Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

State College joining community colleges to raise enrollment

The Nevada State College at Henderson will likely be coming to a community college near you.

State college officials are planning to offer bachelor's degrees at community colleges throughout the state as early as next fall, college officials said.

"We're doing this to be good citizens, not to make money," Kerry Romesburg, president of the state college, said. "It's great news if it moves forward."

Romesburg said the state college has already secured agreements with Truckee Meadows Community College in Reno and Western Nevada Community College in Carson City. Talks with the officials at Community College of Southern Nevada are under way, but officials are still waiting for faculty comment.

Such agreements would be designed to boost the state college's sagging enrollment. The college was unable to fulfill its enrollment potential this year of 500 full-time students. Instead it drew less than 200 full-time students. As a result, the Legislature reduced its funding to $3.4 million in 2003-2004.

"We will need to supplement that with foundation money in order to continue to operate," Romesburg said.

Romesburg doesn't expect the enrollment count at the two northern institutions to be high, but the programs must generate enough students to cover basic costs because of the expected shortfall.

"To be honest, I would be surprised if we're talking about 50 or 60 more students (at institutions up north)," Romesburg said. "We're just trying to cover the cost of what we pay the faculty."

Talks with CCSN are in an early stage, CCSN President Ron Remington said.

"Before we can really do this, we have to develop answers with our faculty with things like joint appointments and shared facilities," Remington said.

CCSN's faculty would teach upper division classes for the state college at a higher rate of pay.

"We think this is great," said Joan McGee, CCSN's former Faculty Senate chairwoman. "I'm sure there are some teachers that would like the money because we have the highest workload and the lowest pay scale."

Pay for state college faculty is between that of the community colleges and the universities.

There is precedent for such joint agreements. CCSN partnered with the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, this semester to offer a bachelor's degree in education. The courses, taught on the college's Cheyenne campus, drew 180 students.

Nevada State College courses would be taught on CCSN's West Charleston campus.

Romesburg said the offerings will address concerns brought up earlier in the legislative session by Assemblyman Wendell Williams, D-North Las Vegas, that minorities living far from Henderson and from the center of Las Vegas have less access to four-year degrees.

"I would say that in many ways it helps address some of the criticism," Romesburg said. "At present, our campus is not convenient for some people. We're not on any sort of public transportation line. To provide access to where the students are is just simply good business practice."

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