Thursday, June 10, 1999 | 11:46 a.m.
The Nevada State Legislature is going to spend $500,000 to find out what Assembly Majority Leader Richard Perkins, D-Henderson, already knows -- Nevada needs a state college system.
"We could fill it with 14,000 students today if it was there," Perkins, a captain with the Henderson Police Department, said.
Assembly Bill 220 appropriates money from the general fund to the University and Community College System of Nevada for a needs assessment and implementation plan for a four-year state college in Henderson. It would differ from the university system in that it would not be heavily involved in research or offer graduate degrees, and from the community college in that it would offer bachelor's degrees, not two-year associate's degrees.
Perkins sponsored the bill, which was signed into law Tuesday by Gov. Kenny Guinn.
Why Henderson, fast approaching the status of being the second largest city in the state?
"We're the only ones that have stepped up to the plate," Perkins said.
The seed for the idea was planted by the 1997 Legislature when approval was given to build a satellite university and community campus on 60 acres of donated land south of Reno.
"The reason the (funding) went forward for the Redfield campus was that the 60 acres were donated," Perkins said. "I came back (to Henderson) and said, do we have some land? They did."
Perkins credits Henderson Mayor Jim Gibson with being one of the driving forces behind the state college idea.
"We started talking about what kind of campus. It was more Jim's idea for a state college," Perkins said. "It took off from there. The response has been extremely positive."
Plans call for the city to donate land for the campus, but Perkins and other Henderson college advocates are holding the three proposed sites close to their vests. The sites are either owned or controlled by the city, Perkins said, but some of it may have to be acquired and they want to guard against land speculation.
The University Board of Regents has until Sept. 1, 2000, to submit a report of its findings and recommendations, which will be brought before the 71st session of the Legislature in 2001.
During the next six weeks a committee will be chosen to oversee the study, which Perkins said probably will be done by a consultant.
The advisory committee will consist of one member appointed by the governor, one appointed by the majority leader of the state Senate, one by the speaker of the Assembly and two by the regents.
"Putting together the committee is the next step. Then that group will convene and choose a consultant to perform the work. I expect that to happen within about six weeks," Perkins said. "Most of the interim committees will be done by the next legislative commission meeting in mid-July."
If the study shows a need for a state college in Henderson, Perkins said he would expect to see them built in a number of places in the state, which would suit Chancellor Richard Jarvis.
Nevada is one of the few states that doesn't have a state college system.
"A state college here would allow us to focus on teacher training and other curriculums," Jarvis said. "UNLV can't be all things to all people.
"If UNLV reaches the 40,000 student level, not a lot of campuses have been successful with that kind of student load."
Its current student head count is more than 22,000.
"I personally think a very strong case can be made for a state college," Jarvis said. "Anybody who analyzes it will come up with a very strong case."
Las Vegas is the only metropolitan area in the country with a population of 1 million or more without a major research university, Jarvis said.
Growth in Southern Nevada is putting a severe strain on the higher education budget, and a state college -- which is cheaper than a university but provides the same four-year bachelor's degree -- would provide some relief.
State colleges are cheaper, because the pay for instructors is not as high and they spend more time in the classroom teaching than do professors at universities, who spend more of their time doing research.
Undergraduate students also would find a state college education a cheaper way to get a bachelor's degree by about half, Perkins said.
And rather than taking business from UNLV, a state college system would take some of the undergraduate load off the university and allow it to grow into a nationally recognized graduate and research institution, he said.
"The demand for baccalaureate is going to be so great in Southern Nevada," Jarvis said, "and at the same time that it is critical for UNLV to bump up its research."
By providing a less expensive state college, Jarvis said more money could be put into improving research.
He compared Nevada's system to that of New Mexico, which has a state college system.
"The University of New Mexico does $120 million a year in grants and contracts compared to $18 million to $19 million at UNLV," Jarvis said.
He said the question isn't really whether to create a third tier of higher education, but where and at what cost.
"The argument I would make is that the students are going to be there anyway," he said.
Jarvis said the regents will "look at the big picture" and determine if a state college at Henderson is the answer to a major problem.
Assuming the study confirms what Jarvis knows, how long would it take to establish a state college campus in Henderson?
"It depends," Perkins said. "There are a couple of different scenarios."
One of those could follow the path of the university's Boyd School of Law, which began offering classes to first-year law students last fall in the vacant Paradise Elementary School across the street from UNLV.
The law school is awaiting the completion of the new library on the campus next year, after which the old library will be converted into a facility to house the law school.
"If we are able to find space available in the area, we could start with an administration and some classes till we have some structures built," Perkins said.
Otherwise, he said, it could take four years to get the funding for the college and to build it.
He is optimistic that it will be built, noting that his colleagues in the Legislature are warming up to the idea.
"There were some who were skeptical, but they were swayed over to our side," he said.
One of the major arguments against the state college was from those who said if the state can't fully fund the university and community college system now in place, how is it going to pay for a state college?
"My answer to that," Perkins said, "is that it doesn't matter what we call the institution, whether CCSN, UNLV or state college. The funding as it relates to that won't change."
Perkins said a state college could be a training ground for teachers who are in demand by the Clark County School District.
Among those who have expressed reservations about a state college campus in Henderson are Community College of Southern Nevada President Richard Moore and UNLV President Carol Harter.
Both have struggled in recent years to get what they consider their fair share of funding to meet the needs of their ever-expanding institutions.
Both have said they don't want their schools to suffer more economic woes by shifting money to a state college.
In a letter to the Sun last December Harter said, "UNLV is looking at the same economic realities as other state-supported entities: From where will the public dollars come for this venture, and how will the considerable start-up expenditures for a new state college impact existing needs for education of Nevadans at all level?"
Harter was traveling and unavailable for further comment. Moore also was unavailable for comment.
UNLV, as part of its master plan, has long advocated a UNLV satellite campus in Henderson, which has a community college campus, and other areas of the valley.
Tuesday the university launched its first courses in Henderson with 11 classes offered in two summer sessions.
Classes, held on the community college campus, include courses in business, economics, special education techniques, elementary classroom teaching, multicultural education, criminal justice police, research methods and others.
UNLV will follow this fall with a few more classes in Henderson beginning Aug. 30.
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