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NEVADA FACULTY ALLIANCE


ESTABLISHED 1983


NFA News & Opinion

  • 12 Jan 2024 6:00 AM | Kent Ervin (Administrator)

    UNR Budget: Misplaced Priorities and Diverted Resources

    Student Fees and Unrestricted University Assets Diverted to Business Building PPP

    Part 5 in our series on the budget situation at the University of Nevada, Reno. Here we examine the funding of the new Business Building.

    The new UNR College of Business Building at University Way & East Ninth Street is being funded under a complex Public–Private Partnership (PPP) in a lease-back arrangement. Since no state funds are being provided for the $164 million Mathewson Gateway project [1], a private corporate entity is financing and constructing the 128,000 sq. ft. building, which will be owned by UNR after thirty years. 

    According to the PPP agreement submitted to the Board of Regents, UNR is committed to payments of $10.25 million/year in lease payments for thirty years ($308 million total) for the business building. That annual amount will be sourced by a quasi-endowment, anticipated hotel/convention center revenue, and the Capital Improvement portion of student registration fees: 

    • An estimated $4.1 million per year is projected to be generated from a $100 million quasi-endowment to be raised by the UNR Foundation. Of that, $50 million is a transfer from the University to the Foundation of existing unrestricted proceeds from the University’s ownership stake in the Marigold gold mine in Valmy, Nevada–royalties from a mining claim donated to UNR in the 1970s (video). 
    • An estimated $500,000 per year is anticipated revenue from a proposed hotel/convention center project to be built on the property, which is near the existing hotels and convention center in downtown Reno. It is difficult to estimate how competitive a new non-gaming property will be in this location, and the hotel/convention center phase of the PPP has not yet been brought forward to the Board of Regents for approval.
    • As the “last dollar” source, the remainder of the annual lease payments come from the Capital Improvement portion of per-credit student registration fees. (See Part 4 for an explanation of student registration-fee distribution). UNR estimated to the Regents that “approximately one-half” of the lease payment, or $5.1 million/year, will come from the student Capital Improvement fee. However, that could be more or less depending on the quasi-endowment fundraising and potential hotel/convention revenue.  

    When the UNR College of Business proposed in December 2019 and March 2020 to raise differential student fees for business courses to help fund a new building, the Board of Regents refused twice. But then a 34% increase of the UNR Capital Improvement registration fees for all undergraduate UNR students (20% increase for graduate students) was approved in May 2022 without any discussion by the Regents (details in Part 4). When the PPP was approved a year later by the Board of Regents, in June 2023, the UNR Chief Financial Officer told Regents there were no new student or differential fees for the project, only the “existing capital improvement fee” (video). That was technically true because the increases in Capital Improvement student registration fees for FY2024 and FY2025 had been approved in May 2022.

    As described in Part 4, the large increase in the Capital Improvement portion of undergraduate per-credit registration fees to help fund the Business Building came with a negative trade-off. Namely, there will be zero inflationary increases for FY2024 and FY2025 in the registration fees supporting the State Operating Budget, which funds instructional and support personnel who serve students and basic operations. That represents an ongoing diversion of student fees of $3.65 million per year from UNR’s core instruction and support operating funds and is a large part of the $5.1 million or more in student Capital Improvement fees obligated to the PPP. All UNR students, regardless of whether they benefit from the new building, will now pay for it through reduced services and course options across the university. Each $1 million diverted from the state-supported Operating Budget represents about 10 new faculty positions that cannot be filled [2].

    The new Business Building—still lacking a $25 million naming gift—has been under construction since October 2023. That month, the UNR administration told the Faculty Senate the University had raised 65% of the $100 million quasi-endowment goal. Of that, $50 million is from the transfer of the existing Marigold Mine funds from the University to the UNR Foundation (video), so only $15 million of the remaining $50 million goal had been raised at that juncture as new donations for the Business Building. Fundraising of $15 million pales in comparison to the cumulative thirty-year cost of $308 million, not including maintenance and utility costs. [Update: On 1/18/2024, Vice President Richard told the Faculty Senate that "over $10 million" in private philanthropy had been raised for the business building.]

    [Update 2/6/2024: According to the minutes of the May 22, 2023, meeting of the Executive Committee of the UNR Foundation, the Foundation approved up to $1.9 million for four years for the purpose of paying the Business Building sublease, as a backstop pending fundraising for the quasi endowment. The Foundation liquidated the $1.8 million unrestricted Stevenson family trust endowment to provide for the backstop funding. The Foundation also waived its 0.5% management fee for the $50 million quasi endowment for a four-year period.] 

    The $50 million of the windfall from the Marigold Mine represents unrestricted university assets that could be used to support academic programs but are now committed to the Business Building project for thirty years. Since gold mine royalties are a fluctuating and finite revenue stream, it is a smart move to convert the accumulated royalties into a quasi-endowment for long-term stable income [3]. 

    Along with the risk of the financial viability of the proposed hotel/convention facility, the PPP funding model carries potential risks. Edgemoor, the development firm engaged by UNR, uses a “progressive PPP” model with a shorter track record than traditional PPPs and potential pitfalls. As with the ill-fated Fire Science Academy in Carlin, the UNR and NSHE officials who approved the PPP will be long gone by the time we know whether the funding plan for the business building is sound. 

    The thirty years of $10.25 million/year in commitments will tie up $5 million/year in student registration fees (or more, depending on the success of fundraising for naming opportunities and hotel/convention center revenue) as well as the income from the Marigold Mine quasi-endowment (estimated at $2 million/year). Since construction is moving forward, the thirty-year PPP commitment is not reversible.

    In the worst-case scenario of no additional fundraising and a hotel/convention center that does not materialize or run a profit, students will be paying $7.6 million/year in Capital Improvement fees while receiving fewer services, fewer classes, and greater frustrations.

    ###

    The information in this series of analyses of the UNR budget is based on public reports and records, interpreted as accurately as possible given uncertainties in the assumptions used for various reports. Corrections from authoritative sources are welcome. Contact: kent.ervin@nevadafacultyalliance.org.

