NSHE interviews 4 chancellor finalists, recommends Melody Rose

A search committee is recommending Melody Rose be hired as chancellor of the Nevada System of Higher Education.

Rose is owner and principal of Rose Strategies, which provides consulting services to universities. She was previously chancellor of the now-disbanded Oregon University System and president of the now-closed Marylhurst University in Oregon.

NSHE’s search committee on Wednesday interviewed the four chancellor finalists — Arthur Ellis, Richard Larson, Anthony Munroe and Rose — and voted unanimously to recommend Rose.

The Board of Regents will meet at 1 p.m. Thursday via teleconference to consider the recommendation and possibly appoint a new chancellor.

The chancellor is responsible for overseeing the state’s public higher education system, including UNLV and the University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada State College, four community colleges and the Desert Research Institute. Those schools serve more than 100,000 students.

At the beginning of Wednesday’s meeting, Regent Carol Del Carlo, chairwoman of the search committee, said that despite all that has changed in the world as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, “we need a chancellor. I’m excited for today.”

Current NSHE Chancellor Thom Reilly, who was appointed in June 2017, announced last year he won’t seek a contract extension after completing his three-year term. His contract was extended to Dec. 31 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and he’ll transition to an advisory role once the new chancellor begins.

NSHE started with a pool of 40 candidates and interviewed 12 of them virtually, Del Carlo said.

“Unfortunately, with the COVID, we weren’t able to do the campus visits, but we were able to bring the number down to four,” she said.

Finalists, who were announced last week, participated in virtual public forums Monday and Tuesday.

Munroe is president of Essex County College in New Jersey. Ellis retired last fall as a vice president in the University of California Office of The President. And Larson, a medical doctor, is executive vice chancellor and vice chancellor for research at the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center.

On Wednesday, three finalists were interviewed in person and one via videoconference. Each of them answered the same set of questions. Del Carlo said finalists could choose whether to travel to Las Vegas for the interview or participate remotely.

The meeting wasn’t livestreamed, but some regents and all of the committee’s advisory members attended via video conferencing.

Weighing options

After the interviews, the search committee’s 37 advisory members shared their thoughts and top two picks for chancellor. A few regents who aren’t on the search committee also voiced their input.

UNR President Marc Johnson said his top choice was Ellis. He said he was perplexed by fellow advisory members’ comments about Rose, whom he ranked last.

Johnson said he thinks Rose has the least amount of administrative experience, although she was personable and politically aware. He also said Rose didn’t have the opportunity to build Oregon’s university system and that her job was to dismantle the system office.

Regent Amy Carvalho, a member of the search committee, said she appreciated Johnson’s comments.

“His dissenting opinions informed my decision a little bit,” she said, but Rose was her first choice.

Some advisory members said they were thankful for the caliber of the finalists.

“I feel we have four viable candidates,” said George Kleeb, Faculty Senate chairman at Great Basin College in Elko. “What we’re trying to do is pick the best apple out of the basket.”

Robert Morin, Faculty Senate chairman at Western Nevada College in Carson City, said staying the course will not be sufficient to address a perfect storm of issues, and the next chancellor needs to be someone who’s a transformational and servant leader.

Rose’s interview

Rose told the search committee she’s a first-generation college student.

“This is the thing that drives me,” she said, adding that higher education advocacy is her life’s work.

Rose said a complete stranger ended up paying her tuition to University of California, Santa Cruz to pursue a bachelor’s degree and that she owes everything to that person.

Rose said the Oregon chancellor position of overseeing seven public universities was the best job she ever had. She said she loved the balance with academic policy, innovation and government relations.

She was vice chancellor for academic strategies for the now-disbanded Oregon University System in 2012, and interim chancellor and then chancellor in 2013-14. According to her resume, she “managed (a) historic shift in Oregon’s higher education system that moved statewide responsibilities to a new organization (Higher Education Coordinating Commission) and decentralized institution-level efforts.”

Rose said she wants to be NSHE chancellor because she admires the Board of Regents’ commitment to inclusion and is thrilled that the system includes community colleges. She said there’s also an opportunity for innovation and that she wants work to continue toward closing the achievement gap among subgroups of students.

With COVID-19 budget cuts, it’s important to be clearly focused on the most important strategic objectives in order for the system to be fiscally healthy at the end of crisis, Rose said.

“So it’s a backward planning effort,” she said.

When talking about accomplishments, she said she raised four children. Professionally, she cited founding Portland State University’s Center for Women’s Leadership while a faculty member.

Rose said her management style tends to be informal and welcoming. She said she has a lot of experience with crisis management, likes to hire people who are smarter than her and routinely asks during cabinet meetings who has a differing opinion.

She said her biggest disappointment was not being able to turn around Marylhurst University, a private school that closed in 2018. She said she arrived as president too late, and she doesn’t think anything could have been done differently.

Contact Julie Wootton-Greener at jgreener@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2921. Follow @julieswootton on Twitter.