KLAS-TV Channel 8 News Las VegasNevada Higher Education Braces for Deep Cuts
LAS VEGAS -- Leaders of Nevada's higher education system got a very grim look at the doomsday scenario if colleges are faced to make proposed cuts as a result of the state's budget crisis.
Because of a the projected $1 billion shortfall, Governor Jim Gibbons has told state agencies to prepare to make cuts. The Board of Regents spent Tuesday meeting in Las Vegas to go over their options.
Chancellor Dan Klaich gave a presentation and said cutting $100 million could require every higher education employee to take a 20 percent pay cut or add five more furlough days per month.
Other options include laying off 1,300 people or increasing students fees by as much as 50-percent.
"I think, quite frankly, Nevadans have not been willing to step up and pay for what they value, said Klaich.
He and UNLV's President Neil Smastrek made a pitch for higher taxes to save education.
"I think it's time for us to pick up that torch and not kick the can down the road one more time," said President Neil Smastrek, UNLV.
The board could eventually declare financial exigency which has not happened since 1977. Doing this would give campuses the authority to dismiss tenured employees and make changes with little notice. It is often a last resort for universities in financial trouble.