    _______

    [1] Acharya, Tanvi. "FC details for Nevada uni P3", IJGlobal Project Finance and Infrastructure Journal, 7/24/2023. [Available via EBSCO at library.unr.edu]

    [2]  A UNR Assistant Professor hired at Q1 on the current salary schedule would earn $69,383. Adding the 33.8% fringe rate gives $92,834, or 10.8 positions per million dollars. By the Board of Regents action on December 1, 2023,  the salary schedules will be augmented by 10% as of July 1, 2024, giving 9.8 positions per million dollars for future new hires.

    [3] NFA submitted a public records request in December to determine the continuing royalty income amounts and their distribution. [Update 2/6/2024:  In FY2023, the $50 million in Marigold Mines royalties were transferred to the UNR Foundation for the quasi-endowment. An additional $5.6 million was transferred to "Institutional Support" (program destination to be determined), leaving $491,452 in the royalty account as of 6/30/2023.] 

    Articles in this series:

     



  • 11 Jan 2024 12:28 PM | Jim New (Administrator)

    The State Board of the Nevada Faculty Alliance is saddened to learn of the passing of former Regent Jason Geddes, a stalwart and pragmatic defender of higher education in the Silver State. His record as both a member and chair of the Board of Regents is marked with integrity, enthusiasm, and collegiality. Although the NFA and Regent Geddes sometimes disagreed on issues, he was always available, willing to listen, and treated differences of opinion with respect. Many NFA officers, past and present, appreciated his uplifting sense of humor and considered him to be a friend. He left a lasting positive legacy on higher education in Nevada. He will be missed. 

    Jason Geddes portrait

    Read More>>

    Nevada Independent: Longtime regent, former Assemblyman Jason Geddes dies at 56

    RGJ.com: Jason Geddes, former Board of Regents chair and Nevada Assemblyman, dies at 56

    This is Reno: Longtime Nevada higher education regent Jason Geddes dies at 56


  • 10 Jan 2024 6:00 AM | Kent Ervin (Administrator)

    UNR Budget: Misplaced Priorities and Diverted Resources

    Student Registration Fees Diverted from the State-Supported Operating Budget

    Part 4 in a series of articles on the budget situation at UNR. This installment addresses how student registration fees are being spent by the UNR administration.

    The distribution of student registration fees at UNR has been shifted from the State Operating Budget into Capital Improvement and General Improvement fees. Specifically, about $3.65 million/year in FY2025 and beyond is being diverted from the core instructional budget into other priorities of the UNR administration. Each $1 million diverted from the operating budget represents about 10 new faculty positions that cannot be filled.

    Student Registration Fees

    First, we provide some background on the distribution of student registration fees, which are paid by all undergraduate and graduate students on a per-credit basis.

    The Regents set the total student registration fees. Since 2019, the annual increase in registration fees has been indexed to the Higher Education Price Index under NSHE’s Predictable Pricing Program. The largest portion of student registration fees funds the State-Supported Operating Budget, UNR’s main instructional budget including instructional and support personnel and all regular academic department and administrative unit operations. Student Access funding for financial aid is mandated by the Board of Regents to be 15% of the overall registration fee for the universities. Smaller portions of the registration fees for General Improvement and Activities & Programs are intended to support programs that enhance the educational or student experience, rather than regular academic and administrative departments. Capital Improvement fees may be used directly for construction or committed to paying off bonds for major building projects.

    In each even-numbered calendar year, the Board of Regents approves the distribution of student registration fees into various budget categories (State Operating Budget, Student Access, General Improvement, Capital Improvement, Activities & Programs, and Student Association fees) for the biennium starting in the following odd year. 

    Shift in Student Registration-Fee Distributions

    In May 2022, the Board of Regents approved the registration fee distributions for FY2024 and FY2025. The inflationary increases in the total registration fees were 2.5% for FY2024 and 1.9% for FY2025. Traditionally, the percentage increases for the overall registration fees have been applied to the State Operating Budget category as well, with minor variations for the remaining categories. That would have resulted in a 4.4% increase over the current biennium in the student registration fees supporting the core educational mission.   

    For the 2023-2025 biennium, however, UNR requested and was granted a 0% change in the portion of registration fees going to the State Operating Budget. Those funds, intended for core instructional activities such as teaching faculty, were distributed instead to Capital Improvement and General Improvement fees. That was a significant departure from past practice, but the Regents did not discuss this shift nor did system or university staff bring it to the public’s attention. As approved by the Board of Regents, therefore, zero additional revenue was dedicated to the teaching of UNR students instead of a inflation-indexed increase of 4.4% over the current biennium, which would have resulted in a $7.86 per credit increase for the State Operating Budget. This diversion of fees represents $3.65 million/year from FY2025 onward diverted from the core instructional budget into other priorities of the UNR administration [1]. Each $1 million diverted from the operating budget represents about 10 new faculty positions that cannot be filled [2].

    UNLV also initially requested no inflationary increases for the State Operating Budget registration fees at the May 2022 Regents meeting. However, in response to the higher COLAs approved by the 2023 legislature, UNLV requested in July 2023, a $5.00/credit reallocation from their Capital Improvement fee to the State Operating Budget category. UNR did not request a reallocation.

    The diversion of student registration fees from the State Operating Budget diminishes the funding of UNR’s core educational activities. Lower student-fee revenue into the State Operating Budget may ultimately translate into reduced state funding, because the Governor’s Executive Budgets have, since the 2013 legislative session, held state appropriations to a fixed percentage of the total state-allocated budget for NSHE within a narrow range [3].

    Trend in Distribution of Student Registration Fees

    From FY2019 to FY2025, the overall undergraduate registration fee for university undergraduates as regularly approved by the Board of Regents increased from $224 to $268, a 19% increase. As shown in the chart below, during the same time period UNR:

    • Increased the Capital Improvement student fee from $16 to $27 per credit (67% increase)
    • Increased the State Operating Budget student fee from $155 to $177 (14% increase)
    • Decreased the General Improvement fee for campus-wide student programs from $16 to $13 (17% decrease), although higher than a low of $10 in FY2023.
    • The fraction of the undergraduate registration fees allocated to the State-Supported Operating Budget, i.e., core instruction and support, decreased from 69% to 66%.

