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College funding formula is a matter of degrees, chancellor says
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LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
Rewriting the formula used to fund Nevada's colleges and universities is about more than simply shifting money around, the higher education chancellor told a gathering of professors Tuesday.
It's also about producing more college graduates.
"Do I think more degrees are necessary? Damn right I do," Chancellor Dan Klaich said at a University of Nevada, Las Vegas Faculty Senate meeting.
According to the latest U.S. census data, 22 percent of adults age 25 and older in Nevada have a bachelor's degree or higher. That is below the national average of 28 percent and far below states with robust university systems.
Klaich, who has been pursuing a rewrite of the funding formula for years, said a key component of the new formula will be rewarding colleges and universities that award more degrees.
Other keys, he said Tuesday, are allowing the colleges and universities to keep the tuition and fees they charge students, funding the research done at the universities, and making sure the change to the new formula is not a dramatic shock to the system.
The chancellor, who declared the old formula dead, has drafted a proposed set of guidelines to use in rewriting the formula.
The current formula, in place in its current form for more than a decade, is often called confusing. It is acknowledged to be unfair to the College of Southern Nevada and UNLV, in particular.
Klaich said he expects whatever new formula a joint legislative and higher education committee produces will be in place by September, when the higher education system must have its budget request in to the governor's office.
Faculty at UNLV seemed particularly concerned about the push for more graduates.
Chairman Gregory Brown, a UNLV history professor, has noted the potential problem of grade inflation, wherein faculty might feel pressure to push students through the system to get funding.
Klaich, responding to a question on the topic Tuesday, said so many faculty members have questioned him about the issue that he has asked them to form a committee to study it.
"I'm not in this for grade inflation," he said. "I'm not in this to increase the number of mediocre or low-quality graduates."
Faculty member John Filler, an education professor, questioned Klaich about his assertion that lower division courses will receive the same amount of funding, whether they're taught at universities, the state college or the community colleges.
The chancellor said he was committed to that proposal, but he said upper division courses would receive more funding because they cost more to produce.
Under Klaich's proposal, the relative cost of teaching courses will be based largely on studies done in other states.
Contact reporter Richard Lake at rlake@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0307.
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As long as there are no controls on what "career choices" students take and no risk involved. Why wouldn['t they care about a student loan.
There is no shoratage of "education". The problem is that in the real world no one wlould loan to a student with a useless discipline!
In fairness to our esteemed Profsters of Sports (see below), those guys actually *teach*!
Unfortunately, teaching kids how to shoot 3-pointers and score touchdowns are *not* what the original backers of higher education in this state had in mind.
funding the research done at the universities
Absolutely NOT!
The Nevada government has NO constitutional authority to conduct the kind of research we normally associate with four-year universities. Not even SCIENTIFIC research. That's right. Nevadans should not have to pay higher taxes to erect sandboxes for self-indulgent profsters.
The mission of a *public* university is to TEACH undergrads, and to do it well. Not to dump it off on overworked graduate students who speak broken English with thick accents. Sorry, but leading an intimate research group composed of post-docs, grad students, and cherry-picked undergrads DOESN'T COUNT.
Liberal Arts ("scholarly") research is completely WORTHLESS anyway.
The only NSHE institutions which show any respect for the teaching role are the junior/community colleges, though they should be abolished along with the rest of NSHE.
@Michael Green: Please forgive my ignorance, but what are "Stanford Community College" and "USC Community College"? As a graduate of one of USC's graduate schools, I never heard of any community college at USC. When I googled "USC Community College" all that I found was a program at USC (the real university, not some junior college) studying community colleges. I also did not find any community college sponsored by Stanford University.
Since I cannot find any such community colleges, I am baffled by the idea that CSN (whether Cal State Northridge or College of So. Nevada) programs rival (or don't rival) the programs of the non-existent USC/Stanford Community Colleges. So I guess I am truly stupid (or at least ignorant).
There is a risk of making UNLV a diploma mill. The only way to insure that grade inflation and degrading of the quality of graduates is to increase and strenghten admission standards. They let a great deal of sub-standards in the door only to see them drop out in a semester or two. Increasing out of state studetns and keeping the money they bring in is a great idea- and will help produce graduates from Asia and other places who place emphasis on academic achievment over cultural "hoochy" lifestyles. Nevada hgh schools dos not gradute very committed or prepared students for college or university work. It is good to look outside the Nevada box to support these institutions.
Look at the "Furniture/Travel" portion of the budget and it will be obvious several million dollars per year go somewhere...
Why is it we pay $100 per year for parking (sticker) and there is no parking? If we are lucky enough to find parking, why are the spaces so close together I can't get out of my car without hitting the car next to me? It is very obvious the budget isn't about the student therefore the administration is focused on something else. What are the Admin's priorities? Will this media source even bring facts to bear? Parking garage?
allowing the colleges and universities to keep the tuition and fees they charge students
NSHE scam-meisters at work.
UNLV/UNR BIG Sports programs already have a deal like this. Their (dis)respective Athletic Departments get to keep the money they generate from ticket sales, TV revenues, parking, t-shirts, etc. This despite the fact that taxpayers already provide them ~$12M/y in total direct appropriations. Predictably, the result has been:
$300K salaries for the Athletic Director
$500K salaries for Profsters of Football
Up to $1.2M salaries for Profsters of Basketball
$200K+ salaries for assistants (often friends)
$1B stadium plans with politically connected rich developers
Bigger and BIGGER UNLV commitments to BIG conferences
Lower and lower academic quality of "student"-athletes
More and MORE scholarships for (often out-of-state) jocks
More and MORE reserved admission slots for jocks
More and MORE junk "degree" programs for jocks
Then, after these AD's have magnificently enriched their inner circles, they have the audacity to suggest that they're moving towards the day when they'll operate in the black, ie revenues will match all the escalating salaries they're paying.
The point is, give those $400K University Presidents the same deal and you'll soon see $800K Presidents, $250K [] Studies Profsters, and more and more in-staters getting priced OUT of their own higher education system in favor of full-fee paying foreigners (especially from Asia).
NSHE will take a GIANT step further along its path to becoming a true entitlement for the wealthy.
breaking news, I really shouldn't answer this because anybody who thinks a community college is an ivory tower either knows nothing about the subject or is too stupid to talk to--it's really that simple. Further, CSN has been funded at several thousand dollars less per student than northern community colleges, so if you think we don't know what it's like to be in a war for dollars, you obviously know nothing about the existing funding. Furthermore, if you're going to say that you haven't heard that any CSN programs rival Stanford Community College and USC Community College, well, I think I've made my point, and only the truly stupid won't understand it.
The Nevada college and university system has been so wrapped up in providing employment for politicians, otherwise known as faculty, to gain legislative clout, the education system has lost it's mission. I hear UNR has programs that rival Stanford and USC..haven't heard that about UNLV or CSN. Students will stick around to finish their degrees in those programs at UNR. I think Michael Green is about to experience competition for a dollar (funding) for the first time in his ivory tower existence. Maybe a history instructor at a community college, who seems to be conflicted about doing the job and not managing/manipulating the system/students needs to have his value system shaken up a bit.