Higher education community should plan for future, Anderes says

The state's higher education community should develop a biennial budget with an eye toward a decade from now, not just the next two years, the interim chancellor of the University and Community College System of Nevada says.

"The purpose is to look 10 years out at what you want your institutions to be," interim Chancellor Tom Anderes told the Board of Regents Friday, noting that a decade from now, enrollment could be 2 1/2 times the 100,000 students now attending Nevada universities and colleges.

The regents, school presidents and others were participating in a workshop in Las Vegas to focus on a budget for 2002-03 that could be near or more than $1 billion.

Regent Chairwoman Jill Derby called the strategic direction workshop "the first most critical step in preparing a budget."

The current two-year budget is a state record $893 million -- $435 million for the current fiscal year and $458 million for fiscal 2001. Those figures are expected to be even bigger for 2002-03, given the effort to create the Nevada State College at Henderson. Currently, higher education accounts for 19 percent of the state's budget.

A ballpark figure on just how much the system will seek from the state could be brought up as early as the April 6-7 regents meeting in Northern Nevada.

UNLV President Carol Harter said up until now, the university has been all things to all people, but perhaps now it may be time to differentiate the missions of the schools to better use resources. For UNLV, that could mean a focus on research.

"I see research as one of our major tools to solving Nevada's needs in economic diversification and social problems," she said. Harter emphasized technology as being important for students to get good jobs in new markets.

Richard Moore, founding president of the planned Nevada State College at Henderson, said it is time for the state to develop a higher education master plan.

That could lead to a change in enrollment at the state's universities, University of Nevada Reno President Joe Crowley said.

"It may be time to talk about more selective admission at the two universities," he said. "We should submit new programs for this budget without having to marry them to an enrollment formula."

Getting the needed money from the Legislature will be the big challenge.

"The question on everyone's mind is how to afford all of these initiatives," Anderes said. "We have to develop guidelines and objectives that we will be responsible for."

Anderes said areas the colleges and universities should address include undergraduate access and growth, research and graduate/professional education and meeting the state's needs through issues including accountability, planning and technology.

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