Thursday, July 9, 2020 | 2 a.m.
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Editor’s note: Following is an open letter to Gov. Steve Sisolak and the Nevada Board of Regents from five former community college presidents.
In this challenging time for Nevada higher education, state government and our economy, please consider the following regarding our community colleges:
The system funding formula that has been in use since 2013 has diverted funds from community colleges to protect university budgets. Adjustments to meet any projected system shortfall should therefore be made to assure our community college students are not penalized.
The colleges play a unique role in their communities, an economic role that will only become more important to the state as we attempt to find our way out of the economic devastation wrought by the current health crisis.
The development of a necessarily new Nevada economy is dependent on a very differently and quickly educated workforce. It is essential to maintain high-quality education and training programs to meet the needs of business and industry as Nevada emerges from this economic crisis. It is also the mission of the colleges to be ready to respond to the needs of our displaced workers. These new community college students will need to join the workforce with new skills as quickly as possible.
Please consider, therefore, the mission of the community colleges and the impact of any cuts on these students as you review what cuts are appropriate within the system:
• The average state dollar support for a university student is now higher than the support of anyone at a community college.
• In times of recession, enrollments increase in community colleges. Students anticipate better job opportunities with more education.
• The universities have the advantage of economies of scales, including larger lecture halls, and generally have students who are academically better prepared than community college students. Universities also have more funding sources outside of the state-appropriated budget, in order to make adjustments when funding must be cut.
• It is not clear how higher education will be affected by the lingering lesson of the pandemic. It is clear, however, that delivery of instruction and services will need to be modified to respond to coming changes in the higher education landscape. Available state resources should be redistributed accordingly — and the most nimble, student-serving institutions in the system, the colleges, should be carefully protected.
Before any across-the-board cuts are implemented, we believe the following actions should be considered:
1. Fix the funding level at each institution at the 2019 level and make cuts from that level.
2. All employees of the system who are highly compensated (for example, annually earning more than $160,000) should take a temporary 20% cut in pay.
3. When evaluating funds available for institutional cuts, use “all-funds” (i.e. include athletics, residence halls, etc. )
4. Place a freeze on all new hires.
5. Request that state scholarships be placed in the base budgets.
6. Only new programs that are part of job readiness initiatives should be considered for the next two years.
7. No tuition increases of any kind should be imposed on community college students.
We would be pleased to discuss this subject further if requested to do so. Thank you for your consideration.
Respectfully submitted by the following retired Nevada community college presidents: Anthony Calabro, president emeritus of Western Nevada College; John Gwaltney, president emeritus of Truckee Meadows Community College; Carol Lucey, president emerita of Western Nevada College; Ronald Remington, president of Great Basin College and the College of Southern Nevada; Maria Sheehan, president emerita of Truckee Meadows Community College.
