COLLEGE OF SOUTHERN NEVADA: School braces for more cuts - News

PRINT THIS Popular

Jul. 01, 2008
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

COLLEGE OF SOUTHERN NEVADA: School braces for more cuts

President says state budget cuts will reduce enrollment at least 10 percent

By RICHARD LAKE
REVIEW-JOURNAL

College of Southern Nevada employee Maria Parra reviews the registration process Monday with new students studying English as a second language at the West Sahara Center. It is one of the locations that the college announced it will close because of state budget cuts.
Photos by Jason Bean/Review-Journal

College of Southern Nevada President Michael Richards explains Monday that six learning centers in rural and low-income areas will be closed because of statewide budget cuts.

Drastic budget cuts are coming to the state's largest educational institution.

College of Southern Nevada President Michael Richards said Monday that the school will eliminate 58 vacant faculty positions, shut down six satellite learning centers, cut operating budgets and reclassify 35 jobs to save money.

Most Popular Stories

NORM: When live news shots turn bad

NORM: Terry Fator, wife ending marriage

NORM: Blaze breaks out during magic act

NORM: Jackson worked on album at Palms

Ex-Ensign aide details wife's affair

NORM: Jacksons set up LV memorial area

Ensign wrote lover a letter, saying their affair was a 'sin'

Coroner says sexual assault suspect killed by police was shot in back

LV area residential real estate sales reach record in June

Official: Fatal gunshot in back

These measures will cut the school's population of 40,000 students by more than 10 percent, Richards said. So many students will be affected because there won't be enough instructors to offer enough classes.

"Folks are having a hard time understanding this. The sky is falling," he said at an afternoon news conference.

Richards said the college has already cut 4.5 percent from its budget. The cuts announced to staff Friday and to the public on Monday represent another 3 percent. More will have to be made to reach the goal of 14 percent in cuts Gov. Jim Gibbons has requested.

"By the time this is over," Richards said, "we could very easily impact 8,000 students by turning them away from CSN sites, classes and the opportunity for job training."

CSN spokeswoman K.C. Howard said those 14 percent cuts will be for each of the next two years, meaning more than $28 million will be cut from CSN's budget over that period.

In addition, part-time staff will be reduced and a hiring moratorium will stay in place.

Six satellite centers will close June 30, 2009. The one-year delay is because rules require employees to be given notice.

The centers are located in rural or low-income areas. They are: Boulder City Center; Downtown Learning Center; A.D. Guy Center; Lincoln County Center; Moapa Valley Center; and Sahara West Center.

The employees at those centers do not know yet if or when they will lose their jobs. About 550 students take classes in the centers, Richards said.

Typically, the centers offer classes in the community education mold, such as computer training, English as a second language and general education courses.

Rita Smith, the lone full-time employee at the A.D. Guy Center, said closing it will devastate the poor West Las Vegas community it serves. The center is located next to the Andre Agassi Boys & Girls Club on Martin Luther King Boulevard, north of Bonanza Road.

"Its purpose was to bring technology into the community," Smith said. "This center is needed."

She said about 1,000 people a month use the center.

"It's sad," Smith said. "It's really, really sad."

Johney Robinson, 21, was there Monday afternoon using the computer lab. He said he used the lab all the time before graduating from high school to do homework and school papers.

Lots of people in the neighborhood use the center to do homework, fill out job applications or create resumes, both Robinson and Smith said.

Robinson said he'll have to go to the library once the center closes -- and that could mean long waits for the computer.

Monday afternoon, Margarita Trejo came in with a flyer advertising free computer classes at the center. She wanted to be sure it was free and to find out when to show up.

In broken English, she said she moved here four months ago from Mexico.

"I need to know more computer," she said.

Smith said she often fusses at the young people who come into the center. She chides them to get to work on their resumes, to sign up for one of the free computer classes. She has often warned them that the place might not be there one day.

"One of them said, 'Mrs. Smith, what are we going to do if you throw us out? We'll be out on the streets, creating havoc,'" she recalled.

Others may be on the street, too.

Terri Kaulentis of CSN's division of Workforce and Economic Development said hundreds of people take adult literacy courses at the Sahara West Center each year. The center is near the corner of Valley View Boulevard and Sahara Avenue.

She said that about 80 percent of the students are recent immigrants. The rest are American-born but can't read well.

Once the center closes, some of those classes may be moved, but others might be canceled for good.

"For my program, it's probably going to force all of our classes to be off-site," Kaulentis said.

That raises another problem. Kaulentis said people who are not used to going to school can be easily intimidated by unfamiliar settings such as large classrooms on large campuses, or dark conference rooms in government buildings, all without the support services offered when everything's at a central location like Sahara West.

Besides that, Kaulentis said, the shuttering of the center comes as federal grants are drying up. Already this year, 40 of the 240 adult literacy classes usually offered have been eliminated.

Contact reporter Richard Lake at rlake@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4686.

