tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570732740411952632024-03-06T12:02:28.360-08:00Jim Rogers NevadaDaily Tweets from @JimRogersNevadaJim Rogers Nevadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05662016442143571584noreply@blogger.comBlogger594125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3257073274041195263.post-46024158497117175082014-06-13T06:18:00.000-07:002014-06-13T06:18:09.933-07:00Effort<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">When I look at how much effort Kevin Page puts into his job as a member of the Board of Regents, I marvel at how someone as incompetent as Robert Blakely can have the nerve to run for Regent. Blakely became a regent by accident when he signed up for the job, knowing nothing about it, but hoping it paid a salary. In my time as Chancellor, Blakely proved himself to be in a class by himself. He is utterly incompetent. Whatever you do, don’t vote for him. On the other hand, at the other end of the spectrum is Kevin Page — do vote for him.</span></span>Jim Rogers Nevadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05662016442143571584noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3257073274041195263.post-86279198221715788782014-06-12T06:21:00.001-07:002014-06-12T06:21:51.339-07:00Qualifications <span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I looked at the qualifications of Kevin Page’s opponents for Regent.
They are good men—highly intelligent, well educated, and experienced in
the day to day operation of higher education. But their experience
is not relevant to the problems facing Nevada’s higher education
system. Nothing in their backgrounds, experience or education would in
any way prepare them to solve the system’s problems.</span></span>Jim Rogers Nevadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05662016442143571584noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3257073274041195263.post-14199609138828972002014-06-11T07:13:00.000-07:002014-06-11T07:13:02.432-07:00Pure Devotion<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">How many hours do you spend at work each
week? I’ll bet very seldom is it more than forty hours. And you get
paid for your time. Kevin Page spends fifty or more hours a week
working as a Regent where he
earns less than twenty-five cents an hour. It seems to me that’s pure
devotion.</span></span>
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Jim Rogers Nevadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05662016442143571584noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3257073274041195263.post-57085837157579430112014-06-10T06:11:00.000-07:002014-06-10T06:11:06.966-07:00Understands Money<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Very few of the regents ever have education and experience in the world
of money. The higher education system of Nevada survives on very meager
financial support by the legislature. It takes an expert to
get two dollars in value out of a dollar’s cash. Kevin Page
understands money and I think he understands how best to use that money
for Nevada’s education.</span></span>Jim Rogers Nevadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05662016442143571584noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3257073274041195263.post-12664249085279845072014-06-09T06:29:00.000-07:002014-06-09T06:29:02.639-07:00Fair Share<div class="aolmail_MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Regent Kevin Page and I have had our
differences. But those differences have nothing to do with his
sincerity and competence and devotion to his thankless job as a member
of the Nevada Board of Regents. The job of Board of Regents has
attracted far more competent individuals than this feeble branch of
government ever deserved to have. It has been a yeoman’s task to
overcome the shortcomings of this empty government position. Kevin Page
has done more than his fair share.</span></span></div>
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<br />Jim Rogers Nevadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05662016442143571584noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3257073274041195263.post-52039495185781359952014-06-06T06:11:00.001-07:002014-06-06T06:11:41.839-07:00Continues To Fight The Battle<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I can’t say the Board of Regents
accomplishes nothing, but it must invest ten dollars of its time for
each dollar it gets from the Nevada legislature, which has done more to
stifle Nevada’s growth than any
other organized group of incompetent people. In spite of Kevin Page’s
frustration, he continues to fight the battle.</span></span>
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Jim Rogers Nevadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05662016442143571584noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3257073274041195263.post-53481450905491843102014-06-05T06:14:00.002-07:002014-06-05T06:14:38.063-07:00Being a Regent...<div class="aolmail_MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Being a Regent really is like pushing a
rock over and over half way up the side of a mountain, only to see it
roll to the bottom each time. Why then, would anyone want to
continuously push that rock when it
never seems it will get to the top? Regent Kevin Page seems to have an
answer. </span></span></span></div>
Jim Rogers Nevadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05662016442143571584noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3257073274041195263.post-807706159011598982014-06-04T06:20:00.001-07:002014-06-04T06:20:38.816-07:00Continue To Fight<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">I have pointed out the futility of being a
member of the Nevada Board of Regents because you must know how
difficult it is for every member of that board to accomplish anything
without money. The only money
given to the board by the state legislature is not only barely above
starvation levels, it is not nearly enough for Nevada to build a
competitive higher education system. Yet the Regents, especially those
like Kevin Page continue to fight to raise adequate
funding.</span></span>
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Jim Rogers Nevadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05662016442143571584noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3257073274041195263.post-19830783812858059042014-06-03T06:24:00.000-07:002014-06-03T06:24:47.432-07:00Board of Regents<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Nevada Board of Regents, which governs
the system of higher education, is a separate branch of government,
totally different from that in any other state. The only problem with
it being a separate branch
of government is that the Nevada constitution writers failed to give it
taxing authority. Therefore, the education system is at the mercy of a
legislature, which won’t spend any money on any worthwhile cause. In
spite of this nearly fatal flaw, the Board
of Regents still attracts first-class, caring, well-educated and bright
members who really do hold the best interests of your children at
heart.</span></span>
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Jim Rogers Nevadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05662016442143571584noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3257073274041195263.post-14014604476077322212014-06-02T06:37:00.002-07:002014-06-02T06:37:42.389-07:00Kevin Page<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">I support Kevin Page for Regent. I’m not
sure how you measure the effectiveness of any member of the Board of
Regents. They have little or no power, are paid nothing to do a
thankless job, and meet so seldom
that you wonder how they have any idea of the magnitude of their job.
