NFA State Board mourns the passing of Regent Lois Tarkanian |
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The State Board of the Nevada Faculty Alliance is saddened to learn of the death of Regent Lois Tarkanian. Dr. Tarkanian was a long-time advocate for education at all levels. She served with distinction on the NSHE Board of Regents since her election in 2016. The NFA appreciated her careful consideration of issues before the Board of Regents and her steadfast support of students and faculty.
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NFA legislative priorities taking shape |
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With the election season over, the Nevada Faculty Alliance is turning our attention to the 2025 Legislature that convenes on February 3rd. While collective bargaining rights for NSHE professionals remains our top priority, our efforts will also include COLA and improving benefits for faculty members and retirees. |
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Following a successful NFA campaign to mobilize faculty and persuade Regents to approve 12% FY24 and 11% FY 25 cost of living adjustments, the NFA will lobby at the Legislature for on-going COLAs to keep pace with inflation.
The NFA will also support anticipated NSHE requests for campus safety improvements and additional funding to make the transition to a new funding formula without reducing the budgets of some institutions. |
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PEBP decision on HMO/EPO elimination still on hold
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The Board of the Public Employees Benefit Program of Nevada has delayed a decision regarding the continuation of the EPO/HMO for a second time until their January 2025 meeting. |
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Originally scheduled for consideration at their September 26 meeting, the Board announced that they would delay their decision until November 21 following dozens of public comments, primarily from NSHE employees, objecting to the proposal to eliminate the health plan option. At that time, the Board directed staff to compile more information about enrollment and providers in the plans and to provide a detailed proposal for modifications to the low-deductible PPO plan if the HMO/EPO is eliminated. According to the PEBP's Executive Officer's report, the materials were not available in time, requiring the additional delay.
Concerns cited by faculty included losing long-time family medical providers, limited selection of specialty services in the preferred provider network, and substantially higher out-of-pocket expenses for special medical needs under both the high deductible and low deductible plans. The NFA encourages faculty to continue voicing your concerns to the PEBP Board to avoid losing this critical option. |
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Biannual campus climate surveys underway |
In order to enhance our programs, evaluate campus climates, and gather faculty concerns to guide our advocacy during the next legislative session, the NFA has sent an email invitation to all NSHE faculty members to participate in a confidential survey on SurveyMonkey. The Board of Regents, NSHE executives, and college administrators will all receive anonymized summaries of comments and the aggregate numerical findings. The results will also be shared with the public.
The survey is tailored for each campus and aims to measure faculty attitudes toward issues such as compensation and benefits, the effectiveness of the institution's administration, shared governance, academic freedom, and due process. You may view the results from the last set of surveys that were posted in February 2023.
Some faculty members have contacted NFA officers with concerns about the security of the invitations because their email systems flagged them as potential spam. SurveyMonkey is one of the leading platforms in the world, and links to the NFA survey are safe. The message was sent from info@nevadafacultyalliance.org. You may wish to check your spam/junk folder if the invitation didn't appear in your inbox. Those who deleted the message because of security concerns may email the NFA for a new link at stateboard@nevadafacultyalliance.org. |
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Proposed revisions to NSHE Code raise red flags |
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A proposal to modify policies in Title 2 of the Board of Regents Handbook is causing alarm among many NSHE professionals, particularly administrative faculty. Chapter 6, and Chapter 8 for DRI professionals, establish the policies for disciplining faculty members, including dismissal for cause.
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The proposal reassigns the final authority for hearing faculty appeals of dismissals to the Chancellor and away from the full Board of Regents. Because Title 2, otherwise known as "the Code," effectively carries the weight of law, the proposal must be presented at two meetings before a vote can be taken. The first reading is reportedly scheduled for the Board's next quarterly meeting on December 4th and 5th at UNLV.
Most faculty who responded to NFA's request for input expressed concern that the change will make the process for faculty appeals much more opaque and tilt the balance in favor of the administration. Although such appeals under the existing policy are taken up in a closed hearing of Regents during one of their meetings, Nevada's open meeting laws require the agenda to list the appeal and the hearing. The new policy will likely sidestep that requirement. Instead of 13 Regents considering the merits of an appeal, the decision will rest in the hands of one person, the Chancellor. It is our understanding that, in a meeting with the Council of Faculty Senate Chairs, the NSHE Chief General Counsel, James Martines, agreed to a slight modification in the proposal that will require the Chancellor to consult with the chairperson of the Board on such appeals but that doesn't change the decision-making authority.
While academic faculty find plenty of reasons to be alarmed by the changes, administrative faculty, who don't enjoy the benefits of tenure, expressed concern that the scant protections for them would be substantially eroded by this policy.
The NFA urges faculty members to express their concerns by contacting their Regents, submitting written comments, or appearing for public comments at the meeting next month. Besides the meeting location at UNLV's Student Union, public comments can be made at the NSHE Office in Reno, and at Great Basin College in Elko. |
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Collective bargaining proposal hinges on faculty support For more than three years, the NFA has been pursuing modifications to Title 4 Chapter 4 of the Board of Regents Handbook which governs collective bargaining at NSHE institutions. Originally written in 1975 to mirror state laws that govern collective bargaining for other state employees, and revised in 1990 to keep it up to date with those laws, the Chapter is now dramatically lagging those laws that have continued to evolve. In many cases, Board action regarding collective bargaining in the last three decades has not followed the policy. NFA officers have been working with the Council of Faculty Senate Chairs, seeking their endorsement for our proposal that is being required by the Board of Regents chair before she will add it to a Board agenda. In a meeting with the chairs on October 24, NFA President Jim New and Past President Kent Ervin worked to clarify misconceptions about the proposal and explained that the proposal has no impact on institutions with no collective bargaining units, including the two research universities. Nearly a month later, no action has been taken by the Council of Chairs, unfortunately. We urgently need the help of all NFA members to reach out to their senators and ask them to support our proposal so it can finally get a hearing before the Board of Regents. Encourage them to contact any NFA officer if they have questions, concerns, or suggestions.
READ MORE >> Collective bargaining policy update overdue |
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