Regents to consider firing chief of staff after 3 months on job

The state’s higher education regents will meet Friday to consider firing board chief of staff and special counsel Robert Kilroy, who started on the job in August.

As of Monday, three members of the Nevada Board of Regents requested including a notice of contract termination on the agenda, according to online meeting materials. Their names were not listed.

If the board approves the notice, Kilroy would have 60 calendar days before his employment ends.

The board isn’t required to give any reasons for considering the termination, according to online meeting materials. But the Nevada System of Higher Education Code allows for an administrative process where the employee can request a “statement of reasons” after a notice of termination is issued.

According to meeting materials, the chancellor’s office has no recommendation on the notice.

Kilroy declined to comment Tuesday. A Nevada System of Higher Education spokesperson and board Chair Cathy McAdoo did not respond to a request for comment.

In late June, following a unanimous search committee recommendation, regents voted to hire Kilroy. Regent Patrick Boylan voted “no.”

Kilroy, an attorney who was previously senior deputy general counsel for the Nevada State Board of Medical Examiners, has a 12-month contract with a $208,942 starting annual base salary. His first day on the job was Aug. 8.

He replaced Dean Gould, who retired in December 2020. Gould previously had faced criticism for telling a female regent during a meeting to stop with her “child speak.” After that, Keri Nikolajewski was interim chief of staff.

The search process for a new board chief of staff and special counsel failed and was restarted. That followed an allegation from Las Vegas attorney James Dean Leavitt — who served as a regent for 12 years, including a period as board chair — that his application wasn’t lawfully reviewed.

During the June meeting to consider hiring Kilroy, Boylan said he agreed with a written public comment saying the search wasn’t proper.

He also referenced a letter Leavitt recently had sent demanding to be included among the semifinalists. Boylan called the search process “another big black eye to this board.”

Boylan said Tuesday he wasn’t one of the three regents who requested an agenda item. He questioned how regents could make a decision about a man’s life and career when they don’t know what has actually happened.

“I think of this as a board, as a team, and the communication has been deplorable, to say the least,” he said.

The higher education system’s central administration office has seen some turnover in recent months.

Last year, Chancellor Melody Rose filed a hostile work environment complaint. She resigned in April and accepted $610,000 in severance pay.

Former state Superintendent of Public Instruction Dale Erquiaga is acting chancellor under an 18-month contract through the end of 2023.

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