The Nevada Faculty Alliance thanks Governor Sisolak and the Interim Finance Committee for approving repayment of faculty and staff furlough salary cuts in Spring 2021, and has sent a letter of thanks to the NSHE System and NSHE Payroll Services at Business Center North for processing the repayments on an accelerated schedule to get the checks out today (Dec. 23), before the winter break. The NFA has advocated for compensation and benefits cuts to be restored using federal American Rescue Plan Act funds for many months, since the federal funds were announced in March-April 2021. 

The NFA congratulations and welcomes the newly elected members of the Board of Regents.  We look forward to working with them in our mission to empower faculty members to help students succeed, to advance affordable higher education, to promote academic freedom and shared governance, and to use collective bargaining to help achieve these goals.

• RD 6  Heather Brown
• RD 7 Susan Brager
• RD 8 Shelly Crawford
• RD 11 Jeffrey Downs
• RD 13 Stephanie Goodman

For members' convenience, we have collected the responses of the winning candidates to our pre-election questionnaire here:

New Regents' Responses to 2022 NFA Candidate Questionnaire

While we don't agree with every position of every new Regents, we know they all support higher education as a common good and we appreciate that they have all engaged with the NFA.

Final election results:

University Board of Regents, District 6

Candidate	Votes
Brown, Heather (NP)	44,477 (62.6% )
Dakduk, Jeanine (NP)	26,569 (37.4% )
Total Votes	71,046

University Board of Regents, District 7

Candidate	Votes
Brager, Susan (NP)	41,710 (58.4% )
Crete, David "Coach" (NP)	29,764 (41.6% )
Total Votes	71,474

University Board of Regents, District 8

Candidate	Votes
Crawford, Michelee "Shelly" (NP)	38,307 (54.1% )
Rice, John Patrick (NP)	32,485 (45.9% )
Total Votes	70,792

University Board of Regents, District 11

Candidate	Votes
Downs, Jeffrey (NP)	34,560 (54.1% )
Laden, Steve (NP)	29,350 (45.9% )
Total Votes	63,910

University Board of Regents, District 13

Candidate	Votes
Goodman, Stephanie (NP)	42,091 (60.6% )
Moran, John (NP)	27,366 (39.4% )
Total Votes	69,457

The Nevada Faculty Alliance Political Action and Governmental Relations committees have vetted candidates for office in the 2022 General Election through questionnaires, interviews, and other research. The NFA-PAC endorses candidates who share our values and who support higher education as a common good, college and university affordability, academic freedom, and faculty rights including collective bargaining.  Please vote for our endorsed candidates!

2022 NFA Endorsement List (pdf)

For further information about individual candidates, you can view their responses to NFA's candidate questionnaires:

• Statewide and Federal Offices
• Board of Regents
• Nevada Assembly and Senate

Mail-in ballots are distributed in early to mid-October (depending on county), early voting is October 22 to November 4, and Election Day is November 8.

What's My District? (Address Lookup)

Check or update voter registration

UPDATE: 2022 NFA Endorsements

The Nevada Faculty Alliance sent a questionnaire to candidates for Nevada Assembly and Nevada Senate.  Their responses to questions about higher education and faculty issues  are in the table linked below.  We encourage NFA members to consider candidates' positions on higher education when you decide how to vote in the general election.  

What's My 2022 District? (address look-up)

Legislative Candidate Response Table (pdf)   (updated 9/11/2022)

The table is ordered by Assembly District number, then Senate District number.  Blank boxes indicate no response for that question. Missing candidates mean they have not responded to our questionnaire.

UPDATE: 2022 NFA Endorsements

The Nevada Faculty Alliance sent questionnaires to major-party candidates for statewide and federal offices in Nevada.  We asked just a few questions on matters of importance for higher education and faculty. The candidates' responses are below. We encourage NFA members to take candidates' views on higher education issues, and their responsiveness to NFA's questionnaire, into account when making decisions for the General Election.

Governor

Steve Sisolak

Attorney General

Aaron Ford

Sigal Chattah

Secretary of State

Cisco Aguilar

Treasurer

Zach Conine

Controller

Ellen Spiegel

Congress District 1

Dina Titus

Congress District 3

Susie Lee

Look Up Your Congressional District Here

(Any additional responses will be posted when received.)

UPDATE: 2022 NFA Endorsements

***

The NFA gave each candidate for the Board of Regents in the general election an opportunity to revise or update their responses to our questionnaire for the primary election.  

