, then nothing will," Regent Steve Sisolak said.

Regents also tried to hone their message about the dire consequences of the potential cuts as Rogers and Board of Regents Chairman Michael Wixom prepare to meet with Gibbons on Monday.

"This could be the biggest disaster in this state... that we have seen in a long, long time," Regents Vice Chairman Howard Rosenberg said.

Officials also labeled as misleading the perception that because the university system received more money from the Legislature than last year, it could afford to make cuts.

The system was allocated $168 million more from legislators for the current two-year budget, but all but $3.9 million is tied up in cost-of-living increases, merit fees, and other contractual obligations that the university system can't legally do away with.

That left UNLV with $13.6 million less than the previous two-year budget for discretionary spending, Vice President for Finance Gerry Bomotti said.

Some regents said the higher education system should prepare for the cuts, which could still grow bigger as the governor's office learns just how short state revenues become. On Thursday, the governor's office said the shortfall might be greater than the $285 million previously estimated.

Regent Ron Knecht, who has opposed tax increases to pay for the shortfalls, advocated using the $36 million legislators poured into the rainy day fund this year instead.

He also said the budget cuts should be applied equitably throughout the state, rather than to just 54 percent of state's general fund budget, which includes the higher education system.

Gibbons has made agencies such as the prison system and kindergarten through 12th grade public education exempt from the proposed cuts.

Rogers has proposed using the state's entire rainy day fund or raising taxes to cover the revenue shortfalls, but Gibbons has declined to do so.

The faculty senates at several institutions, including UNLV, have unanimously approved statements denouncing the cuts.

Rosenberg urged student leaders to get their peers active in the state's five colleges and two universities.

"I'm not suggesting that any of them incite them to riot," he said.

Contact reporter Lawrence Mower at lmower@reviewjournal.com or (702) 383-0440.