Getting state funding

Tuesday, April 7, 2009 | 2:07 a.m.

These are troubling times for UNLV as it faces the possibility of seeing its plans flushed down the drain by Gov. Jim Gibbons, who has proposed a 36 percent cut to higher education in Nevada over the next two years. Unless the Legislature steps in and saves the day, the university will find itself a mere shell of what it is today.

The losers will be current and future students and everyone in Southern Nevada who benefits from an educated workforce.

UNLV cannot control the outcome of the Legislature’s budget decisions. But legislators can control the university’s destiny by making sure it retains its role as a vital community institution.

As reporter Charlotte Hsu reminded Las Vegas Sun readers in a Sunday story, investing in the university benefits the community. UNLV’s Center for Business and Economic Research found that for every dollar invested in the school in 2006, the institution generated an additional $4.50 in economic activity.

Research is a key to UNLV’s success because it creates jobs for lab technicians and other specialists and attracts businesses that rely on skilled workers.

At the same time, the university needs to heed complaints from students who say they have trouble getting into courses they need to graduate. Many of these students are not looking for careers that require advanced research. They simply want to attain the education necessary to compete for jobs in Southern Nevada.

The Legislature should provide the money necessary for UNLV to obtain the laboratories and faculty necessary to attract research grants while having the variety and number of courses necessary to help undergrads earn their degrees within four years. UNLV will have to be proficient at both research and undergraduate education in its quest for national prominence.

If legislators fail to come through, UNLV will be at risk of failing miserably, which will hurt not only its own reputation but also that of the state.