Look up your Regent District here

Questionnaire Responses:

Regent District 6,  Heather Brown and Jeanine Dakduk (Henderson and southern Clark County)

Regent District 7, Susan Brager and David “Coach" Crete (western Las Vegas area, Summerlin) 

Regent District 8, Michelee "Shelly" Crawford and John Patrick Rice (Elko, Esmeralda, Lincoln, Nye, White Pine, and northern Clark counties)

Regent District 11, Jeffrey Downs and Steve Laden (Sparks, northern Reno, northern Washoe, Humboldt, and Pershing counties)

Regent District 13, Stephanie Goodman and John Moran (west Las Vegas, Red Rock Canyon)

Videos of forums with the candidates prior to the primary election are available at: https://www.nevadafacultyalliance.org/NewsArchive/12768874

The Nevada Faculty Alliance invited all candidates for the Board of Regents to candidate forums to hear from them about their qualifications and positions on issues of importance to faculty, students, and NSHE institutions.

Look up your Regent District here

Videos of the forums and written questionnaire responses are available here:

Regent District 6 Forum Video with Heather Brown and Karl Catarata (Henderson and southern Clark County) RD6 Questionnaire Responses

Regent District 7 Forum Video  with Susan Brager, David “Coach" Crete, M.J. Ivy, Hieu Le, Aury Nagy (western Las Vegas area, Summerlin) RD7 Questionnaire Responses

Regent District 8 Forum Video  with Jonathan Baltera, Michelee "Shelly" Crawford, Aaron Manfredi, Elmer Porter, John Patrick Rice, and Stacy Smith  (Elko, Esmeralda, Lincoln, Nye, White Pine, and northern Clark counties) RD8 Questionnaire Responses

Regent District 11 Forum Video with Jeffrey Downs, John Gwaltney,* and Steve Laden (Sparks, northern Reno, northern Washoe, Humboldt, and Pershing counties) RD11 Questionnaire Responses

Regent District 13--no forum (west Las Vegas, Red Rock Canyon). RD13 Questionnaire Responses (updated 5/24)

*Candidate Gwaltney's audio level is very low--raise your speaker volume to listen to his responses.

There are five seats on the Board of Regents up for election in 2022. The primary election is on June 14 with early voting starting May 28. The primary will narrow the field to two candidates for each race going forward to the general election in November--unless one candidate receives >50% of the vote in primary in which case that candidate is declared elected and there is no general election.

The Nevada Faculty Alliance Political Action Committee (NFA-PAC) sent a questionnaire regarding NSHE and faculty issues to each candidate's email address.  Sixteen of the 21 candidates have responded. Candidates' answers to our questions are provided in the documents linked below:

District 6 – southern Clark County

District 7 – western Las Vegas area, Summerlin

District 8 – Elko, Esmeralda, Eureka, Lincoln, Nye, White Pine, and northern Clark

District 11 – North Reno, Sparks, northern Washoe, Humboldt, Pershing 

District 13  (updated 5/24)– western Las Vegas area, Red Rock Canyon 

The NFA-PAC plans to conduct candidate forums and may choose to endorse candidates for regent. If you have questions you would like to ask at the forums or you have feedback on candidates for the NFA-PAC, please email Kent Ervin at kent.ervin@nevadafacultyalliance.org.

Petition for Safe NSHE Campuses

This is an open petition by faculty, staff, students, and family members of the Nevada System of Higher Education (NSHE), sponsored by the Nevada Faculty Alliance (www.NevadaFacultyAlliance.org).

PETITION TO Governor Sisolak, NSHE Chancellor Rose, Presidents Helens (GBC), Hilgersom (TMCC), Pollard (NSC), Sandoval (UNR), Whitfield (UNLV), and Zaragoza (CSN), Officer-in-Charge Dalpe (WNC), and members of the Legislative Commission of the 81st Legislature of the State of Nevada, the NSHE Board of Regents, the Nevada State Board of Health, and the NSHE COVID-19 Task Force:

● BECAUSE the shared goals of students, faculty, and staff of NSHE colleges and universities are to teach in person in a safe manner and to avoid another transition to remote instruction due to the COVID-19 pandemic;

● BECAUSE in August 2021 the Board of Health issued an emergency regulation to require proof of vaccination against COVID-19 for students registering for Spring 2022 classes; and subsequently the Board of Regents of the state of Nevada approved mandatory vaccinations for all NSHE employees as a condition of continued employment after December 31, 2021;

● BECAUSE on December 21, 2021, the Legislative Commission failed by a 6–6 vote to approve the Board of Health’s permanent regulation on vaccinations as a requirement for student attendance at NSHE institutions and thus allowed the student COVID-19 vaccination mandate to expire;

● BECAUSE widespread vaccination is the most effective way to prevent serious illness and death and to reduce transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, and because the available vaccines are remarkably safe and effective against all current variants, including the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine which has received full FDA approval (bit.ly/3enwNM9) and is thus no longer experimental;

● BECAUSE NSHE university students have long been required to show proof of immunization for other infectious diseases (with medical and religious exemptions), and, additionally, NSHE students who are not vaccinated are able to register for online or remote classes;

● BECAUSE 1,125 universities and colleges nationally as of 12/22/2021 (bit.ly/32nGxDR) are requiring proof of COVID-19 vaccinations for students and/or employees, many requiring boosters and robust testing protocols; 

● AND BECAUSE we are outraged that six legislators on the Legislative Commission put political considerations ahead of the sound advice of medical experts and ignored the clear statutory authority of the Board of Health over public health regulations, and have put the health and safety of NSHE students, faculty, and staff at increased risk of COVID-19 infection and have made our campuses less safe as workplaces and for in-person instruction.

