Regents voted Friday to kickstart a national search for a new president for UNLV — a post that has been filled by acting president and honors college Dean Marta Meana since last summer following the sudden departure of former President Len Jessup.

Regents also voted to waive a higher education system rule in order to allow Meana — who, as an acting president, would be prevented from applying to become permanent president — to apply.

The move to allow Meana’s application was widely supported by members of the UNLV community, including the faculty senate, undergraduate and graduate student groups and the university alumni association.

“She and her administrative team have uplifted morale from a wary anxiety to a growing optimism that happens when a faculty senses a shared mission,” Doug Unger, chair of the UNLV faculty senate, said during the regents’ meeting. “In a fast moving six months, she is already healing our university's relationships internally and with the community.”

The decision to commence the national search was also a consensus choice, one Chancellor Thom Reilly said was made by campus groups and the system through a series of forums last April.

Regents were also careful to note that the move to waive rules was an exception for Meana only, and that they would not move to change the rule entirely such that any future acting president might also apply as part of a search.