    These values are before the additional 5% increase in student registration fees the Board of Regents approved on December 1, 2023, to assist in funding the 11% COLAs for FY2025. That decision resulted in an increase of $11 per credit ($5.1 million per year for UNR) for the State Operating Budget and $2 per credit ($0.9 million per year) for Student Access. 

    How Are Auxiliary Student Registration Fees Used?

    The expenditure of the General Improvement and Activities & Programs fees is largely discretionary, as they go into separate accounts from the State Operating Budget and are not part of the state budgeting process. NFA submitted a public records request to UNR on December 18, 2023, to discover how revenue from these student fees is being distributed among programs. An update will be provided when available.

    A portion of the Capital Improvement fees has been committed to paying off bonds for various buildings. About $5.12 million/year for thirty years has been committed to the Business Building Public–Private Partnership, as will be described in Part 5 of this series. 

     ###

    The information in this series of analyses of the UNR budget is based on public reports and records, interpreted as accurately as possible given uncertainties in the assumptions used for various reports. Corrections from authoritative sources are welcome. Contact: kent.ervin@nevadafacultyalliance.org.

    _____

    [1] Based on FY2023 average annual full-time-equivalent enrollments, each $1.00 per credit increase in student registration fees corresponds to $464,350 in additional revenue.

    [2]  A UNR Assistant Professor hired at Q1 on the current salary schedule would earn $69,383. Adding the 33.8% fringe rate gives $92,834, or 10.8 positions per million dollars. By the Board of Regents action on December 1, 2023,  the salary schedules will be augmented by 10% as of July 1, 2024, giving 9.8 positions per million dollars for future new hires.

    [3] The Executive Budgets from FY2014 through FY2025 proposed state appropriations at an average 64.8% of the total state-allocated budget for NSHE overall, with a range of 62.7% to 66.1% and a standard deviation of 1.1%.  2013-2015, 2015-2017, 2017-2019, 2019-2021, 2021-2023, 2023-2025.

    Articles in this series:

     

     



  • 08 Jan 2024 6:00 AM | Kent Ervin (Administrator)

    UNR Budget: Misplaced Priorities and Diverted Resources

    Growth of Executive Staff and Compensation

    Part 3 in a series of articles on the budget situation at UNR. This installment addresses the diversion of resources to create new or upgraded administrator positions and to increase executive salaries. 

    President Sandoval has attributed the freezing of 100 positions at UNR and 5% budget cuts for each department on campus to the underfunding of Cost-of-Living Adjustments (COLAs) by the Legislature. However, during the past period of budget cuts the number of executive-level positions has been increased and their average salaries have been raised well beyond the COLAs and merit raises available to rank-and-file faculty and staff. As documented here, the estimated cost of new executive positions and executive raises between Fall 2020 and Fall 2023 over and above COLAs and merit pay is $4.5 million annually. Each $1 million diverted to administration represents about ten new faculty positions that cannot be filled [1]. 

    The data on UNR employees and salaries used for this report have been obtained from public records requests to NSHE at the end of October each year since 2020. NFA has also documented statewide faculty salary trends at NSHE institutions.

    Growth in Executive Positions and Salaries

    Table 1 shows the number and average salaries of executive-level UNR employees from 2020 to 2023. The combined number of vice presidents, vice provosts, and deans at UNR was 21 in October 2020, with an average base salary of $257K. By the beginning of the Spring 2024 semester, only five of those 21 individuals hold the same position. Only three of the eleven academic deans from 2020 are still in their positions. 

    However, in Spring 2024 UNR has a total of 27 vice presidents, vice provosts, and deans (+6 positions / 29% increase). As of November 2023, their average base salary was $313K (24% increase). Only 15% of the salary increase can be attributed to COLAs and average merit increases since 2020. Some of the new executive positions also come with new support staff. 

    For comparison, at UNLV the total number of vice presidents, vice provosts, and deans rose from 32 to 36 (12.5%) and their average base salary rose from $269K to $300K (11.6%) from Fall 2019 to Fall 2023.

    Table 1
    UNR Executives and Administrative Faculty Range E - Number
    Positions Fall 2020 Fall 2021 Fall 2022 Fall 2023
    Deans, Vice Presidents, Vice Provosts 21 24 24 27
    Other executive-level personnel 57 53 55 64
    Total 79 78 80 92
    UNR Executives and Administrative Faculty Range E - Average Salaries
    Positions Fall 2020 Fall 2021 Fall 2022 Fall 2023
    President $449,489 $500,000 $505,000 $565,600
    Deans, Vice Presidents, Vice Provosts $252,872 $250,580 $275,875 $313,226
    Other executive-level personnel $186,576 $190,140 $189,918 $206,806
    All $207,796 $212,710 $219,643 $241,938
    Source: NSHE public records.

    Notes: Averages of annualized base salaries only, other compensation not included. Vacant positions not included in counts. Analysis by NFA 12/2023.

    Considering all executive-level employees (Executives and Administrative Faculty Range E) at UNR, table 1 shows that:

    • The total number of executive-level employees rose from 79 to 92 (+13 positions / 16% increase) between Fall 2020 and Fall 2023, including net new positions and filled vacancies. 

    • Promotions of directors or other positions to Vice President, Vice Provost, or Dean did not result in fewer lower-level executives. 

    • In Fall 2020, the total base salaries for 79 executives was $16.4 million.  The 15% in regular increases (COLAs of 1% on 7/1/2022 and 12% on 7/1/2023 and two average merit raises of 1%) would have raised their salaries by $2.5 million to $18.9 million. 

    • By Fall 2023, the total base salaries for 92 executives was $22.3 million, a net increase of $3.4 million beyond COLAs and merit for continuing positions. 

