UNLV could cease to be a ‘university’

Carolyn Robins, Las Vegas

Thursday, March 17, 2011 | 2:04 a.m.

Gov. Brian Sandoval’s uncompromising budget and repeated pledge of “no new taxes” have placed Nevada’s higher education system in an unsustainable position. UNLV is on the brink of losing its right to even be called a university. The word “university” shares the same root as the words “universe” and “universal.”

A university, by definition, provides a universe of disciplines for its students to access. If you ask a university graduate what his or her favorite course was, the answer is likely to be one in a subject outside the chosen major, a course that opened up a new, life-enriching interest. (I’m a computer scientist, but my favorite course was Russian literature.)

How could UNLV claim to be a university if it were to abolish the philosophy department and deny students access to the great thinkers of the past? In fact, how could it claim to be a university if it were to make such draconian cuts to the colleges of fine arts, education, liberal arts, and business, just to name a few? Cutting 12 academic programs and 33 degree programs, as proposed, would leave behind only the name of a once-respected institution.

When is a university not a university? When it is so diminished that it no longer offers that required universe of disciplines to its students. Is this what the people of Nevada want? More importantly, is this destruction of Nevada’s higher education system really the legacy that the governor and legislators want to leave behind?