Best Business Plans

State funding support for world-class public universities, like Berkeley, the University of Michigan and the University of Virginia has been reduced as low as zero to 20%.  The top tier public universities learned many years ago it was necessary for them to become research universities, which are profit centers, to fund their operations.  UNLV and UNR are far behind on the curve in becoming self-sustaining.  Both must develop as world renowned research universities to earn income to survive and succeed.

Today Jim discusses the many attributes and plans of UNR and UNLV to make both universities competitive with the other world-class U.S. public universities.

Great faculty mentoring at research universities gives students a chance to develop their own inventions and ideas that can lead to major economic production.  In UNLV’s recent business plan competition, UNLV engineering and business students created a plethora of small business ideas that resulted in 12 patents, a host of small company start-ups.  UNLV students swept the Nevada Governor’s Cup and tri-state competitions for best business plans. New inventions create new businesses:  http://bit.ly/IHHqaJ

Research At UNLV

State funding support for world-class public universities, like Berkeley, the University of Michigan and the University of Virginia has been reduced as low as zero to 20%.  The top tier public universities learned many years ago it was necessary for them to become research universities, which are profit centers, to fund their operations.  UNLV and UNR are far behind on the curve in becoming self-sustaining.  Both must develop as world renowned research universities to earn income to survive and succeed.

Today Jim discusses the many attributes and plans of UNR and UNLV to make both universities competitive with the other world-class U.S. public universities.

The economic impact of UNLV’s research is over $300M a year to the local economy.  Having a global research university in your backyard is a critical key to the economic success of any region.  Research at UNLV supports local business, builds a strong workforce, and helps to solve critical problems not only in Nevada, but around the world.  Best of all, UNLV students gain access to cutting edge research that puts them “at the head of their class” when they seek a career. 

University Research

State funding support for world-class public universities, like Berkeley, the University of Michigan and the University of Virginia has been reduced as low as zero to 20%.  The top tier public universities learned many years ago it was necessary for them to become research universities, which are profit centers, to fund their operations.  UNLV and UNR are far behind on the curve in becoming self-sustaining.  Both must develop as world renowned research universities to earn income to survive and succeed.

Today Jim discusses the many attributes and plans of UNR and UNLV to make both universities competitive with the other world-class U.S. public universities.

University research has a substantial regional impact by equipping students with the ability to generate new ideas. Companies benefit by hiring graduates with knowledge and research skills, and these skills directly link to priority industry sectors targeted for development by the Nevada Governor’s Office of Economic Development.  

Today's Vote - New Funding Formula

Today an interim committee votes on a new formula to fund higher education. The Nevada System of Higher Education has proposed a new formula that I believe achieves the goals of simplicity and transparency, and also brings equity to Southern Nevada.  This is the culmination of seven years of work that I started as Chancellor and that Dan Klaich continued in partnership with the campus presidents. You can bet I will be watching the votes today.

Academic Research

State funding support for world-class public universities, like Berkeley, the University of Michigan and the University of Virginia has been reduced as low as zero to 20%.  The top tier public universities learned many years ago it was necessary for them to become research universities, which are profit centers, to fund their operations.  UNLV and UNR are far behind on the curve in becoming self-sustaining.  Both must develop as world renowned research universities to earn income to survive and succeed.

Today Jim discusses the many attributes and plans of UNR and UNLV to make both universities competitive with the other world-class U.S. public universities.

Academic research has been a powerful transformative force and the cornerstone in the foundation of the American economic success. Research universities, along with national laboratories, conduct the bulk of basic research in the nation today. With the decline or disappearance of major industrial laboratories, the responsibility for conducting basic research has further shifted to research universities.

Fixing A Broken Funding Formula

When I was Chancellor, I was a staunch advocate of fixing a broken funding formula. When Dan Klaich took the helm, he continued that effort and has worked hard to create a funding formula that is transparent, equitable and perhaps most important of all, funds Nevada’s colleges and universities on student success. The current formula accomplishes almost the complete opposite. The time for studies is over. The time for action is now.  The new funding formula must be approved on August 29 so Nevada’s higher education system can have a future and free itself from antiquated legislative policies.