    • Adding the 34% fringe rate gives a cost of $4.5 million per year as an ongoing annual expense for the added executive positions and executive raises.Each $1 million diverted to administration represents about ten new faculty positions that cannot be filled [1].

    Table 2 lists the six new vice president, vice provost, and dean positions that were created, including:

    • Two new senior vice provost positions were created with salaries of over $260,000 each.

    • The Vice Provost for Information Technology position was upgraded to Vice President for Information Technology, while doubling the salary from $223K to $446K.

    • A Director for Government Relations and Community Engagement was hired in December 2020. By Fall 2021, the position had been upgraded to Vice President, Government Relations and Community Engagement, who now has a staff including a Director, Government and Community Relations and a Manager, Government and Community Engagement.

    The NFA has submitted public records requests to determine which Vice President positions were filled using a search including faculty representation on the screening committee as required by UNR Bylaws.

    Table 2
    New or Upgraded Executive Position Previous Position Prior Salary* 2023 Salary
    Vice President, Legal Affairs and General Counsel General Counsel $233,181a $282,250
    Vice President, Information Technology Vice Provost, Information Technology $222,916a $445,760
    Vice President, Governmental Relations and Community Engagement Director for Government Relations and Community Engagement $189,500b $259,567
    Senior Vice Provost, University Projects and Strategic Initiatives New position. Incumbent was formerly Associate Dean. $160,311b $260,127
    Senior Vice Provost New position. Incumbent was formerly Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs. $164,800a $265,332
    Dean, Honors College Director of the Honors College $128,750a $181,388
    Source: NSHE public records.

    New executive position titles between July 2020 and December 2023. *Prior salary is for incumbent or former holders before position upgrade or promotion as of (a) Fall 2020 or (b) Fall 2021.

    ... continued in part 3B

  • 08 Jan 2024 6:00 AM | Kent Ervin (Administrator)

    UNR Budget: Misplaced Priorities and Diverted Resources

    Growth of Executive Staff and Compensation

    Part 3B, continuation of Part 3 of our series of articles on the UNR Budget.

    Stagnant Academic Faculty Positions

    Table 3 below documents the changes in the numbers of academic faculty, administrative staff, and executives at UNR between Fall 2022 and Fall 2023, just over the past year. The number of range A through D administrative faculty grew 12% and the number of executive-level staff grew 15% (net new positions and filled vacancies). But during this year of strong growth for administrative faculty and executive-level personnel, the number of academic faculty remained flat (+3 / 0.3% increase). 

    Table 3 also shows the salary changes for continuing employees from Fall 2022 to Fall 2023. All faculty, staff, and executives benefited from a 12% COLA and a 1% merit pool on 7/1/2023. Academic promotions from Assistant Professor to Associate or Associate to Full Professor come with a fixed 10% raise at UNR, but administrative and executive salary changes are discretionary. Academic faculty who were promoted had an average combined COLA and raise of 20.5%, while executive-level personnel with a promotion or change of title got an average raise of 33.4%.

    Examples of the top 50 raises at UNR (table at link) between Fall 2022 and Fall 2023 include a $108,000 COLA for the Dean of the Medical School, a 34%/$66,000 salary increase for the Vice President of Government Relations and Community Engagement, and upgrading the General Counsel to a Vice President for Legal Affairs with a 19%/$44,000 salary increase.

    Without a promotion, the 12% COLA on 7/1/2023 and the 11% COLA to be awarded on 10/1/2024 will bring a faculty member’s take-home salary only back to 2020 in purchasing power after inflation (details in part 7 of this series).

    Table 3

    Academic, Administrative, and Executive/Administrative Faculty
    Fall 2022 to Fall 2023
    Category Academic Faculty Administrative Faculty
    (Range A to D)
    Executive & Administrative
    Range E
    Number of employees 10/31/2022 1008 1103 80
    Number of employees 10/31/2023 1011 1231 92
    Change in number of employees +3 +128 +12
    Percent change in number of employees 0.3% 12% 15%
    Average salary percentage increase for continuing employees with no change in position title 13.9% 14.2% 13.2%
    Average percentage salary increase for continuing employees with a change in position title 20.5% 29.4% 33.4%
    Source: NSHE public records.
    Continuing employees = employees in the category on 10/31/2023, who were also employed at UNR on 10/31/2022. Salary changes are inclusive of the 12% COLA and merit raises from the 1% internal pool on 7/1/2023.

    Expansion of Executive Staff Results in Cuts to Rank-and-File Faculty and Staff in Departments Serving Students

    These data document the rapid growth in administrator and executive positions and salaries at UNR during a period of budget cuts, while the number of academic faculty remains flat. Salary adjustments for academic faculty have largely been limited to COLAs and regular promotions in rank. Even if the needs of the University fully justify the new executive positions, it is irresponsible to create them during budget shortfalls and flat enrollments. In the meantime, 5% budget cuts to academic departments and administrative units will result in vacancies and eliminations of positions that directly serve students.

    The full impact of hiring decisions on academic programs at the department level is hard to gauge because UNR stopped publishing annual budget reports after 2018. 

    The public records available to NFA do not indicate the sources of funding at the individual position level. Still, to the best of our knowledge, most of the executive-level positions are funded through state-supported operating budgets (exceptions include Athletics and clinical faculty). That is, increases in executive positions and salaries reduce the available budget for other professional employees.

    The central administration’s practice of sweeping vacancy salary savings from academic colleges has varied over the past decades at UNR:

    • The Lilley administration instituted central sweeps and even made departments justify positions based on detailed individual-faculty-level teaching loads, which contributed to serious disparities and low morale. 

    • President Glick returned authority over salary savings to college deans to allow them to manage their academic portfolios and respond to challenges and opportunities. 

    • President Johnson largely maintained that practice, although new positions from growth were allocated through a centralized decision-making process. 

    • The Sandoval administration has gone back in the direction of centralized command and control, thereby assuming full responsibility for decisions and priorities while having limited ability to understand situations facing various departments and programs closest to students. 

    When salary savings are swept centrally, deans have little to bring to the table when making hiring requests. But it gives the central administration the ability to expand the executive staff and raise their salaries, as has happened since 2020. 

