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Institutional Leadership

This is an unprecedented time in Nevada higher education where several top leadership roles need to be filled. The positions of chancellor, UNR president, UNLV president and DRI president all need to be filled or given a permanent, rather than interim, title. The search process has begun to fill these roles, but getting a large number of quality candidates to apply for these positions is extremely difficult due to open meeting law requirements.

Most of us have changed jobs at some point in our life, and when doing so, it probably started out with you applying for the new job while still employed at your old job. Now imagine applying for that new job and your current employer finding out that you are looking to leave. Things would quickly become awkward at your current job as it became known that you are planning on leaving. This is the situation created by Nevada’s current requirements and has a serious chilling effect on getting a large applicant pool for filling the role of chancellor or university president. Transparency is a good thing, and with some common sense adjustments, we can improve things so that we attract the best candidates for the top positions at our schools. This is another situation where the relationship with the legislature is crucial, because it will require a change by our leaders in Carson City.