UNLV & UNR

State funding support for world-class public universities, like Berkeley, the University of Michigan and the University of Virginia has been reduced as low as zero to 20%.  The top tier public universities learned many years ago it was necessary for them to become research universities, which are profit centers, to fund their operations.  UNLV and UNR are far behind on the curve in becoming self-sustaining.  Both must develop as world renowned research universities to earn income to survive and succeed.

Today Jim discusses the many attributes and plans of UNR and UNLV to make both universities competitive with the other world-class U.S. public universities.

Graduate-level education is dependent upon a research university environment. By 2020, as the knowledge-based global economy expands, 2.6 million new jobs will require an advanced degree.  The number of jobs requiring a master’s degree will increase by 22% over the next eight years and the number of jobs requiring doctorate or professional degree will increase by 20%.

New Funding Formula

The Nevada Legislature completed an analysis of the funding formula over a decade ago. The analysis compared Nevada’s higher education system to similar systems and institutions in the West and led to a formula that was based on mediocrity. They did not want to look at what was needed to make our colleges and universities better. They simply figured out what was adequate. And then they decided they would fund NO MORE THAN 85 PERCENT of “adequate.”  It does not take a Ph.D. in economics to figure out that decision has hamstrung our education system. The time has come for Nevada’s elected officials to stop thinking about their next re-election campaign and to do what’s right for our education system: Approve the new formula.

UNLV - More Good News

Here’s some good news about UNLV:

1. To improve math performance for incoming students, UNLV has designed a special bridge program for students whose math skills need refreshing in order to succeed in college mathematics. Students in the free summer program, a kind of math "boot camp," will meet five days a week, three hours a day for five weeks and will receive the tutoring and skills reinforcement they need to earn a place in a college math class and avoid noncredit classes that don't count toward graduation.

2. UNLV is working to meet Nevada’s need for an educated workforce in a changing economy. This Spring, more than 3,000 graduates entered the workforce – 80 percent of whom call Nevada home.

3. Cuts to health benefits have hurt employee morale. UNLV is working vigorously with NSHE governmental officials to improve health benefits, end pay cuts and furloughs, and restore merit.  It was recently announced that domestic partners will now be covered by our health plan.

UNLV

Here’s some good news about UNLV:

1. On a campus as big as UNLV, simply finding the right place to go for help can be challenging. The Academic Success Center guides students to the resources they need to improve retention and help them be successful. They offer or will refer students to programs and resources as tutoring, advising, skills testing, career exploration and more.

2. UNLV recognizes that strong advising helps students meet their academic and career goals. The university has increased its advising staff to provide better service. Academic advisors logged more than 45,000 visits during the last year, and with newly added staff, UNLV will be able to provide more guidance to keep students on track toward graduation.

3. To improve service for veterans, UNLV @RebelVETS combines the university's resources in one place to help veterans interested in higher education.

4. To improve morale after several years of continued faculty losses, the president and provost met with each department to listen and discuss how to further build departmental excellence and better meet our educational and scholarly missions.

5. UNLV made critical staff and faculty hires this spring to bolster support in key areas like student support and high impact academic programs.

TMCC

Here’s some good news about Truckee Meadows Community College:

1.       Truckee Meadows Community College considers itself a jobs college – providing programs that are pathways to jobs in the local community. The college is continually looking at emerging industries to developing new training programs, such as cybersecurity and aerospace.

2.       Truckee Meadows Community College is working to maintain and improve its facilities to ensure state-of-the-art learning. To help this effort, the college continues to pursue federal and state grant funding.

3.       Truckee Meadows Community College is working to expand its effort in diversity – both for the students and employee populations – to match the service area.

4.       Many students arrive at Truckee Meadows Community College needing remedial work, in particular math and English. The college continues to work with school district faculty to ensure K-12 and higher education programs are linked.

5.       Truckee Meadows Community College has increased its retention rate – the number of students who complete a class during a semester. However, more can be done to move this number over the current 75%.

6.       Truckee Meadows Community College has streamlined its class offerings due to budget cuts over the last four years. However, the college continues to work to offer access to needed classes each semester.

7.       Truckee Meadows Community College’s programs are in alignment with the Governor’s economic development plan in five of the seven targeted industries – Clean Energy, Health Services, Manufacturing, Business and Logistics. The college is exploring other areas where new programs may be viable, including aerospace and cybersecurity.