Tomorrow I’ll try to explain this series of shortcomings in a job that
still manages to attract good citizens with good intentions.</span></span>
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Jim Rogers Nevadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05662016442143571584noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3257073274041195263.post-8045167431282995742014-05-02T06:42:00.000-07:002014-05-02T06:42:29.843-07:00At Risk?<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The community colleges already have strong relationships with Nevada
State College, UNLV and UNR. For example, the College of Southern Nevada
has UNLV and NSC advisors on its campuses to help students transfer to
obtain a four-year
degree. Why put these collaborations at risk with four new governance
systems? With the current higher education system under the control of a
13-member Board of Regents, collaborations can happen in an efficient
manner. Trying to get agreement among 13 people
is a lot easier than the dozens that would be involved with five
governing boards.
</span>Jim Rogers Nevadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05662016442143571584noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3257073274041195263.post-41102069765755582462014-05-01T06:45:00.000-07:002014-05-01T06:45:04.142-07:00Helping Our Education System Move Forward<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Nevada still has a long, tough, hill to climb when it comes to educating
its population. Political games like those behind SB 391 do nothing to
move us forward. They do the opposite and push our higher education
system back toward
a feudal system with each college fighting with the others for their
slice of the pie. Our legislators and business community should focus on
helping our education system move forward instead of continually
cutting funding and creating solutions to problems
that don’t exist. </span><br />
Jim Rogers Nevadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05662016442143571584noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3257073274041195263.post-82651494636604087712014-04-30T06:48:00.001-07:002014-04-30T06:48:30.504-07:00Frank Woodbeck<div class="aolmail_MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">While there is still room for improvement
with Nevada’s community colleges, it seems Chancellor Dan Klaich is
making progress toward a more efficient and effective system. He
recently announced the appointment of Frank Woodbeck to lead
the Nevada Community College Collaborative. From what I understand,
Woodbeck will focus his energies on enhancing the colleges’ roles in
economic development and streamlining services that can be shared among
the institutions. To me, seeking efficiencies through
collaboration under one system makes more sense than creating four new
ones as SB 391 is designed to advocate.</span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></div>
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Jim Rogers Nevadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05662016442143571584noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3257073274041195263.post-2516254039581676362014-04-29T06:35:00.000-07:002014-04-29T06:35:13.805-07:00Students<div class="aolmail_MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span>It’s no secret
I’ve had issues with the Board of Regents in the past. They are,
however, in the best position to make sure the community colleges work
in partnership with each other
and Nevada State College, UNLV and UNR. At one point, Nevada students
had problems getting their community college courses transferred to the
university. The Board of Regents put an end to that because they were
all in one governance system. Students can now
seamlessly transfer between community colleges and our four-year
institutions. What will happen when you have four local governing boards
competing with one another? Certainly nothing that will benefit the
students.</span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></span></div>
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Jim Rogers Nevadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05662016442143571584noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3257073274041195263.post-28490040098536721192014-04-28T06:40:00.001-07:002014-04-28T06:40:42.482-07:00Look At Other States<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Does taking four community colleges from one governance system and
putting them into four separate ones sound like an efficient move? It
doesn’t to me. Creating four new governing boards, business centers,
payroll systems and so forth doesn’t
sound like a move that would be made by any competent business leader.
