University
Archived Posts from this Category
More good news about Wolf Pack athletics
Posted by glick on 20 Nov 2009 | Tagged as: Misc., Our Community, Students, University
This week, we received excellent news: The University of Nevada’s Graduation Success Rate for student-athletes is at an all-time high for the second year in a row, according to the most recent data released by the NCAA. Continue Reading »
Untouchables
Posted by glick on 26 Oct 2009 | Tagged as: Communications, Misc., Our Community, Students, Town Hall Meetings, University
During our Town Hall Meeting on Oct. 7 in the Joe Crowley Student Union, Provost Marc Johnson and I spoke about the University’s strategic plan. One of the themes of the plan concerns a renewed focus on entrepreneurship, across-discipline partnership and innovation. We realize that once the state recovers from double-digit unemployment and a recession that has hit all sectors of our economy with unprecedented force, things will never quite be the same again. As I noted in my remarks on Oct. 7, we can no longer count on the state to create the type of university that we wish to be. This task is up to us. More than ever before, if we are to realize our full potential as an institution, we must increasingly rely on the creation of new partnerships, both public and private, and we must determine the best ways to innovate and foster a more entrepreneurial culture on our campus. Continue Reading »
Hat’s off to Whittemore Peterson Institute for research breakthrough
Posted by glick on 09 Oct 2009 | Tagged as: Misc., Our Community, Out and About, University
Yesterday it was announced that a recently identified retrovirus has been linked to a debilitating neuro-immune disease, Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, which affects more than one million people in the United States. The retroviral link was discovered by scientists from the Whittemore Peterson Institute, which is based on our main Reno campus, and their collaborators from the National Cancer Institute and the Cleveland Clinic. The team recently published its groundbreaking findings in the journal, Science, one of the world’s leading scientific journals. In addition, this breakthrough is receiving significant and well deserved national media coverage. Continue Reading »
$10 million Pennington gift and a ‘Duh’ moment
Posted by glick on 07 Oct 2009 | Tagged as: Communications, Misc., Our Community, Out and About, University
I thoroughly enjoyed our annual Foundation Banquet on Thursday night at John Ascuaga’s Nugget. There were so many highlights: the event was sold-out and more than 900 people attended; our featured speaker, Harvard medical professor Dr. Atul Gawande, delivered an excellent talk on the struggle to perform well in any endeavor, as well as health care in the United States; it was announced during the banquet that the William N. Pennington Foundation has committed $10 million to the University for the purpose of a new Health Sciences Building. The Pennington gift, along with a $2.5 million gift from the Nell J. Redfield Foundation and a $1 million gift from the Thelma B. and Thomas P. Hart Foundation brings the total private investment in the building to $15 million. Continue Reading »
Why ‘culture of completion’ matters
Posted by glick on 15 Sep 2009 | Tagged as: Misc., Students, University
For the past three years, we have stressed the value of creating a “culture of completion” on our campus. It is important not only as a rallying cry for our faculty and staff, but for our students as well. For too long universities and colleges throughout our country have stressed enrollment figures, often to the detriment of what is truly the most important product for any institution of higher learning - the attainment of a college degree by its students. If universities are to succeed in helping to create a more diversified, knowledge-based economy for the 21st century, it is imperative that we dramatically improve our graduation rates. Continue Reading »
New UNLV institute and the achievement of ‘Mountain Mega’ status
Posted by glick on 28 Aug 2009 | Tagged as: Misc., Our Community, University
Earlier this week, an important announcement was made at UNLV: a $14 million grant from philanthropist Kirk Kerkorian’s Lincy Foundation will fund the creation of The Lincy Institute. According to UNLV’s announcement, The Lincy Institute will specialize in identifying and acquiring local, state and national grants to improve our state’s quality of life, which includes areas such as child and family advocacy, education, health care, homelessness, mental health issues and physical disabilities. This is good news for UNLV, the Nevada System of Higher Education, and the people of the state of Nevada. I would like to commend UNLV President Neal Smatresk and all of the members of UNLV’s administration who were involved in the acquisition of this grant. Continue Reading »
‘Tough times, but a time we will come through’
Posted by glick on 29 Jul 2009 | Tagged as: Budget, Our Community, Town Hall Meetings, University
Read a recap of last week’s Town Hall with Faculty and Staff in the Jott Travis Building.
http://www.unr.edu/nevadanews/templates/details.aspx?articleid=5114&zoneid=14
Congratulations to Dan Klaich, our new Chancellor
Posted by glick on 08 Jul 2009 | Tagged as: Misc., Our Community, University
On July 1, Dan Klaich officially assumed his duties as the tenth Chancellor of the Nevada System of Higher Education, following mid-June’s announcement that he had been unanimously appointed to the position by the Board of Regents. Dan is a native Nevadan and his history on our campus is worth noting. Dan is a 1972 graduate of our University, and in 1971 served as ASUN president. His wife, Denise, is also a graduate of our University. Dan has provided a thoughtful and progressive voice to matters of higher education in our state for his entire adult life, and I wish to take a moment to offer my best thoughts as he begins this well-deserved appointment. For an interesting look at the history of ASUN, including a list of all of the past presidents of ASUN, check out the link below.
Chronicle of Higher Ed: U.S. May Need to Prune Number of Research Universities
Posted by glick on 06 Jul 2009 | Tagged as: Budget, Misc., Teaching, University
Say what? The headline certainly caught my attention, as well it should. According to Dr. Robert M. Berdahl, president of the Association of American Universities, this is “a very serious question that the nation needs to ask itself.” Dr. Berdahl says that the association isn’t making any specific recommendations, though he has asked the National Academies to study the question. Continue Reading »
Dear Colleagues letter regarding mandatory furloughs
Posted by glick on 26 Jun 2009 | Tagged as: Budget, Communications, Our Community, University
I sent the following correspondence to the campus. It dealt with a number of topics, including information on upcoming mandatory state furloughs. Text is below.
June 26, 2009
Dear Colleagues,
The Nevada State Legislature concluded its work on June 2. While the final budget is certainly not what we desire and need for the future, we are nonetheless grateful to the legislators for their efforts which will allow the Nevada System of Higher Education to continue serving the basic needs of the state. Although the legislature and regents have given us substantial freedom in how we manage the 15 percent budget cut ($33 million in each of the next two fiscal years), they did mandate salary reductions through the use of classified furloughs and unpaid leave for professional staff. While we regret the use of a mandate, we must follow the law. As we go into the next year, we will continue to count on the advice and support you have provided us during the past few years. Continue Reading »