UNLV medical school, grant expansion discussed in Legislature hearing

College of Southern Nevada President Michael Richards on Tuesday called the 15-credit requirement for the state’s first need-based grant a “straitjacket” for students.

Richards asked members of the Assembly Committee on Ways and Means, and the Senate Committee on Finance, to consider offering Silver State Opportunity Grant funds, on a sliding scale, to students who take at least nine credits.

“We were touched by the emotional adversity they’re facing as they try to fulfill educational goals,” Richards said. “What we’re advocating is to make it a little more flexible, make it a little more humane, and meet students where they are.”

Richards believes providing larger awards to students who enroll full-time might incentivize students to take more credits. Additionally, CSN has had students lose the scholarship in their final semester because they needed fewer than 15 credits to graduate, he said.

State Sen. Ben Kieckhefer, R-Reno, however, said he was concerned that lowering the credit requirement would decrease graduation rates.

“If we don’t use it in a way that gives students the greatest chance of success, I think we’re selling them short,” Kieckhefer said.

Education officials advocated for this, and other key parts of the Nevada System of Higher Education budget, to members of both committees. The request is to increase funding for the program to $10 million over two years.

Also Tuesday, UNLV medical school Dean Barbara Atkinson said the university received 910 applications for the first class of 60 students, with 400 applicants being from Nevada or having close ties to the state.

Atkinson, however, said that the key to keeping students in Nevada might rely on available residency programs. Atkinson said she would like the Legislature is to add specialty and sub-specialty residencies that, including urology and radiology.

The meeting ended after the two committees heard from several people in support of merit-based pay increases for faculty as opposed to the yearly 2 percent cost of living adjustment in Gov. Brian Sandoval’s budget proposal.

“Merit is a critical component of retaining the best faculty,” said Glenn Miller, University of Nevada, Reno chapter president for the Nevada Faculty Alliance. “The cost of living adjustments are appreciated, but it’s not a substitute for merit raises.”

NSHE submitted a request for $31 million in merit raises in the next biennium.

“If they’re not merit, the best and brightest will go,” Miller said, adding that attracting high-level faculty is necessary to boosting the UNLV and UNR’s reputations as research institutions.

Contact Natalie Bruzda at nbruzda@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3897. Follow @NatalieBruzda on Twitter.