SB 391 is a political solution to a problem that doesn’t exist. Look at
other states that have reformed higher education governance structures.
It’s typically very controversial, takes
a lot of political capital to accomplish, disrupts college operations,
sets back progress and in the end produces no evidence of improved
economic development, job placement or student success.</span>Jim Rogers Nevadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05662016442143571584noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3257073274041195263.post-26644397730708607712014-04-25T06:54:00.000-07:002014-04-25T06:54:17.332-07:00Who Pays For This Bright Idea?<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">While the current governance model needs improvement, it does not need
to be dismantled and started over by putting the community colleges
under local government control. For starters, how would they pay for the
buildings, faculty,
staff and millions of dollars of associated expenses? Then there would
also be new levels of bureaucracy and overhead added to local government
to manage the community colleges. Who pays for this bright idea? You
and I and the students. I would love to see
local funding for community colleges in addition to state support, but
in our environment the only way this could be accomplished is to add
new taxes or raise tuition. Anyone with common sense can tell you this
makes no sense for taxpayers or students.</span></span>Jim Rogers Nevadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05662016442143571584noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3257073274041195263.post-13718176918173826792014-04-24T06:58:00.002-07:002014-04-24T06:58:24.034-07:00Power<div class="aolmail_MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">What is driving this move to put Nevada’s
community colleges under local control? It’s the same old story. Power.
There are certain elected officials and business leaders pushing this
agenda, not to help students, but to help their political
careers. Putting CSN under the control of the City of North Las Vegas
is like letting your broke friend manage your bank accounts. It makes
no sense and provides no benefit to students.</span></div>
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Jim Rogers Nevadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05662016442143571584noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3257073274041195263.post-71919385531876676232014-04-23T06:45:00.002-07:002014-04-23T06:45:39.743-07:00Bad Idea<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">When I was chancellor, I explored local
funding as a way to provide additional support for the community
colleges. Long story short, there was no appetite from local governments
to take on the additional financial
and management burdens. It doesn’t take an MBA from Harvard to figure
out that putting community colleges under the control of financially
challenged local governments is a bad idea.</span></span>Jim Rogers Nevadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05662016442143571584noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3257073274041195263.post-14697963573976124992014-04-22T06:47:00.000-07:002014-04-22T06:47:02.613-07:00Benefit The Students?<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">In the 2013 legislative
session, legislators created the SB 391 committee to examine the
governance structure of Nevada’s four community colleges which are part
of an eight-institution
system including two universities, one college and an environment
research institute. The committee’s purported goal is to look at the
feasibility of putting the community colleges in a new governance system
where they would be taken away from the Board of
Regents and put under local city and county control. Is it a sensible
move? Or a power grab? How on earth does this benefit the students?</span></span>Jim Rogers Nevadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05662016442143571584noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3257073274041195263.post-57944774575745462292014-04-21T07:41:00.001-07:002014-04-21T07:41:29.388-07:00Community Colleges<div class="aolmail_MsoListParagraph">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Community
colleges play an important role in Nevada. They not only provide an
affordable entryway to a college degree, they train the next generation
of workers in critical healthcare, technology and vocational fields.
Nevada’s four community colleges, the College of Southern Nevada, Great
Basin College, Truckee Meadows College and Western Nevada College,
currently serve more than 55,000 students. These
colleges are in a centralized system governed by the Nevada Board of
Regents to create efficiencies and ensure collaboration with Nevada
State College, UNLV and UNR. So, why is there a move by the Legislature
to tear the colleges apart?