    ###

    The information in this series of UNR budget analyses is based on public reports and records, interpreted as accurately as possible given uncertainties in the assumptions used for various reports. Corrections from authoritative sources are welcome. Contact: kent.ervin@nevadafacultyalliance.org.

    _________

    [1]  A UNR Assistant Professor hired at Q1 on the current salary schedule would earn $69,383. Adding the 33.8% fringe rate gives $92,834, or 10.8 positions per million dollars. By the Board of Regents action on December 1, 2023,  the salary schedules will be augmented by 10% as of July 1, 2024, giving 9.8 positions per million dollars for future new hires.

    Articles in this series:


  • 05 Jan 2024 6:00 AM | Kent Ervin (Administrator)

    UNR Budget: Misplaced Priorities and Diverted Resources
    Part 2. $10+ Million Increase in University Support for Intercollegiate Athletics
    This is the second article in a series of analyses of the UNR budget situation. 

    Here we take a deeper dive into the diversion of resources away from the core academic mission by the UNR administration. In August 2023, the Nevada Sports Network reported that UNR is boosting institutional support of Intercollegiate Athletics by $10 million per year, funds that presumably could be spent on instructional operations. Unfortunately, we cannot yet answer the question about the exact source of the extra $10 million per year in university support of Athletics [1]. Spoiler alert: it could be from student registration fees.

    Athletics budget data are obtained from the UNR Annual Athletics Reports submitted to the Board of Regents for 2019-20, 2020-21, and 2021-2022 [2].

    UNR institutional support for Athletics was zero in FY2016 and FY2017. In FY2018 and FY2019, $650,000 each year was provided in Cost of Attendance Funds (financial aid for student-athletes beyond fees and tuition). In FY2020, that went up to $1,425,000, adding “COLA and fringe assistance.”

    In response to the pandemic, UNR added $10 million in institutional support to offset the revenue losses for Athletics in FY2021, for a total institutional support of $11.1 million. Those funds were likely from federal Higher Education Emergency Relief Funds granted through the American Rescue Plan Act, although the UNR Annual Athletics Report does not indicate the source. 

    UNLV also increased institutional support for Athletics in FY2021, by $7.5 million from COVID relief funds according to the UNLV Annual Athletics Report. For future years, however, UNLV is returning to pre-pandemic institutional support levels. In contrast, UNR continued the increased institutional support for FY2022, at $10.7 million.

    UNR Athletics budget projections include institutional support of $10.1 million in FY2023, $11.7 million in FY2024, $12.9 million in FY2025, and $13.0 million in FY2026. The chart below shows actual and projected revenues for UNR Intercollegiate Athletics for FY2016 through FY2027, obtained from the Annual Athletics Reports provided to the Board of Regents for 2019-202020-21, and 2021-2022. “Athletics Income” represents all the revenue internally generated by Athletics including ticket sales, dedicated gifts, and media and conference income; the remainder is from state appropriations, student fees, waived tuition and fees, and institutional support. Institutional support was a tiny fraction of the UNR Athletics budget prior to 2020; now it is about 30% of the budget. Internal Athletics income now covers only about 50% of the expenditures: the remainder is from state appropriations, student fees, tuition and fee waivers, and institutional support. The combined state, student, and institutional subsidies for UNR Athletics are projected to be nearly $23 million for FY2024. 

    The addition of $10 million in university subsidies to Athletics represents a 26.4% increase over the pre-pandemic actual total revenue of $37.8 million for FY2019, which was an especially good year for Athletics income. It doubles the total subsidy from the state, university, and students.  Although Athletics is subject to a $830,000 reduction for FY2024 as part of the 5% “across-the-board” cuts to university programs, that is offset by an increase in the state appropriation to $5,580,806 from the projected budget of $4,835,440, an increase of $745,366. A $830,000 cut would be 5% of a budget of $16,600,000; it is not clear to which portion of the projected FY2024 $46.1 million total Athletics revenue that applies. 

    Where does the extra $10 million to $13 million per year in UNR institutional support to Athletics come from for FY2023 and beyond? Federal COVID relief funds are no longer available. It is not from direct state appropriations ($4.8 million/year) or the student per-credit fees specifically for athletics ($2.8 million/year or $6/credit), which are reported separately, as are gifts designated for Athletics ($3.0 million per year including season ticket sales). The UNR Foundation has provided capital improvement funds for Athletics facilities; unrestricted foundation funds could also be used for support of Athletics operations–the 2022-2023 UNR Foundation Annual Report lists $2.4 million in program gifts identifiable as athletics-related.

    The 2022 legislative audit [3] of NSHE self-supported programs for FY 2018 through FY2021 faulted two NSHE institutions, presumably UNR and UNLV, for using restricted student fee funds to support athletics: "Specifically, two institutions used a total of nearly $6.7 million in general improvement and other restricted student fees to support athletics and band programs over several years" [3]. However, the institutions argued that support for athletics was an allowed use.

    Our understanding is therefore that the institutional support funds for Athletics could be derived from per-credit student registration fees in the General Improvement, Activities & Programs, or Student Access budget categories. That is, student support for Athletics could be significantly greater than is reported as “student fee revenue” in the Annual Athletics Reports. There may be other unrestricted discretionary funds available that have not been disclosed as the source, including continuing royalty income from UNR’s Marigold Mine stake and investment income from the NSHE Operating Pool. Regardless of the exact source of funding [1], the Sandoval administration is diverting an extra $10 million/year or more to Athletics on an ongoing basis that could be used for core academic programs to serve all students (or for financial aid in the case of Student Access fees).  Each $1 million diverted from the core instructional budget is equivalent to about 10 new academic faculty hires [4].

    [Update 2/2/2024: UNR Intercollegiate Athletic's annual financial statements to NCAA are submitted in mid-January for the prior fiscal year.  The following chart shows the annual operating surplus or deficit reported to NCAA from FY2019 through FY2023, along with the (negative) ending reserve balances  (as reported in UNR's Annual Athletics Report for FY2019 and calculated forward).  The additional $10 million/year in University support started in FY2021.  With this extra operating revenue, UNR Athletics about broke even in FY2021 and FY2023 and had a $2.7 million operating surplus in FY2022.  In other words, most of the $10 million annually is being spent.]