Therefore, WE, the undersigned faculty, staff, students, and family members of the Nevada System of Higher Education:

● DEMAND that the student vaccination mandate be immediately reinstated for Spring 2022 classes, under the emergency powers of the Governor if necessary, following the advice of the Board of Health of the state of Nevada and the Governor’s medical team;

● DEMAND that the Legislative Commission reconvene to vote to accept the authority and the public health recommendations of the Board of Health in the interests of the increased health and safety of our NSHE campuses and the health and safety of the greater community of our state;

● DEMAND that the Board of Regents independently adopt the recommendations of the NSHE COVID-19 Task Force and the Board of Health to require vaccinations of all NSHE employees and of all NSHE students taking in-person classes (with allowances for medical and religious exemptions), and that the Board of Regents allow the colleges and universities to take all other appropriate public health measures;

● AND DEMAND that the Chancellor and Presidents implement strong, science-based measures against infection from COVID-19—including free surveillance and diagnostic testing, face-coverings, and permitting remote or online instruction and work—and that these measures be continued until the community risk from COVID-19 has been deemed by public health authorities to have subsided.

View signature list at https://forms.gle/7rnBaLasT1Ztu7Mc8 

Members of the NSHE Community Petition for a Safe Fall Semester

Open petition sponsored by the Nevada Faculty Alliance (www.NevadaFacultyAlliance.org)

Update: Over 1270 members of the NSHE community have signed this petition. This petition has been closed to new signatures. To view the signatures, please go to  at https://forms.gle/MV761ZDk5EpnWpXP8 .  [December 2021: A new Petition for Safe NSHE Campuses has been started.] 

To the members of the Nevada State Board of Health, the NSHE Board of Regents, Chancellor Melody Rose, and institutional Presidents:

• Full in-person instruction resumes at the colleges and universities of the Nevada System of Higher Education (NSHE) in August 2021 for the Fall semester.
• The shared goals of faculty, students, and the NSHE administration are to teach in-person in a safe manner and to avoid another transition to remote instruction due to the pandemic.
• The coronavirus delta variant has surged in Nevada leading to renewed indoor mask requirements for businesses and on NSHE campuses.
• Widespread vaccination is the most effective way to prevent serious illness and reduce transmission from all current variants of the coronavirus. The available vaccines are remarkably safe and effective.
• Over 650 universities and colleges nationally (https://bit.ly/3Ck5kFH), including large public education systems in many states experiencing lower transmission rates, are implementing mandatory vaccinations for students and/or faculty and staff, many under the Emergency Use Authorization without waiting for full FDA approval.
• Governor Sisolak has ordered state employees including NSHE faculty and staff to show proof of vaccination or else undergo weekly COVID testing (https://bit.ly/2VspFIr).
• As part of their employment duties, faculty and staff work with the much larger number of students in close quarters where social distancing is difficult and often impossible.
• Although faculty and staff will all be vaccinated (or tested weekly), the vaccine is not 100% effective, nor are masks, so the presence of unvaccinated students on campus, even if masked, will result in an entirely preventable transmission of this deadly disease from students to other students, faculty, and staff.
• The current spread of the delta variant has been described by the CDC as a pandemic of the unvaccinated (https://bit.ly/37kKfwG).
• Students tend to be in age groups with lower vaccinations rates (https://bit.ly/2VAfRvP).
• NSHE students are already required to show proof of immunizations for other diseases as a preventive public health measure (with exemptions for bona fide medical or religious reasons).
• Chancellor Rose issued a statement on May 6, 2021, indicating that NSHE was planning for mandatory vaccinations and that "NSHE is asking all students and their families to be prepared for this possibility.” (https://bit.ly/3rTYd2a)
• Full FDA approval of the Pfizer vaccine is reportedly expected imminently, within weeks.
• On August 2, 2021, NSHE legal counsel advised that only the State Board of Health is authorized to require vaccinations for NSHE university students. (https://bit.ly/2VmaAbw)

We, the undersigned members of the NSHE community, respectfully request the Nevada State Board of Health to consider mandatory vaccinations for college and university students based on sound medical evidence and to issue emergency regulations giving guidance and authorization to NSHE. We further request that NSHE and its institutions implement strong proven measures against the further spread of COVID-19 including mandatory student vaccinations until the community public health risk has subsided.

View signatures at https://forms.gle/MV761ZDk5EpnWpXP8