Nevada State University

Template:Short description Template:Use American English Template:Use mdy dates Template:ForTemplate:Redirect Template:Infobox university Nevada State University (NSU), formerly Nevada State College, is a public college in Henderson, Nevada, United States. It is part of the Nevada System of Higher Education and opened on September 3, 2002, as Nevada's first state college.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The university is a designated Minority Serving Institute, Hispanic Serving Institution, and Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Institution.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Its main campus is located on a Template:Convert site in the southern foothills of Henderson.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

History

In 1999, the Nevada Legislature created the Advisory Committee to Examine Locating a 4-Year State College in Henderson, Nev.<ref name="reviewjournal.com">Template:Cite web</ref> In December 1999, the Nevada Board of Regents approved the establishment of Nevada State College.<ref name="reviewjournal.com"/>

In February 2000, the committee recommended the new institution be named Nevada State College at Henderson. The committee members determined Henderson should be part of the official name as they felt additional state colleges would be created in the state.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Later that month, the Henderson City Council, after having evaluated several potential sites, voted to locate Nevada State College northeast of Lake Mead Drive and Boulder Highway that was to be part of The LandWell Company's Provenance master-planned community.<ref name="flan">Template:Cite web</ref> In March, James Rogers, owner of several television stations and later chancellor of the Nevada System of Higher Education, agreed to chair the college's foundation.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Opponents of the creation of Nevada State College feared at the time that its creation would take resources from UNLV.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> However, proponents of the college argued the "proposed college would be up to $3,000 cheaper than educating them at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. The savings would come from smaller salaries for professors, who would teach four classes (per semester), rather than the three or fewer taught by UNLV professors."<ref>Patton, N. (January 4, 2001). Report urges state to fund new college. Review-Journal, p. 8B.</ref>

In April 2000, the Board of Regents voted 8–3 to begin negotiations for the Boulder Highway / Lake Mead site despite some concerns that the site was near a permanent toxic waste storage facility. The original site of the college, first proposed in 2000 and on approximately 300 acres northeast of Lake Mead Drive and Boulder Highway near downtown Henderson<ref name="flan"/> raised environmental concerns as it was approximately one mile from a toxic waste storage facility,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> which prompted the Nevada Board of Regents in 2001 to select the college's present day site<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> located west of U.S. Highway 95 in what was once the Wagon Wheel Industrial Park.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Whaley, S. (April 7, 2000). Regents vote to negotiate for land. Donrey Capital Bureau, p. 1B.</ref> In June 2000, the Regents requested $5.2 million for start-up costs for the campus and $7 million for instruction costs for its first cohort of students in 2002-03 as well as $43.5 million for capital construction which was to include a library.<ref>Vogel, E. (June 24, 2000). Henderson funding irks some regents. Donrey Capital Bureau, p. 1B.</ref> Nevada Gov. Guinn's 2001-2003 executive budget, which was developed later in 2000, reduced the Regents' request by recommending "$22.8 million in state funding, 6.8 million to open it to 1,000 full-time students in the fall of 2002, and $16 million to help construct the first campus building."<ref>Whaley, S. (March 22, 2001). Lawmakers to hear pitch for college site. Donrey Capital Bureau, p. 1B.</ref>

Nevada State College opened in 2002. The college acquired accreditation, moved with its master plan for a Template:Convert campus, and its first permanent building, the Liberal Arts and Sciences building, opened in August 2008.<ref name="ktvn.com">http://www.ktvn.com/Global/story.asp?S=8858497 Nevada State College Moves to New Building</ref> In 2008 Nevada State College launched a campus-wide recruitment and retention initiative. Between the Spring 2009 and Spring 2010 semesters, Nevada State College increased enrollment by over 20%, to over 2,600 students.<ref>Las Vegas Review-Journal http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/budgets-shrinking-enrollments Accessed March 24, 2010.</ref>

Among the different educational institutions of the NSHE, the largest 2009 budget cuts by the state legislature were for Nevada State College at 24.1%. Neighboring College of Southern Nevada had its budget cut by only 4.9%.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Students protested the cuts<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> which left student services understaffed<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and about 25% of the university's teaching and administrative positions vacant in 2008.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Nevada System of Higher Education faced a $900 million budget deficit and there were proposals to close down Nevada State College along with other NSHE programs and schools.<ref name=grim>Template:Cite news</ref>

