UNR president Sandoval’s priority in 2021 Legislature: ‘All of our students’

By John Sadler

Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2021 | 2 a.m.

RENO — UNR President Brian Sandoval is in a unique position. Nevada’s Republican governor from 2011 to 2019, he’s entering his first legislative session in charge of UNR, a position he took in the midst of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Sandoval, the first UNR graduate to become president of the university, said he always had a “profound respect and appreciation” for higher education, but particularly UNR.

“When I became aware that President (Marc) Johnson was going to retire, I thought, ‘What an amazing opportunity to continue my public service in working with students and working with private industry and local governments in order to further the mission of the state,’ ” Sandoval said.

In an interview, Sandoval discussed the upcoming legislative session, his goals at UNR and his approval of the current governor’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

How has it been taking charge at UNR during the pandemic?

First and foremost, I’ve been overwhelmed by the quality of the faculty, students and staff and how resilient they’ve been through all of this. Before I arrived (in October), the pandemic had hit and in the spring they had to pivot on very short notice to an online education. Prior to my arrival, they had transitioned to the HyFlex model of in-person and online education and maximizing the amount of in-person we can have on campus.

You have to be able to have a maximum of 25 people in a room that are able to socially distance 6 feet apart, and there’s only so many places on campus that can accommodate that.

We’re excited for the spring semester (which started Monday). We feel good about the prospects of the spring semester, we’ll be in HyFlex mode, the campus will be completely open, and people who are currently eligible have started to receive vaccinations.

What will it take for higher education to get back to normal? Is it just dependent on vaccinations?

You have to define what normal is, and I don’t know if it’s ever going to be like it was before. We’re going to continue to be a good partner with the Washoe County Health District and the state — we’re in constant conversations with them.

Most recently, under tier 2, much of the faculty and staff is eligible for the vaccine. There are not enough vaccines for them, but for those that are eligible, those individuals are receiving the vaccine as we speak. We’re hopeful that by the end of the semester, we’ll have moved through the tiers and everyone on campus will have received the vaccine.

That doesn’t mean that we’re out of the pandemic. It’s still going to be necessary to socially distance and wear masks until a larger number of people receive the vaccine. We’re optimistic that in the fall, we’ll be back to that normal that, perhaps, you described … of students being able to be on campus and attend their classes.

Why I’m saying that it depends on how you define normal is that I think there’s going to be an expectation moving forward that there will be a more robust online offering for students. We want to make sure that we can provide for that.

What are your goals during the upcoming legislative session? Do you expect existing relationships with lawmakers to be helpful in achieving those goals?

I’ve had conversations with several lawmakers, and I’ll tell you what I told them: We want to be a good partner. There really aren’t any specific asks on our part; we don’t expect any special treatment. We work as a team with the other NSHE (Nevada System of Higher Education) institutions, with our sister institution, UNLV, and Nevada State College and the community colleges.

In my mind, it’s our students. It’s not UNR students. It’s not UNLV students. It’s not CSN students. It’s all of our students. I think there’s a recognition that we need to work together.

What’s the importance of diversity on the campus of UNR, and how do you plan to promote and maintain that diversity?

Diversity, equity and inclusion is absolutely a priority for me and a priority for the campus. I work very closely with our chief diversity officer, Eloisa Gordon-Mora, who is doing a great job. We’re working directly with the faculty in making sure that it’s a priority that we hire more diverse faculty members. We’re working on diversifying our student body so it matches our community and state.

I personally have met with all the different student groups on campus and went on a listening tour. There’s groups like Black at the Pack, there’s Indigenous student groups, a Latinx group called Alianza that I’ve met with to make sure their students have the resources that they need, and make sure students of color feel like they’re appreciated and heard and welcome.

We have a program in the fall semester called Let’s Talk About Race that gave students a forum to talk directly about concerns, diversity, their treatment on campus. There are a lot of places that we can improve, and we will improve.

Could you talk about why UNR chose to station its lobbyist Michael Flores in Las Vegas when he’s not at the Legislature?

First of all, Michael Flores is somebody that has universal respect in the state. He’s worked for Rep. Steven Horsford, he was the government affairs representative for the College of Southern Nevada, and prior to this position, chief of staff to the NSHE chancellor.

One of the realities of the state is that most of the state representatives are in Southern Nevada, and UNR wanted to make sure we had a constant presence and accessibility in Southern Nevada if there are questions associated with our campus.

I don’t know if I’d call it a strategy, I just think it was a realization of the reality of where a lot of the representatives in our state live and that it’s important to have our daily presence there, particularly somebody with the level of respect Flores has.

How do you think the state has done in its reaction to the pandemic? Is there anything you would do differently?

I have great respect for Gov. Steve Sisolak, and this is as difficult of a time as there has ever been in the history of Nevada. I think he’s got great people who are assisting him with regard to the response to the pandemic.

I know this full well, there are always going to be people who are second-guessing and saying that you could do things differently. I think he’s done as well as he could possibly do under the circumstances. We’re starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

In my role as president, we want to be a good partner, that’s why we are in constant conversation with the state and county. I really compliment the governor on the way he’s handled the situation.

Could you weigh in on the current political climate after the storming of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6?

We were all shocked and disgusted about what happened at the Capitol. We’ve got to wait and see what (President Joe Biden’s) policies are going to be, but I know, at least from what I’ve read and heard, that he’s going to be supportive of education and higher education and there may be some more support coming proposed by him.

We want to be good partners with our federal delegation as well as the administration. I’m very optimistic of what’s going to happen in the future.

Are there any plans to run for office, maybe in 2022?

I am 100% focused on UNR. I said this when I took the job, that for me this is a great, great opportunity to continue to serve the people of this state. I’m exactly where I want to be. Every day I look forward to coming to work. There are a lot of challenges that we just talked about, but I am singularly focused on my job as president of UNR.