For nearly a week, the Board of Regents governing the Nevada System of Higher Education (NSHE) has been thrust into national culture wars after one regent’s remarks about transgender athletes drew national media attention and spurred calls this week for his resignation. 

The move comes after several members of an internal advisory committee and a handful of regents expressed concerns that none of the three candidates selected as finalists by an outside search firm had the necessary higher education or Nevada-specific experience needed for a new permanent chancellor. 

The fee is the first of its kind in Nevada, and has been billed by employees of the newspaper and other advocates as a means to fund the outlet in the long term without the need to rely directly on advertising, university administrators or the undergraduate student government. 

The move comes after an internal system task force raised concerns earlier this year that the mandate, as written, did little to account for the need for booster shots meant to combat the Omicron variant. 

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 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.

The investigation also found that some of the circumstances raised by the chancellor’s complaint, which was filed in October, reflect an “inappropriate professional environment,” and in some cases may also have violated the ethics code.

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

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. 

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. 

A vote by regents and a judicial ruling made Friday could extend both mandates well into next year.

In separate votes, the board voted 7-4 to name Regent Carol Del Carlo as new chair pro tempore and Regent Amy Carvalho as vice chair pro tempore.

The Board of Regents voted 10-3 on Thursday to approve a wide-reaching higher education employee vaccine mandate, giving more than 5,000 unvaccinated employees until Dec. 1 to either get vaccinated or, barring limited exceptions, have their employment terminated. 

Though the governor's office confirmed Friday that NSHE employees were included in a new policy for state employees requiring vaccination or weekly tests, the status of a possible student mandate remains unknown.

The Board of Regents voted Thursday to approve the appointment of DeRionne Pollard as Nevada State College’s eighth president, marking the end of a year-long search to replace outgoing President Bart Patterson.

Three new members appear poised to join the Clark County School Board of Trustees, and an incumbent will likely be returning for a second term.

Some issues they likely will have to deal with — ranging from changes that may come with the outcome of Ballot Question 1, which will determine whether the elected board is put under the oversight of the Legislature per Assembly Joint Resolution No. 5 to unknown consequences from the continuing pandemic — are yet to be seen.

The long delay in reporting was a result of Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske’s decision to hold a mostly all-mail election in an effort to mitigate potential spread of COVID-19, with limited in-person voting sites in each county. Most voters opted to use a mail-in ballot, with only around 7,800 people opting to cast their ballot in-person.

Though the winners won’t have to deal with the most direct tough calls from the pandemic, whoever is elected as regent will make vital decisions about budget cuts and leadership appointments of the seven higher education institutions and Desert Research Institute over their six-year term as they determine how to jump back on the upward pre-pandemic stride.