Regents may make student fee permanent

Student fees, the budget outlook, a new leader at a state university and a new way to divvy up what probably will be a billion dollars in the next higher education budget.

That is part of what's on today's agenda for the higher education system's Board of Regents.

In June , the regents imposed new student surcharges - instead of outright fee increases - of 13 percent for undergraduate students and 5 percent for graduate students. The surcharges applied only to this academic year for undergraduates and to this year and next year for graduate students.

But today, the regents will discuss making the surcharges permanent instead of adding another tuition increase. The regents already added an 8 percent tuition increase for undergraduates that is set to go into effect in the fall.

Also, regents are set to vote on a committee's recommendation to hire Marc Johnson as president of the University of Nevada, Reno.

Johnson, hired as provost at the university in 2008, has been its interim president since last year, when then-President Milton Glick died in office.

A group of university constituents met with Johnson and two other finalists for the job this week. A regents committee voted Wednesday to recommend Johnson.

A similar process is going on at Nevada State College, where interim President Bart Patterson, who took over last year, is among six final candidates who will be on campus next week meeting with concerned parties.

A regents committee is scheduled to pick a final candidate on April 27, with the full board voting on the proposed candidate April 30.

Two funding issues are also scheduled to come up today.

Chancellor Dan Klaich will lead a discussion on developing a budget request for the 2013-2015 biennium. Proposals are due at the governor's office Sept. 1.

The system has endured cuts for the past two legislative cycles, but expectations are that the budget should be relatively flat in the next session. After cuts in the previous legislative session, the system was allocated $473 million for the current academic year.

Also, Klaich will update the board on the pending rewrite of the system's funding formula, the process by which state tax dollars are divided up between the state's public colleges and universities.

The board is scheduled to meet at 9 a.m. on the Desert Research Institute campus, 755 E. Flamingo Road.