Lots going on at the top

The 2017-18 operating budget shows that system administration, excluding the Silver State Opportunity Grant, is a $25.5 million enterprise.

The system office receives more general fund appropriations than four institutions in the system: Nevada State College, Western Nevada College, Great Basin College and the Desert Research Institute.

The Nevada System of Higher Education employs 136 people in its Las Vegas and Reno offices; 29 have annual salaries over $100,000. Of the 136 employees, 42 are part of the chancellor’s office, while the remaining individuals work out of ancillary offices, such as system computing services, which manages system-wide information services.

Chet Burton, the chief financial officer for the Nevada System of Higher Education, said the ancillary offices, which provide information technology and other back-office support, skew the numbers.

“Those numbers have not gone up in the last five years at least,” Burton said. “We have not added people.”

However, those who work in the chancellor’s office hold titles such as vice chancellor of academic affairs and vice chancellor of legal affairs. The top administrator, the chancellor, earns $425,000. The Nevada Board of Regents recently hired Dr. Thom Reilly for the role at this salary. By comparison, UNLV President Len Jessup earns a salary of $534,668 according to Transparent Nevada.

Other top administrators include the vice chancellor of workforce development, at a recently approved salary of $175,500 and a vice chancellor for community colleges, at a salary of $175,000.

Lawmakers seek change

Bills to reform NSHE emerged during the 2017 Nevada Legislature, evoking grumbling in some corners.

A resolution that would give the Legislature more oversight of the Board of Regents passed this year, but because it would remove the board from the state Constitution, it must also pass the Legislature in 2019 and be approved by voters in 2020.

“The system would become more accountable in an eye-blink,” said Dick Richardson, an expert who has studied Nevada’s educational system.

NSHE has not altered significantly — other than two name changes — since it was formed in 1968. At the time, the system oversaw the University of Nevada, Reno; UNLV and the Desert Research Institute. Four community colleges have since been created and absorbed into the university system.

“Most higher education systems have undergone changes, fine-tuning and tinkering that makes them more responsive to what they need now rather than in 1968,” Richardson said. “There’s very little today that looks to me like what I saw back then.”

One institution, the College of Southern Nevada, has grown to an enrollment of more than 35,000 students and is among the largest community colleges in the country.

Another bill suggested giving community colleges their own governing body. But that would add a new layer of bureaucracy and administration, potentially diverting more resources from students, Burton said.

“To me, that’s not an efficient model,” Burton said.

Contact Natalie Bruzda at nbruzda@reviewjournal.com or 702-4773897. Follow @Nataliebruzda on Twitter.