Regents to discuss opening at Nevada State College

Nevada State College is effectively already without a president.

Lesley Di Mare, the interim president, accepted a job last week as president of a Colorado university. She will start that job Dec. 1. Until she leaves in mid-November, she is using up her vacation time.

Dan Klaich, the higher education system's chancellor, said he has moved up the timeline to find a new president for the college.

He and other higher education officials will be on Nevada State's campus Wednesday to meet with students, faculty, administrators and others to talk about what they would like to see in a new president.

"I need to listen to their thoughts on an interim president and a search and try to make a recommendation to the board," he said.

The Board of Regents has a meeting scheduled for Friday, and the college presidency is on the agenda. The board could vote to appoint an acting president. But Klaich said he is not sure yet whether he will have a recommendation ready that quickly.

Robin Herlands, a biology professor and the chair of the Faculty Senate, said faculty members appreciate that the chancellor is interested in what they have to say. She said the senate has not yet met to discuss specifics, so she had no recommendations ready yet.

In the meantime, the provost, Erika Beck, is effectively in charge of the 3,000-student college, though Di Mare is still around and in the office sometimes.

Klaich said he expects to have an acting president named by the end of the year, at the latest, and an official search for a new president launched.

He said he has no preference as far as whether the new leader should be an outsider or someone already familiar with the college.

In the past, it was common when a president left Nevada State College for higher education officials to name an acting president from elsewhere within the system.

But in recent years, at colleges and universities around the state, officials have often named the provost the acting president. That is how Di Mare was named to the job last summer, when former President Fred Maryanski died.

The vacancy comes at a critical time for the college, and for the system.

Already, searches are under way for new presidents at Great Basin College, a community college in Elko and the University of Nevada, Reno.

And Nevada State College, like the rest of the state's higher education institutions, is implementing the latest state budget cuts. Enrollment has been growing there rapidly since its inception in 2002, and it is expected to continue this year despite expected enrollment decreases at UNLV and the College of Southern Nevada.

Mikayla Morgan, the student government secretary and acting president, said students want a president in place as soon as possible.

She said that the college is in a good place right now, that students and faculty have a great relationship and that a new leader should try to keep that going.

"I would like to get a new president soon," she said. "Personally, I'd like somebody from within NSC to step up."

The college recently received accreditation after a years-long process, with a glowing review from the accrediting body.

Herlands, from the Faculty Senate, said the faculty simply want the best person for the job. She said the college has momentum, and she hopes it continues to develop and strengthen.

"We want to see that continue," she said. "We feel really proud of where this campus is and we want to keep the momentum going."