    ###

    The information in this series of analyses of the UNR budget is based on public reports and records, interpreted as accurately as possible given uncertainties in the assumptions used for various reports. Corrections from authoritative sources are welcome. Contact: kent.ervin@nevadafacultyalliance.org.

    ___________

    [1] Public records requests were submitted to UNR in December 2023 to determine how General Improvement student fees, Activities & Programs student fees, and Marigold Mine royalty income are being distributed. An update will be provided when available.

    [2] The Annual Athletics Reports from UNR and UNLV to the Board of Regents present budget data in two forms. The NCAA Annual Statements of Revenues and Expenditures include various non-cash contributions that are not included in the internal Workday budget data. “Direct Institutional Support” as reported to NCAA includes tuition and fee waivers in addition to the “Institutional Revenue” reported to the Board of Regents for budget reports. Tuition and fee waivers represent lost revenue to the university instructional budget, but arguably some would not be realized if fewer student-athletes were attracted to the program. Here we use “institutional support” to mean the cash portion of direct institutional support and use the internal reports of total revenue and expenditures.

    [3] Performance Audit, Nevada System of Higher Education Self-Supporting and Reserve Accounts, Legislative Auditor, 2022.

    [4]  A UNR Assistant Professor hired at Q1 on the current salary schedule would earn $69,383. Adding the 33.8% fringe rate gives $92,834, or 10.8 positions per million dollars. By the Board of Regents action on December 1, 2023,  the salary schedules will be augmented by 10% as of July 1, 2024, giving 9.8 positions per million dollars for future new hires.

    Articles in this series:

    Updated 1/18/2024 in include information from the 2022 Legislative Audit of NSHE.

    Update 2/2/2024 to include information on annual operating surpluses and deficits and negative reserve balances.

     



  • 04 Jan 2024 8:40 AM | Jim New (Administrator)

    Throughout Fall Semester 2023, CSN-NFA negotiators hammered out the details of amendments to their collective bargaining agreement with administrative representatives. Finalized on December 15, the amendments includes language to secure and improve several areas affecting faculty compensation including merit pay, COLA adjustments, increases to base salaries, and lab pay rates. This success at the negotiation table builds on the achievement of a 12% COLA this year and an 11% COLA next October for which faculty activism, coordinated by NFA, was critical. Following a ratification vote, the agreement will be submitted to the Board of Regents for approval at their February 29/March 1 quarterly meeting.

    NFA found that CSN faculty and NSHE community college faculty salary schedules have not increased in over 10 years, creating severe compression and an inability to recruit or retain academic faculty. CSN’s current collective bargaining contract does not include language that tied starting salary increases to NSHE COLA adjustments, causing pay rates to decline and leading to numerous failed searches and losses in faculty retention. Additionally, CSN faculty are paid lower rates than all other NSHE institutions while teaching lab courses. Thanks to the hard work of CSN-NFA, these deficiencies will be corrected.

    Key details of the new agreement include: 

    • Lab Pay Increases to Full Pay: The end of the inequitable and unfair compensation of faculty who teach labs. Currently paid at 0.775 of a lecture IU, over the next year and a half, this will increase until the ratio is 1:1.
    • COLA Increases on Salary Schedule: The salary schedule used to determine faculty’s initial salary will be ratcheted up to include the 12% COLA we received in July 2023, the 11% COLA we will receive October 1, 2024, and future COLAs.  
    • New Faculty Increases: The 12% increase to the salary schedule will be retroactive. All faculty who started July 1, 2023 or after will receive this 12% COLA increase to their salary with back pay.  
    • Future COLAs: All future COLAs will be applied to the initial placement salary schedule to increase hiring and retention. 
    • All-Faculty Stipend: All current full-time academic faculty will get a one-time $400 bonus (officially called a “professional development stipend”) in their August 2024 paycheck.

    To ratify these changes, there will be an NFA members vote, conducted according to the NFA Bylaws, during Spring Semester's Convocation week beginning January 8. To answer faculty questions, CSN-NFA will hold two Q & A sessions. The first will be in person on Monday, January 8th directly after the CSN President Zaragoza's State of the College Address. The second will be from noon to 1 pm on Friday, January 12th, on Zoom. CSN faculty are encouraged to contact any CSN-NFA chapter officers for more information.

  • 02 Jan 2024 6:00 AM | Kent Ervin (Administrator)

    UNR Budget: Misplaced Priorities and Diverted Resources
    Part 1. Overview

    This is the first of a series of analyses of the budget situation at the University of Nevada, Reno. UNR is facing serious budget difficulties in the 2023-2025 biennium despite an increase in total state appropriations of $26 million (20%) from FY2023 to FY2024 for the main UNR instructional budget [1]. 

    The UNR administration has blamed legislative underfunding of COLAs for the current budget shortfalls in the state-supported instructional budget. However, the entire ongoing underfunding of COLAs for professional and classified staff of $21.7 million per year could have been covered if the UNR Administration had not chosen to fund non-academic budget priorities instead of the core instructional mission.

