MARK WAITE / PVT Jim Rogers, chancellor for the Nevada System of Higher Education, leans against the wall as he speaks to proponents of a Pahrump college at the Pahrump Valley Winery Monday. MARK WAITE / PVT Richard Carpenter, president of the Community College of Southern Nevada, delivers results of a survey of Nye County employers on higher education in Nevada to attendees at a luncheon at the Pahrump Valley Winery Monday. Advertisement

Jim Rogers, chancellor of the Nevada System of Higher Education, recently told local advocates for a college campus in Pahrump that he'll support the proposal in front of the Nevada Legislature if a survey of the community conducted by a qualified firm demonstrates the need.

Rogers said one problem is what to do with the Pahrump Valley Center, which opened in 2001. He doesn't want the state to be saddled with two buildings.

A proposed 20,000-square-foot campus would be located in the southeast corner of Pahrump Valley, east of State Highway 160 near Manse Road, near the proposed Focus Property Group and Hafen family developments.

"Are we going to move the whole college out of that building and into a new building?" Rogers asked, during a luncheon with local officials at the Pahrump Valley Winery. "I can't say to the Board of Regents we're going to abandon a $5 million building we built five or six years ago, because there's going to be a lynching."

Nye County School Board President Debbie Wescoatt countered, telling the chancellor, "If you leave that building, it reverts to the Nye County School District, and we could use that building."

The Pahrump Valley Center is used by both Pahrump Valley High School and Great Basin College. The building is located in front of the high school on Calvada Boulevard. The Pahrump campus recently reverted from the Community College of Southern Nevada to Great Basin College.

Vicki Hafen Scott, a major proponent of the college proposal, said pessimistically, "The chances of much happening in Pahrump in terms of a physical plant in the next four to five years is slim." She asked, and received, a commitment from Rogers for his support if places can be found to hold college courses.

A problem with previous legislation involving the Pahrump college was a "colored question" about funding a proposed college next to the Hafen's property, Rogers said.

"Will it help if we now tell them it's the Focus Group out of Vegas? Will that help then?" Scott asked. The Focus Property Group owns 900 acres just to the south of the proposed college site.

It's a real inconvenience for students who want to live at home in Pahrump, then drive to Las Vegas to attend school, she said.

Scott pushed for Rogers' support in acquiring 280 acres from the U.S. Bureau of Land Management for the college.

Thalia Dondero, a member of the Nevada Board of Regents, suggested asking the U.S. Department of the Interior for money to build a college from the sale of lands under the Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act. The act sets aside 10 percent of the proceeds of land sales for education. Dondero said her board could make that inquiry.

Bob Swadell, another Pahrump college promoter, said the county put up $2 million of the cost of the Pahrump Valley Center, a commitment that would be equal to Las Vegas putting up $30 million.

Scott got Rogers to agree to take up the Pahrump college proposal before the capital improvements committee in the upcoming legislative session.

Rogers said he wants to see Pahrump and Nye County served with adequate higher education facilities, but not with bad short-term solutions.

"I don't want to get in a position where we redo everything every four or five years," Rogers said. "I'd like to see an analysis of what is out here."

Scott told Rogers, "There are some things (about which) you don't have accurate information."

Wescoatt said a new high school targeted for completion in 2009 would include a technical and vocational center.

Locations of higher educational institutions are often a question of politics, Rogers said.

When it came to building a health science center, State Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno, made him promise it wouldn't be moved to Las Vegas. When the Nevada State College was built in Henderson in 2002, some North Las Vegas students complained they couldn't pay for gas to drive across town to attend.

Rogers said political infighting between the eight institutions of higher learning in Nevada has ceased.

"We now have the presidents of UNLV and UNR speaking to each other," he said. "We're unified in attempting to build a statewide institution. We're not going to pit one school against another."

Rogers spent a great deal of time talking about his frustration with the budget in Carson City. He will compete for funds legislators want to use for prisons or roads.

"I nearly had a heart attack when I heard (Governor) Kenny Guinn was going to have a $300 million rebate last session," Rogers said, adding wistfully, "What higher education could've done with that $300 million."

Cooperation between the Board of Regents of CCSN and Great Basin College will help to define what Pahrump needs, Rogers said.

Richard Carpenter, CCSN president, had results of a Nye County employers' survey which showed 90 percent of the respondents were familiar with the Nevada higher education system and 82 percent were very likely to use higher education in Nevada for training.

The same three challenges surfaced in Pahrump as elsewhere in the state: a shortage of skilled workers, lack of affordable housing and the increased cost of health care. Affordable housing wasn't such an issue here however, Carpenter said.

The state needs to do more to bridge the gap between the 12 grades and higher education, he said.

Maureen Budahl, a member of the Great Basin College advisory board, said the system of dual credit courses, where Pahrump Valley High School students can study for college credit at the same time as high school, has been a good avenue to encourage students to believe they can succeed in college.

Jerry Hill, Nye County assistant superintendent of student achievement, said more than 300 high school students are currently enrolled in dual credit courses. The Dollars for Scholars program has helped them pay for the college credit courses, but Wescoatt said students in only one of the county's five high schools can take advantage of the program.

Nye County School Superintendent Rob Roberts said he'd like to see counseling services expanded to lower grades and in the more remote schools. Wescoatt said parents should be preparing to pay for college when their children are in the eighth grade.

"I truly believe in America we have too much of a burden on the parents to provide an education for their children," Budahl said.

Dave Rencher, chief executive officer of Desert View Regional Medical Center, said the hospital would like to begin nursing programs, beginning with a certified nursing assistant, gradually moving up to a registered nurse.

"We have 130 individuals right now and more than two-thirds of them hold a degree from an institution of higher education and that's a criticality for us," Rencher said.

"We don't have enough of the higher services for these kids to even go into the health care industry," Wescoatt said.

Swadell said $300,000 was originally earmarked for a science lab at the Pahrump Valley Center. It was only recently built.