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Jim Rogers Nevadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05662016442143571584noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3257073274041195263.post-78353602130620973792014-02-07T06:23:00.000-08:002014-02-07T06:23:01.443-08:00UNLV Donor<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">A newspaper reporter called
to ask me if Beverly and I would withdraw our financial support of UNLV
because Don
Snyder was chosen to be the acting president. I told the reporter that
we would not withdraw financial support because we had insulated our
donations from the overall use by UNLV and by the Nevada Higher
Education System by directing that the funds would
be used only to support the Black Mountain Institute, an international
center that supports creative writers and scholars.</span></span>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">Fortunately,
many, if not all of the departments or areas of specialization within
UNLV can be isolated from the overall inadequacy of the board of regents
and the school’s
leadership so that these “pockets of excellence” can flourish
regardless of the incompetence that surrounds them. I would urge that
any donor carefully earmark and control his or her money to keep it out
of the mainstream controlled by UNLV leadership and
management. </span></span></div>
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Jim Rogers Nevadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05662016442143571584noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3257073274041195263.post-65220689216112619952014-02-06T06:15:00.000-08:002014-02-06T06:15:22.471-08:00A New President<div class="aolmail_MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">How do you look for and find a new president for UNLV
between now and July 1 of 2014? If an employment contract for a new
UNLV president is to be put in place,
it must be done so before July 1, not before September first when the
school year begins.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">How
do you persuade a present sitting president at another university to
leave that job and come to a school that has all the problems UNLV has
when merely applying for this
job may cost that president his or her present job, or may result in
that president taking this job and killing his or her career? Maybe Don
Snyder, Dan Klaich, and Kevin Page have the answer to this question. I
hope they do, but I seriously doubt it.</span></span></div>
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Jim Rogers Nevadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05662016442143571584noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3257073274041195263.post-59238294406071222392014-02-05T06:17:00.003-08:002014-02-05T06:17:51.102-08:00Board Of Regents<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">In
one stroke of idiocy the board of regents proved what Nevadans had
thought for fifty years; that is, that the board of regents should be
disbanded and sent
home and that a new governing system should be developed, that is, one
that appoints the members of the board of regents. Picking Snyder to be
the president of UNLV, albeit only for a short time, is the most
outrageously incompetent decision the board has
ever made. During my tenure as chancellor I was privileged to serve
under Mike Wixom, whom I considered to be the best board chairman I had
ever known, and I have served on more than thirty major boards.
Although I’ve never served under present Chairman
Kevin Page, I’ve observed his tenure through act after act that proved
him to be inadequate, incompetent and totally over his head in every
issue the board faces. I realize that Page did not by himself put
Snyder in office, but Page’s lack of leadership certainly
allowed for Snyder to sneak through and assume a position that now will
have no substance at all.</span></span>
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Jim Rogers Nevadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05662016442143571584noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3257073274041195263.post-82857416746725199142014-02-04T06:03:00.004-08:002014-02-04T06:03:46.516-08:00Tier I<div class="aolmail_MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">Being a Tier I university is the most significant and yet
short description of what every leading university in the United States
strives to be. From the
beginning of time, Carol Harter spoke of UNLV becoming a Tier I
university so that it could stand alongside Berkeley, Stanford, USC,
Utah and the University of Washington. It is a phrase known to every
academic in the world. It is a phrase that needs no
explanation to anyone who has any understanding of the goals of higher
education. And yet, as common as the term is, Snyder, your new
president of UNLV, when asked by a faculty member of his knowledge of
being a “Tier I” university, answered, “I don’t know.
Other people will handle that.” Are the regents and the overall
administration of the system so out of touch with leadership qualities
necessary to be a competent university president that they missed this
rather fundamental point? The answer is yes. Every
one of them should be shown the door and asked to leave and instructed
never to come back.</span></span></div>
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Jim Rogers Nevadahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05662016442143571584noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3257073274041195263.post-68605029528688799882014-02-03T06:03:00.000-08:002014-02-03T06:03:04.959-08:00“Pockets of Excellence”<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">UNLV
will never compete with the major universities, that is Harvard, Yale,
Berkeley, UCLA and Arizona for two reasons: number one, it wasn’t
formed until
1956, so it started 75 years late, and number two, whereas cash was
aplenty in starting and supporting the growth of the other schools, UNLV
has never had any money.</span></span>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">But
that doesn’t mean that UNLV cannot pick specialized and limited areas
to concentrate its efforts and finances to be the best in the world.
Harvard isn’t number one in
every education category; nor is Berkeley, Stanford, Yale, or
Michigan. All of the “great” schools have picked “pockets of
excellence” in which to specialize and become world leaders.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">The
Boyd School of Law at UNLV is world-class, and the Black Mountain
Institute, already a leading international center for creative writers
and scholars, has the potential
to become a one-of-a-kind institution. Beverly
and I don’t give our money to spread among all of UNLV’s endeavors.
We’ve given our money to Black Mountain Institute because we believe
that with relative limited
resources, it can become the best in the world in what it offers.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">Over
the next two weeks, I’m going to point out various “pockets of
excellence” at UNLV. You may find it very comforting and gratifying to
know that if you invest in one of
these “pockets,” that you will drive UNLV into world leadership in
those limited areas.</span></span></div>
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