University removes engineering dean

The dean of UNLV's College of Engineering, whose programs are expected to be among the hardest hit in the next round of budget cuts, has been removed from his job and reassigned to the provost's office, the university confirmed Monday.

Eric Sandgren took over as dean of the college in 2003. His contract, which pays him $193,596 a year, expires in June.

The campus was notified Friday that Sandgren was no longer dean. Ed Neumann, chair of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, will serve as acting dean this week, while the campus is on spring break. An interim dean will be chosen next week.

Dave Tonelli, a university spokesman, would not say why Sandgren was removed from his job, citing the privacy of personnel matters.

Sandgren is expected to become a member of the college's faculty next semester. He will make $135,000 a year when he returns to being a professor.

A message left at Sandgren's home Monday was not returned.

Sandgren has been a critic of plans to cut programs within the College of Engineering.

Administrators at colleges and universities across Nevada are trying to implement a 6.9 percent cut in state support approved by the Legislature.

At UNLV, administrators have narrowed down a list of programs that could be eliminated to save an estimated $9 million next year.

Among those programs are three from the College of Engineering: Informatics, Construction Engineering Management and Entertainment Engineering.

A committee is reviewing a list of recommendations from administrators on which programs to cut. Representatives from each program are expected to defend their program's existence to the committee. University President Neal Smatresk has said he will make a final decision by early May.

At a rally held earlier this month to protest possible cuts to engineering programs, several dozen students and alumni of the college gathered on campus to make the case for their programs.

Sandgren left a meeting of the higher education system's governing Board of Regents to attend the rally. He told the gathering that the engineering college should not be cut at all.

"There's nothing we can sacrifice here without really damaging the university and the economy," he said.

Doa Meade, president of the College of Engineering Alumni Chapter, which organized the rally, said Monday that Sandgren's removal was "sudden and unexpected."

"Our first fear was that his removal was a direct result of the budget rally and the continuous calls and letters, encouraging the university president and the regents to NOT cut a single program" within the college, she wrote in an e-mail.

But Tonelli, the university spokesman, said tenured professors cannot be disciplined for voicing an opinion, citing the university's academic freedom policy.

The higher ed system's code specifies that faculty members "shall not be subjected to censorship or discipline by the Nevada System of Higher Education on grounds that the faculty member has expressed opinions or views which are controversial, unpopular or contrary to the attitudes of the Nevada System of Higher Education or the community."

Tonelli said the university follows that policy.

"We do not discipline any employees for speaking out or expressing an opinion," he said.

Meade said that, regardless of the reason, Sandgren's removal is unfortunate while the budget cuts are under way.

"The timing was horrible, to say the least," she wrote.

Contact reporter Richard Lake at rlake@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0307.