Share & Save

Leave Your Comment	20 Reader Comments
Terms & Conditions The following comments are provided by readers and are the sole responsiblity of the authors. The reviewjournal.com does not review comments before publication nor guarantee their accuracy. By publishing a comment here you agree to abide by the comment policy. If you see a comment that violates the policy, please notify the web editor. Some comments may not display immediately due to an automatic filter. These comments will be reviewed within 48 hours. Please do not submit a comment more than once.
Please enter your name Name: Please enter your email Email: Please enter a comment COMMENTS : (word count limit is 300) You have reached the maximum number of words allowed Current Word Count: Note: Comments made by reporters and editors of the Las Vegas Review-Journal are presented with a yellow background. DJ2 wrote on July 01, 2008 04:15 PM: Entitled, Why? Because I don't see things as an "us" and "them" situation. Yes, there are major abuses and fiscally destructive consequences that result from the unfair redistribution of resources from one group to another. However, along with all the waste and the corruption it funds and encourages, there are those worthy souls, those driven and motivated individuals, who benefit from the opportunity to improve their situations in life, and who legally, rightfully, diligently, and conscientiously pursue the low-cost education provided at CSN. Many students at CSN are trying to pull themselves out of very challenging personal/financial situations by their bootstraps. Some of their stories are heartbreaking. I've seen inspiring courage, resilience, and resourcefulness from many of these individuals. The assistance of these worthy students is part of the reason for the existence of a community college. We cannot throw the baby out with the bathwater, but we sure don't want to lug all the bathwater, along with the baby, around either. Entitled to FREE housing, food, health care, school wrote on July 01, 2008 03:25 PM: dj2, csn student, and other White Folk, here's my view. White Folks: why support a system that does not support you?! It takes your MONEY (tax dollars) to fund groups and programs that don't help you, but may even work against you! You know, Black this, Hispanic that. Real Cute! What an ironic country. Joe wrote on July 01, 2008 01:08 PM: WOW - they actually cut some of the continuing ed classes of ESL (english as a second language) for people who paid less than enrolled local students for classes. They tehn contributed nothing further to teh school and had a larger schedule and class selection thatn any of the paying students-- what a shame DJ2 wrote on July 01, 2008 01:03 PM: Sarah and csnstudent both make excellent points. The efficiency, effectiveness, and necessity of Nevada State College, along with its orgaization and funding, all need close, detailed, and unbiased scrutiny. I have attended some classes at CSN and have found, with the rare exception, that the instructors are comepetent, capable, dedicated, and committed. They teach at CSN because they love the process of teaching, they have a passion for their subjects, and they're not into the politics and pressures imposed on university professors, pressures which divert the professor's attention away from the teaching process. I have felt it a privilege to sit in the classrooms of many of these inspiring individuals, many of whom have valuable experience outside of the classroom that is also integrated into their teaching. And yes, csnstudent is correct, there is a large elephant in the room that that we're all intimidated into pretending does not exist. CSN is rife with "support" programs to assist individuals in qualifying for financial aid, other aid "programs", multiple classes geared towards bringing english-as-a-second-language (ESL) students up-to-speed, and so on. However, as far as the teachers go, I found them to be admirable individuals and well deserving of their salaries, especially those in the psychology and biology departments. Sarah wrote on July 01, 2008 11:54 AM: They should just close Nevada State College and leave CSN alone. Jim Nance wrote on July 01, 2008 11:43 AM: "$80 contracturally obligated" was not a contract that the state signed. On the behest of the unions, the counties decided to rush into the contracts to beat the state from delaying the colas. So unions win and taxpayers lose. It is the theme of Buckley and the Democrats. csnstudent wrote on July 01, 2008 11:13 AM: Everyone knows why we as a state/nation are broke. Its out there but its cant be said... If someone suggests it they are often called a racist. They stand on corners, everyone knows who they are, police pass them buy but everyone ignores them and pretends they are not there. If you go to UMC the ER waiting room is comprised of about 75% of them. Our public schools are overun with new students. I ask why is this happening to the country i love, how could this happen? Bub Bears wrote on July 01, 2008 10:57 AM: who knows how to read? colas are $130m with $80 contracturally obligated. That leaves $50m. some people refuse to learn, hey nancey? I see the sport programs are fine! See what happens when the republican Governor (Guinn) and his Republican Senate (Raggio) socialize higher education and in so doing give $10,000 to every millionaires child? Rapid growth and a skinny skeleton. Ah, who did Wiells and Nance vote for? Guinn and republic senators and assemblypeople who voted to socialzie higher education...see, eventually you have to off the Visa card! Fred Besker wrote on July 01, 2008 10:47 AM: Why don't the casinos bail out the school funding situation. Get them involved aslong with the conventional group. Can't they be supportive of our community, get going press get on them NOW. Fred Jim Nance wrote on July 01, 2008 09:41 AM: "The layoffs happened before and after the COLAs were approved. They were part of the last round of budget cuts. They have nothing to do with the COLAs that take effect today. " If they delayed the COLA's for one year then there were have been an extra $150 million for the budget. The union's win and everybody else loses. Read All Comments