DeRionne Pollard became Nevada State University's eighth president on August 16, 2021. She was the first Black female president within the Nevada System of Higher Education.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In March 2023, the Nevada Legislature introduced legislation to change the school's name from Nevada State College to Nevada State University. The legislation passed that June; the name change took effect on July 1, 2023.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Presidents

The following persons served as president:<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Template:Abbr	Image	President	Term start	Term end	Template:Abbr
1		Richard Moore	December 1999	March 2002
interim		Christine Chairsell	April 2002	August 2002
2		Kerry Romesburg	September 2002	June 2004	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
interim		Patricia Miltenberger	July 1, 2004	January 31, 2005	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
6		Fred Maryanski	February 1, 2005	July 2, 2010Template:Efn	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
interim		Lesley Di Mare	August 27, 2010	October 31, 2011	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
interim		Bart Patterson	November 1, 2011	April 30, 2012	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
7			April 30, 2012	June 30, 2021	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
8		DeRionne P. Pollard	August 16, 2021	July 31, 2025	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="nshe-2025jul16">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
actingTemplate:Efn		Amber Lopez Lasater	August 1, 2025	October 17, 2025	<ref name="nshe-2025jul16"/>
actingTemplate:Efn			October 18, 2025	present	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Table notes: Template:Notelist

Campus

Nevada State University's Template:Convert site is located at the base of the McCullough mountain range in the southeastern corner of Henderson.<ref name="nsc.nevada.edu">Nevada State College. (2010, March 2010). Nevada State College Campus Master Plan. http://nsc.nevada.edu/MPDraft.asp Template:Webarchive</ref> The site was conveyed from the Bureau of Land Management to the city of Henderson in November 2002 as part of the Clark County Conservation of Public Lands and Natural Resources Act of 2002.<ref>Miller, V. (November 11, 2002). College gets land, needs cash. Las Vegas Business Press, p. 1.</ref><ref>Clark County Conservation of Public Land and Natural Resources Act of 2002 (PL 107-282, November 6, 2002)</ref>

The college opened its first permanent building, the Liberal Arts & Sciences Building, on its 509-acre site in August 2008.<ref name="ktvn.com"/> The Template:Convert building has faculty offices, labs and seven classrooms. The building includes SMART classroom technologies which allow professors to use a wide array of audio and visual teaching techniques, and scientific equipment for educational use.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In addition to the Liberal Arts and Sciences Building, NSU has also opened the Bob and Allison Kasner Academic Building (formerly known as Nursing, Science, and Education) along with the James E. and Beverly Rogers Student Center. The future Christenson Education Building and the Student Village dorm buildings are currently under construction. NSU currently leases the Dawson building on Nevada State Dr. which was originally the only building when the college opened, and purchased the J. Russell and Carol Raker Student Success Center on Paradise Hills Dr. which contains the financial aid office and student advising. NSU no longer leases two auxiliary buildings in downtown Henderson on Water Street.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2010, the Nevada Board of Regents approved the college's campus master plan, which calls for the development of roughly six million square feet of academic, residential, retail, and cultural space by full campus build-out in order to accommodate 25,000-30,000 students.<ref name="nsc.nevada.edu"/>

Academics

NSU offers one Master's degree, the Master of Education in Speech Language Pathology, and many bachelor's degree programs. In the Fall of 2008, Nevada State College launched Nevada's first bachelor of science degree in the education of the deaf and hard of hearing. The program addresses the deaf culture and its integration of deaf students into specific subject areas.<ref>Clark, D. (June 4, 2008). Nevada State College to train teachers of deaf. Henderson Home News, pp. 6A.</ref> The college's academic programs are housed in one of three schools: the School of Liberal Arts & Sciences, the School of Education, and the School of Nursing.<ref name="ReferenceA">Template:Cite web</ref>

Nevada State University also partners with Touro University to accommodate students in Occupational Therapy. Through the partnership, students complete three years of their bachelor's degree in Occupational Therapy Science at Nevada State University, then transfer to Touro University for the final two years.<ref>Master's degree now required for therapists. Green Valley Henderson View. (September 4, 2007). Retrieved from [1] Template:Webarchive</ref>

Accreditation

When it originally opened, Nevada State College operated under the accreditation of the University of Nevada, Reno. In 2011, Nevada State College received independent accreditation at the baccalaureate degree level from the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Athletics

Template:Main As of November 2024, Nevada State University was actively planning to launch a fully-fledged athletics program, to be funded through a proposed student fee. If approved by the state Board of Regents, the funds from the proposed fee would be used to fund a campus athletics and recreation center and the launch of two initial sports, women's flag football and men's track and field.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

External links

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