Regents defer action until June, commisison to study salary issues

This morning, the Board of Regents of the Nevada System of Higher Education discussed the brand-new budget that was closed on Tuesday afternoon. It took no direct action, though the Chairman, Michael Wixom, and the System Counsel both spoke against both the need and desireability of considering a declaration of financial exigency.

Between now and the next Board meeting, June 17, a special committee composed of faculty (including an NFA representative) and administration from around the System will study the legal, financial and equity issues involved in the state legislatures' budget, with specific reference to the one-day-a-month unpaid furlough for classified staff and the 4% cut from the salary allocation of the General Fund for professional and academic faculty.

The System Couunsel reaffirmed what has been and remains the case, that chapter 5 of the System Code (Title 2 of the Board of Regents handbook) protects tenured faculty from termination or salary reduction for financial reasons without a declaration of financial exigency and protects untenured faculty and professional staff with 6 months service from such cuts without 365-day notification. The appointed commission will study whether there are "creative" approaches that would allow the System to reconcile the legislature's budget with the System code.

The Faculty Alliance will be actively involved in that discussion and any members, or others, who have questions or input to provide should feel free to contact us.