8.       82% of the first responders in the Truckee Meadows Community College service area were trained in the Regional Public Safety Training Center, of which the college is a partner. The college is working to restructure its programs at the facility to ensure community needs are met.

CSN

Here’s good news about the College of Southern Nevada:

1. As of October 2011, CSN students filed 40,806 FAFSAs, an increase of 191% in four years. The current ratio is 1 staff member for every 2,267 students. With the new fee revenue, CSN will add staff in this area and hopes to cut the time it takes to process financial aid down by half. 

2. CSN needs to do more to help students get through the math requirement to get their degrees and will be opening math resource centers in the fall on each campus to help students do better in math.

3. CSN has doubled its graduate rate over the last three years and hopes new efforts to bolster student services this fall and partnerships with national reform efforts such as Achieving the Dream will continue to increase the number of students who complete a degree or certificate from the current rate of 10.6%.

4. CSN is the most ethnically diverse college in the state and is working to eliminate achievement gaps that still persist through national initiatives such as Achieving the Dream.

UNLV

Here’s some good news about UNLV:

1. UNLV is one of 20 university teams chosen to participate in the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2013, a highly competitive contest that attracts colleges from around the world. Teams will design, build and operate solar-powered houses that are energy-efficient, affordable and attractive. 

2. The UNLV Boyd School of Law’s dispute resolution and legal writing programs rank among top 10 in U.S. News & World Report’s 2013 ranking. 

3. With the rising cost of college, one of many ways UNLV is helping students make college dream a reality is through private support. The new Philip J. Cohen Scholars Program at UNLV will fund full-scholarships for up to 50 students each year.

4. UNLV will update its general education curriculum this Fall to improve efforts to help students progress from admission to graduation – in key areas like critical thinking, communications, global/multicultural awareness and ethics.

Truckee Meadows Community College

Here’s some good news about Truckee Meadows Community College:

Truckee Meadows Community College is preparing for its third Success First Summer Bridge program this summer. Funded by federal grants and private support, Summer Bridge is a five-week program that provides a college-prep opportunity to low-income, first-generation college students by providing a smooth transition from high school or work to college. Last year the retention rate for students in this program was 95% (summer 2011), and persistence from the summer to the fall semester was 96%, higher than the college average.

In 2011, Truckee Meadows Community College joined Complete College America in its mission to graduate more students. After pledging to help more than 1,000 students earn a college degree or certificate, Truckee Meadows Community College became the institution with the highest increase of completers in Nevada, exceeding this goal by 22 percent.

Truckee Meadows Community College has doubled its graduation rate in the last three years. However, the college has set a goal to be at or above the national average in the next two years. Degree attainment remains a goal.

Truckee Meadows Community College is working to improve delivery of applied industrial technology programs. The college is applying for federal grants to support this initiative by renovating and expanding the Truckee Meadows Community College IGT Applied Industrial Technology Center.

NSC

Here’s good news about Nevada State College:

NSC will increase its six-year graduation numbers by an average of 1 percent annually, including those of key underrepresented groups.

NSC will increase its enrollment and retention of underrepresented groups.

NSC will expand its physical campus to accommodate a growing student body. 

NSC will increase its percentage of graduates who remain employed in Nevada.

NSC will improve communication to the public regarding its progress in accomplishing goals and objectives.

NSC will increase student performance across degree programs through a more rigorous and systematic assessment process.

NSC will improve communication and collaboration with local industry sectors to ensure that degree programs produce a relevant and highly-skilled labor force.

NSC will improve productivity by redesigning degree programs and courses by introducing more technology and by aligning degree offerings with student demand.

NSC will improve time-to-degree for students by collaborating more effectively with other institutions, particularly within southern Nevada’s higher education community.

NSC will increase the number of graduates in STEM-related disciplines that have direct application to Nevada’s economic diversification and industry cluster strategy; improve the positioning of NSC’s physical campus to allow for greater industry collaboration.

GBC

Here’s good news about Great Basin College:

GBC will continue to enhance relationships in the private sector which will lead to further investment and economic diversity and sustainability.

GBC will strengthen student life opportunities.

GBC will provide the means to continue to recruit and retain talented faculty.

GBC will focus recruitment of qualified and talented students for specific academic and training programs.

GBC will communicate the value of the college’s contribution to the overall economic recovery of the state of Nevada.

