The Biden administration extended a pause on federal student loan repayments through Aug. 31, a welcome relief for many Nevadans. At 18 percent, the state has one of the highest student loan default rates.

With just nine weeks left before the end of the fiscal year, Officer in Charge Crystal Abba told regents that there was “absolutely no way” to balance the budget before the end of the fiscal year in June. 

New poll results show a plurality of voters favor increasing teacher pay as the single action that could have the greatest effect on Nevada’s low-ranking public school system. 

Emails obtained by The Nevada Independent through public records requests shed new light on the internal debates within the Board of Regents and the NSHE leadership over how to handle the increasingly divisive political football of a COVID vaccine mandate.

The agreement, effective as of Friday, includes a lump sum $610,000 severance payment, or roughly half of the value of the two-and-a-half years remaining on her original contract

The announcement came by way of a public meeting agenda posted late Monday afternoon that includes details of a possible resignation agreement to buyout roughly half of Rose’s remaining contract, or $610,000. 

Tuesday’s announcement follows a pledge by Sisolak during a rare, off-year State of the State address to explore new ways to implement free community college or provide more free training programs by 2025. 

Amid a turbulent few months for the governing board of the state’s higher education system, multiple candidates have filed to run in every one of the open seats on the Board of Regents.

Part of a three-day trip touring and speaking at community colleges, community health clinics and local businesses in the West, Biden’s visit to Nevada highlighted efforts of the American Rescue Plan to invest in community colleges and develop the American workforce.

As the shortage persists, the role of teacher education programs — from traditional undergraduate degrees to specialty courses such as the one offered by UNLV — has come under the spotlight. 

The move elevates two regents, Cathy McAdoo and Patrick Carter, back to their positions as chair and vice chair, after the pair temporarily stepped down from their leadership positions in November.

Four major business groups and one of Nevada’s largest group of unions issued a letter Tuesday asking the state ethics board to investigate the conduct of two leaders on the Board of Regents.

“It’s not necessarily that the individual is insubordinate or not willing to comply with the plan – they might not be able to do so,” said Nick Burpee, a first-year medical student.

The allegation comes as the latest serious rift between members of the higher education system’s governing board and its top administrative executive.   

Politicians and health officials wonder when the population might reach herd immunity — a feat that could be difficult to accomplish considering recent polling showing more than a fifth of Nevadans say they will not get the vaccine.

The new reality presented by the Omicron variant has tested every facet of the university apparatus and strained relationships between some faculty and administrators. 

As students at every level know well, the cost of college is not just tuition and fees and books. It’s also housing and food, utilities and transportation, adding up to thousands — often tens of thousands — in expenses that must be covered by a varied mix of part-time jobs and, at the graduate level, graduate assistantships. 

No student mandate will be in place ahead of the start of the spring semester on Tuesday, after a panel of state legislators failed to approve emergency vaccine mandate regulations last month. 

As one Nevada college sought to fire a professor after he criticized a new remediation program, questions arose about the faculty discipline process and academic freedom itself.

The inaction came amid mounting concerns that the delay or revocation of terminations the day before they were planned would create “operational chaos” across all eight NSHE institutions.