    UNR’s core educational mission is largely accomplished by the work of rank-and-file faculty and staff serving students. It is funded through the main UNR instructional account in the State-Supported Operating Budget, the budget for most instructional and support personnel who directly serve students as well as basic operations. This series will document how the budget deficits at UNR are caused in significant part by the diversion of resources away from the core educational mission into other priorities of UNR’s administration, specifically:

    • About $10 million per year in increased direct university support of Athletics. [Details in Part 2]

    • New administrator positions and increases in their base salaries beyond COLAs and merit. From Fall 2020 to Fall 2023, the number of executive-level personnel at UNR (Executives and Range E Administrative Faculty) increased by 13 from 79 to 92 (16% increase). The estimated cost of new executive positions and executive raises between Fall 2020 and Fall 2023 over and above COLAs and merit pay is $4.5 million annually. That is an ongoing cost for these positions in future budget years. [Details in Part 3]

    • About $3.7 million per year in inflation-indexed increases in student registration fees has been diverted from the State Operating Budget to the Capital Improvement fee and the General Improvement fee. [Details in Part 4]

    • Up to $10.25 million per year committed to the new Business Building. Of that, $5.1 million per year is from student registration fees funded largely by diverting the inflation increases to registration fees from the State Operating Budget into the Capital Improvement student fee. Approximately $2.3 million per year is unrestricted revenue from $50M in Marigold Mine royalties transferred from the university to the UNR Foundation as a quasi-endowment. The remainder is to come from fundraising for the quasi-endowment (only $15M of $50M raised so far) and hotel project revenue yet to be realized. [Details in Part 5]

    • About $3.5 million per year for the Digital Wolf Pack Initiative, which supports Apple Distinguished School status for UNR. [Discussed elsewhere.]

    Each $1 million diverted from the core instructional budget is equivalent to about 10 new academic faculty hires [2].

    UNR’s budget officers have counted on unrealistic increases in future student enrollment during a multiyear period of declining or flat enrollment, resulting in budget shortfalls of $8.5 million and  $10 million in FY2024 and FY2025, respectively. [Details in Part 6]

    On December 1, 2023, the Board of Regents approved Option A for funding COLAs, which delayed 11% COLAs for faculty until October 1, 2024, and increased student fees and tuition by 5% to help cover the cost of COLAs for both professional and classified staff. In the budgets for Option A presented to the Regents, UNR projected that 108 positions would be eliminated or held vacant. This high number of vacant positions accounts for 76% of all vacant positions to be held vacant at all NSHE institutions. (UNR’s closest counterpart, UNLV, projected no positions to be eliminated or held vacant.) The UNR administration has imposed 5% budget cuts for FY2024 across all university units, while recent additions of personnel were concentrated in the administrative and executive ranks. UNR’s academic mission will be seriously compromised by these cuts to personnel and operations. [Details in Part 7]

    These budget issues will be documented in subsequent posts in this series over the next few weeks, followed by suggested solutions [Part 8]. 

    ###

    The information in this series of analyses of the UNR budget is based on public reports and records, interpreted as accurately as possible given uncertainties in the assumptions used for various reports. Corrections from authoritative sources are welcome. Contact: kent.ervin@nevadafacultyalliance.org.

    _______

    [1] FY2024 NSHE State-Supported Operating Budget Report, University of Nevada, Reno (p. 29). Includes COLA appropriations. State-allocated American Rescue Plan Act funds were added to the FY2023 state appropriation for comparison with FY2024.

    [2]  A UNR Assistant Professor hired at Q1 on the current salary schedule would earn $69,383. Adding the 33.8% fringe rate gives $92,834, or 10.8 positions per million dollars. By the Board of Regents action on December 1, 2023,  the salary schedules will be augmented by 10% as of July 1, 2024, giving 9.8 positions per million dollars for future new hires.

    Articles in this series:

    Updated: on 1/3/2024 to clarify that the quasi-endowment for the Business Building is held at the UNR Foundation and was created with Marigold Mine funds transferred from the University.

    Updated on 1/4/2024 to clarify that the $5.8 million increase in base salaries for executive-level administrators is for the entire group, not just for the 13 additional positions.

    Updated on 1/8/2024 to report the cost of new executive positions and increased executive salaries net of regular COLA and merit increase and including fringe rate, per calculation in part 3.


  • 07 Dec 2023 12:00 PM | Jim New (Administrator)

    The officers of the State Board of the Nevada Faculty Alliance are devastated by the horrific events at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas yesterday. There are no words that convey the bewilderment and sorrow we feel for our colleagues, friends, students, and all their families who are suffering. Platitudes, thoughts, and prayers cannot make this right.

    Violence is never an acceptable solution. For now, kindness and understanding are essential. But in an uncertain environment that has stirred so many emotions and passions, this event reminds us that respect and compassion must guide our interactions with one another, especially in our institutions of higher learning.

    We urge everyone in the NSHE community and our NFA family to be there for one another. Lend an ear to someone who just needs to talk, give them a shoulder to lean on, and gently reassure them that there is still good in the world. 

    We encourage all NSHE employees to practice self care every day, but especially at times like this. Please remember there are resources to help those of you who are suffering from the trauma of this event including the NSHE Employee Assistance Program.

    NFA members have additional benefits through our affiliation with the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), including trauma counseling and secondary trauma stress counseling. Each service requires an AFT member number. Individuals who are having trouble finding their member number can reach out to Tish Olshefski at tish.olshefski@aft.org for assistance.

  • 04 Dec 2023 12:57 PM | Jim New (Administrator)

    Over the past decade, the Nevada System of Higher Education (“NSHE”) has implemented a series of small policy changes that, in the aggregate, have significantly eroded shared governance when it comes to the process of selecting campus presidents and the system chancellor. This became apparent when the agenda for the November 30 - December 1, 2023, Board of Regents quarterly meeting was posted and included proposals for the appointment of interim presidents at Great Basin College and College of Southern Nevada. Since both GBC President Joyce Helens and CSN President Federico Zaragoza had each given more than a year’s notice of their departures, it was surprising that the Board did not launch a national search for their successors. 

    As it turns out, the policy that once mandated national searches for institutional leadership positions has quietly undergone multiple small changes since 2012, and now gives Regents the authority to appoint individuals in an interim capacity, potentially avoiding a search process altogether. This shift in policy effectively diminishes the scope and opportunity for meaningful faculty engagement in the crucial task of selecting their campus leaders.  

