Chancellor to meet with students, campus leaders

By: Jay Balagna

Tuesday, February 9, 2010 - 12:24 AM

Students will have a chance to hear about the Nevada System of Higher Education’s plan to handle budget cuts straight from the system’s leader 5:30 p.m. Wednesday. Dan Klaich, NSHE’s chancellor, will speak at a special joint meeting of the undergraduate and graduate student senates in Ballroom C of the Joe Crowley Student Union.

The meeting will begin with a presentation from Klaich on tuition and fees (the topic the meeting was originally scheduled for), to be followed by a presentation on Nevada’s budget deficit and how it relates to NSHE.

“Every two years the chancellor goes to the student governments to discuss tuition and fees,” Klaich said. “I scheduled this meeting for that, but I expect what students are going to want to know the most about is the budget.”

While there will not be much specific information to discuss until after the state legislature decides on how large a cut to pass on to NSHE, Klaich said he plans to present students with scenarios showing the size of proposed cuts.

At a special NSHE Board of Regents meeting last week, Klaich presented scenarios that included the closing of entire community colleges, athletic programs and the medical, dental and law schools. While they were not serious proposals, Klaich said they represent the size of the cuts facing higher education in Nevada.

Other proposals used to show the magnitude of a $110 million cut, proposed by Gov. Jim Gibbons, were laying off more than 1,000 state employees, implementing five furlough days per month and raising tuition.

In order to fill the proposed $110 million gap, the university would need to raise tuition by 48 percent, assuming all students would stay, Klaich said at the meeting last week. The proposal comes just a year after Gibbons’ first proposal to cut 47 percent from NSHE last January.

Gracie Geremia, the speaker of the ASUN Senate, said Klaich’s visit will play a vital role in preparing students for budget cuts.

“It’s definitely important that he comes to discuss things before the budget crisis,” she said. “There’s going to be plenty of room for audience, and we will be allowing public comment throughout.”
Having Klaich available to speak to students is vital when determining the next move for students and their government, Geremia said.

“We need to be educated on the budget situation and find out the Board of Regents plan for fees,” she said. “We need to be informed so we can find out what steps we should take.”

Jay Balagna can be reached at jbalagna@nevadasagbrush.com.