GBC will effectively communicate to the entire state the value of access to higher education in Nevada’s rural communities.

GBC will strengthen the role with regional economic development agencies within GBC’s service area.

GBC will strengthen its leadership position with distance learning technologies.

GBC will strengthen the marketing strategy for its academic and certificate and trade programs to rural Nevadans.

GBC will continue to prioritize the college’s strategic initiatives to improve access to a college education throughout Nevada.   

 

DRI

Here’s good news about the Desert Research Institute:

1.       DRI’s Strategic Plan: Address environmental and societal impacts of climate change and related security implications

2.       DRI striving to manage scarce water resources under conditions of changing climate - globally and regionally

3.       DRI working to create an energy-water nexus to address security and environmental concerns

4.       DRI is always striving to diversity its funding sources

5.       DRI will expand research on techniques and proxies for assessing global climate trends

6.       DRI will develop adaptation strategies related to natural systems, societies, and infrastructure impacted by climate change

7.       DRI aims to  provide geological and ecological work to support nation’s military and security

8.       DRI is developing more air pollutant analyses and measurement to better protect national health and well-being

9.       DRI is working to develop  models to better understand the use of groundwater and the impacts associated with evapo-transpiration processes

10.   DRI’s GreenPower program helps teachers develop a renewable energy curriculum that meets federal and state science standards.

CSN

Here’s good news about the College of Southern Nevada:

CSN is the most affordable college in Southern Nevada and is the largest and most diverse accredited postsecondary institution in the state. 

CSN offers more than 5,000 courses, some as late as midnight, and has 30 degree and certificate programs available entirely online.  

Research indicates more than half of CSN’s first-time, full-time equivalent, degree-seeking students        drop out of college before they graduate or transfer to another institution. 

Some students need to wait more than a year to get into the classes they need because CSN is near capacity and lacks appropriate resources to add additional sections.

The demographics of CSN – with returning, non-traditional, minority students -- make advising particularly essential for timely completion of certificate and degree programs. CSN currently has 1 advisor/counselor for every 1,800 students and the recommended national average for public two-year schools is 1 advisor counselor for every 375 students.

Years of budget cuts and inadequate funding have depleted CSN student services to an anemic state. 

Starting this fall, CSN will be able to use new student fees to add some qualified staff in financial aid, admissions and advising to help students get through the pipeline.

UNR

Here’s good news about UNR:

1.       UNSOM’s Las Vegas-based diabetes center now offers one-stop patient education and care.  Patients can see a nutritionist, get tested for glucose and have it monitored, speak with a certified diabetes educator registered nurse and have the advantage of collaboration with other specialists who can help treat their condition.

2.       UNSOM students help serve the needs of Nevada’s uninsured through volunteer medical service.

Medical students volunteer their time at the Student Outreach Clinic in Reno and the Volunteers in Medicine of Southern Nevada clinic in Las Vegas on a monthly basis.

3.       UNSOM is improving healthcare services in rural and underserved communities in Nevada.

Statewide telemedicine consultations, "health care without walls," are available to primary care physicians in Nevada’s rural communities through UNSOM. This program connects, via video conference, rural primary care physicians with medical specialty experts at UNSOM so they can manage chronic diseases in their patients.

4.       UNSOM provides Nevada’s only clinical ALS trials.

ALS, commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, is a progressive and fatal neurodegenerative disease. UNSOM internist Dr. David Ginsburg is running a “empower trial” for a Parkinson’s-related drug that may have benefits for ALS patients, and preliminary testing has been positive. Dr. Ginsburg provides one-stop health care for ALS patients in Southern Nevada, providing important supporting therapies to help patients live with ALS.

5.       UNR supports Nevada’s economic development plan.

UNR offers teaching and research that ties to each of the priority high-knowledge industries identified in the Governor’s economic development plan.

6.       The number of patents and commercialized innovations by UNR are on the rise.

UNR’s Technology Transfer Office, a resource shared with DRI, is leading a focused commitment to move innovation into the marketplace. For example, UNR has licensed technologies that hold promise for the treatment for muscular dystrophy, allow rapid diagnosis of the leading cause of AIDS-related deaths in sub-Saharan Africa, support geothermal and petroleum exploration, contribute to sensing technology at our nation’s ports and support improved water treatment capabilities.