    Following national presidential searches between 2007 and 2012, which resulted in the appointment of four internal candidates to permanent positions - Mike Richards, CSN; Neal Smatresk, UNLV; Marc Johnson, UNR; and  Bart Patterson, NSC - Regents initiated a discussion about the necessity of investing substantial time and resources on a search if the ideal candidate might already be at the institution. Consequently, they directed staff to research “best practices” governing presidential vacancies, which resulted in a presentation at a special meeting in October 2012. Ironically, during this presentation, the Board’s Chief of Staff reported that despite researching the Association of Governing Boards’ (AGB) publication “Presidential Searches” and contacting the  association directly, “such a model was not available.” The meeting minutes reveal a discussion that sometimes veered into the absurd. For example, while acknowledging that university provosts were the most likely individuals to ascend to a  presidential appointment, the Regents seriously discussed raising the selection standards for provosts as an answer to lowering the standards for selecting presidents.

    Nevertheless, the Board crafted a policy proposal that was presented for discussion at an April 2013 special meeting. It defined the role of an “Officer in Charge” for the temporary absence or vacancy in the office of president, but also made the requirement for a national search optional. It allowed the Board to appoint an acting president and either initiate a search immediately or appoint an interim president and decide on a search based on the interim president’s performance. Following the April discussion, the finalized policy was adopted as an item on the consent agenda at the June 2013 quarterly meeting.

    Under Board policy, an acting president temporarily holds the office during the process to select a permanent replacement and is not eligible to apply for the permanent position. An acting president is not required to meet the minimum requirements for the permanent position. An interim president, however, can be appointed for a period of one to three years and may submit an application to a subsequent search, assuming their appointment is not terminated by the Board. The Board also has the option, however, to forego a search and unilaterally appoint the interim to the permanent position. 

    Other small, but significant changes were adopted at the March 2018 quarterly meeting. The main objective of that proposal was to align the procedures for selecting a chancellor with those already in place for presidents, but revisions to the presidential process gave the Regents greater latitude to immediately appoint an interim president, and the options to conduct either “a national, regional, in-state or other search for a permanent President” if the Regents ultimately chose to conduct a search.

    Individually each change, as it was being adopted, appeared relatively benign, but the cumulative effect is a system where comprehensive searches to fill the top spots at our institutions may be the rare exception rather than the rule. 

    To be fair, the policy still requires the Board chair and Chancellor to meet with campus constituencies, including faculty and staff leaders, administrators, students, and community stakeholders before making an interim appointment. But it does not define guidelines for the topics to be discussed, the information to be gathered, or the information to be shared. A superficial discussion about the preferred qualities of a new president would suffice. The Board is not required to seek input from constituents about individual candidates or share information about the process. There is no obligation for transparency.

    Searches are imperfect, costly, and time-consuming. And if we’re honest, NSHE’s recent history reveals a less-than-stellar track record when it comes to conducting successful searches. However, searches conducted with integrity can and do attract a diversity of qualified applicants who meet broad-based criteria established by a variety of campus stakeholders. They seek to identify the best possible individual for a job, who may very well be an internal candidate. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn’t, but it is the minimum standard for hiring tenure-track faculty. Why should the standard be lower for the chief executive officer of the institution?

    The benefits of a well-planned search process are evident, but introducing an interim into the mix dilutes any advantages. To identify just a few:

    • A search conducted while the departing incumbent still holds the position generates the strongest pool of applicants. 
    • An individual selected through a robust search process will always hold more legitimacy in the eyes of their colleagues and constituents than someone who is unilaterally appointed. 
    • Conducting a search for an interim won’t result in a diverse pool because individuals outside the institution will not apply for a position that may be temporary.
    • Allowing an interim to compete in a subsequent search to fill the position permanently will depress the candidate pool since the interim has the inside track.
    • Continually drawing on candidates from within the system runs the risk of developing institutional myopia by denying others from outside the system to bring their varied experiences to the table.
    • Appointing an interim or permanent without a search eliminates the public process that can raise red flags about a candidate prior to appointment.

    There are times when it makes sense to appoint rather than search. For example, when former WNC President Vincent Solis announced his resignation in November 2021, he gave the Board little more than a month to fill the vacancy. The three remaining community college presidents have all announced their departures well in advance giving the Regents more than enough time to organize and conduct comprehensive searches.

    GBC President Helens, CSN President Zaragoza, and TMCC President Hilgersom
    GBC President Joyce Helens, CSN President Federico Zaragoza, and TMCC President Karin Hilgersom

    President Zaragoza announced in June 2023 that he would be leaving at the end of June 2024. A few weeks later, President Helens announced her plans to retire at the end of June 2024. And TMCC President Karin Hilgersom justified her request for a waiver of the periodic evaluation and one-year extension of her contract to the end of June 2025 by announcing to the Board last July that she would retire at the end of the extension.

    On November 30, the Board made an interim appointment for the GBC position and was poised to make one for CSN before pulling the item from agenda. 

    UPDATE, 12/6/23: An article in the Nevada Current reveals that at least one Regent, Laura Perkins, has concerns about the proposal for the interim president at CSN. A faculty leader also says the proposal bucks input gathered in a November campus meeting with the Board Chairman and Interim Chancellor where the consensus was for an acting president and national search.

    While both individuals selected for these appointments have stellar qualifications and broad support from campus stakeholders, they also would have made strong candidates in a search. They will be odds-on-favorites for permanent appointments to the positions without a search. It’s unlikely the faculty, students, staff, or community played any role in crafting minimum qualifications and desired characteristics (if any were even developed), nor did they participate in screening candidates or submitting recommendations. In other words, the process excluded shared governance.

    With 18 months to go before the next known presidential vacancy, there really is no good justification for not planning a national search to replace President Hilgersom. It should begin no later than October 2024. 

    Advocating for, promoting, and protecting shared governance are prime objectives of the Nevada Faculty Alliance. This responsibility touches virtually all aspects of the operation of a system of higher education including participation in the hiring process for campus and system administrators. It is now clear that the existing policy governing vacancies in the offices of president or chancellor violates this well-established tenet. 

    NFA strongly urges the Board of Regents to modify Title 2, Chapter 1, Sections 1.5.5. to require a national search if they become aware of a pending vacancy more than nine months before it occurs. Anything less is a betrayal of the critical partnership between faculty, students, and administrators that is necessary to maintain an effective system of higher education. 

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