THE LINCY INSTITUTE POLICY BRIEF EDUCATION SERIES NO.5 May 2014 The Case for a New College Governance Structure in Nevada: Integrating Higher Education with Economic Development BY MAGDALENA MARTINEZ, PH.D., DAVID F. DAMORE, PH.D., and ROBERT E. LANG, PH.D. Across the nation, cities and metros are taking control of their own destinies, becoming deliberate about their economic growth. Power is devolving to the places and people who are closest to the ground and oriented toward collaborative action. This shift is changing the nature of our leadership – who our leaders are, what they do, and how they govern. Bruce Katz and Jennifer Bradley, The Metropolitan Revolution As Katz and Bradley (2013) document, Economic Development (GOED). Drawing the confluence of partisan politics and on the expert analysis of the Brookings budget cuts have left the federal Institution, Brookings Mountain West, government and to a lesser extent, state and SRI International, the initiative, governments impotent to address the “Moving Nevada Forward: A Plan for countless economic and education Excellence in Economic Development,” challenges facing the United States. Out of identified opportunities for economic necessity, metros and regions are taking development and diversification, mapped the lead in collaborating, innovating, and these sectors to Nevada’s regions, and governing in Post-Recession America. empowered newly created regional Instead of waiting for federal or state development authorities (RDAs) to take governments to impose prescriptive, one- the lead in positioning, marketing, and size fits all “solutions,” localities are coordinating regional efforts to grow and seizing opportunities to strengthen their diversify Nevada’s economy. Yet, as economies by working with stakeholders successful as these efforts have been, to develop policies tailored to their without commensurate reforms to higher unique and complicated needs. education, the state is unlikely to maximize GOED’s potential. Consistent with this model of devolution and public/private collaboration, in 2011 We argue here that an obvious extension Governor Brian Sandoval and the Nevada of what Nevada put in motion in 2011 is Legislature laid the foundation for what aligning the structure and governance of would become the Governor’s Office of higher education with the state’s Page 1 economic development efforts. Having college governance researchers and flexible and autonomous regional experts agree on one thing: no two higher administration and governance of the education governance structures are state’s two- and four-year colleges that is exactly the same. integrated with GOED and the RDAs will give business and industry the confidence In a recent analysis, Martinez (2014) that the requisite higher education discusses the origins of two-year colleges infrastructure is in place. and college governance structures. She also provides a historic overview of We begin by reviewing work by Martinez higher education governance in Nevada (2014) that frames how our proposed and compares education related restructuring compliments the ongoing outcomes in Nevada to similar states. work of the Committee to Conduct an Underlying her work are two key points: Interim Study Concerning Community governance of higher education is a Colleges (hereafter, the SB391 Study manifestation of a state’s history, Committee) that was created during the priorities, and prior reforms and among 2013 session to study “the governance states where reform has occurred, structure and funding methods for governance of public colleges reflects the community colleges.” Next, we present tensions and negotiations between our proposed model of higher education regions, localities, and state priorities. administration and governance. We conclude by identifying areas requiring In Nevada, however, there has been little further consideration as this process to no reform. Instead and as is depicted moves forward. in Figure 1, the state uses a consolidated, statewide structure that funds, Higher Education and administers, and governs all of its public institutions of higher education - the two Economic Development branches of the state university, the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR) and the Synergy between higher education and University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), economic development is nothing new. In the Desert Research Institute (DRI), the many ways, this is the story of higher state’s four year colleges, the College of education for the past 150 years. From Southern Nevada (CSN), Great Basin the Morrill Act of 1862, which provided College (GBC), Western Nevada College federal resources to establish land grant (WNC), and Nevada State College (NSC), universities, to the recent $2 billion and its two-year institution Truckee competitive Trade Adjustment Assistance Meadow Community College (TMCC) - in Community College and Career Training a similar manner.1 (TAACCCT) Grants, which support workforce development partnerships Essentially, the state has placed its higher between two-year colleges and local education administration and governance industries, the focus has been and under a structure that has little to no continues to be on stimulating economic connection to the constitutionally growth through higher education. prescribed creation of “a State University” that is governed by “a Board of Regents.”2 Yet, how states integrate higher education Beyond any discussion of outcomes (see with economic development varies Martinez 2014), the consequences of significantly. Indeed, if nothing else, these arrangements are at least threefold. Page 2 Figure 1: Present Structure of Higher Education in Nevada First and most obviously, the same “University Board of Regents,” press policies and processes are applied to releases by the NSHE refer to “the Nevada institutions that have vastly different Board of Regents” - an entity that legally missions (e.g., the University of Nevada does not exist. School of Medicine and GBC). Clearly, a structure that is a legacy from Second, the structure excludes or when Nevada’s population was sparse significantly limits involvement by and homogenous and its economy was localities in areas that are local by nature less diverse than it is now is a poor fit for such as economic and workforce the state’s current demographics and its development; securing non-state economic and educational needs. Most resources such as the aforementioned tellingly, the three states with higher TAACCCT Grants; and prioritizing student education structures that are most similar outcomes and funding based upon local (Alaska, Hawaii, and North Dakota) have demographic and economic needs. the combined population of Nevada. Third, the present arrangements erode Martinez (2014) underscores the Nevada the delineation between governance by Legislature’s authority and responsibility the Board of Regents of the University of to provide colleges and governance Nevada and administration executed by structures that meet the state’s needs. the Nevada System of Higher Education Specifically, she proposes that the (NSHE). It is not uncommon for the Legislature should: Board to be referred to as the “Nevada Regents” or “NSHE Regents.” Indeed, Create a new independent even though voters elect members to the college governance or Page 3 coordinating structure to Nevada’s higher education is a two-level improve workforce alignment, structure that also calls for the creation of transparency, and outcomes Higher Education Committees in the in Nevada; and that the Nevada Assembly and Senate. independent college governance structure should Our proposal also recognizes and empower and provide greater empowers localities to partner with autonomy for college boards regional leaders and is aligned with the to access local and federal state’s economic development priorities. funding. Tables 1 and 2 compare the proposed governance and administrative structures In response to a solicitation for to present arrangements, while Figures 2 recommendations by the SB391 Study and 3 provide schematics of the proposed Committee, in the following section we structures. present a higher education governance model that builds on Martinez (2014) and University Level: The extends GOED’s framework. Our proposal University of Nevada System primarily focuses on the governance of colleges and universities that are not Office (UNSO) Governance under the purview of the Board of Structure Regents of the University of Nevada, as defined by the Nevada Constitution. We propose that the SB391 Study These include public two-year and four- Committee recommend legislation that year state colleges and not-for profit and ensures compliance with the Nevada for-profit colleges and universities. It is Constitution by establishing a system also important to note that the office within the executive branch, titled recommended structure is consistent the University of Nevada System Office with the Nevada Constitution (see note (UNSO), to serve as the administrative two) and at the state level, is staff and agency for the Board of Regents of the budget neutral. University of Nevada. The Assembly and Senate Higher Education Committees Lessons from What Has would provide oversight and funding Worked: A Governance would come from the general fund. Structure as Unique as Nevada The office should operate in Reno given the original land-grant status of the state In many ways, the state’s two- and four- university, with a branch office in Las year colleges are facing some of the same Vegas.