By Vernon Robison
Moapa Valley Progress
Published August 6, 2008
MVCSN Committee Brainstorms To Keep Center Open The Moapa Valley Committee for the College of Southern Nevada met on Thursday, July 31 for a brainstorming session on ways to keep the Logandale center open. Due to the recent deep cuts in the state’s higher education budget, the local CSN center has been targeted for closure in June 2009.
“We have certainly mucked around the problems pretty well in recent weeks and have discussed what the consequences are going to be for the community,” said MVCSN Committee Chairman, John Pulver. “Now it is time for us to start to come up with innovative ideas to solve the problems.”
Pulver invited the group to participate in a rapid-fire brainstorm session to generate a number of viable strategies.
Attendees emphasized the need for the local CSN center to be seen as a completely self sufficient entity. “We need to sell ourselves as being as self-sufficient as we possibly can,” said Logandale resident, Brenda Cook. “We need to show how this center can successfully operate while minimizing the cost to the college.”
Another suggestion discussed various options to offer service for fees. These services could focus on areas like offering test proctoring services, expanding continuing education courses for various professionals, and offering more individual enrichment, non-credit classes.
Board members also proposed the idea of seeking corporate sponsorships to support the local center. Effort were discussed to raise the center’s $58,000 budget in the business community and among private individuals. Pulver suggested that such an effort might focus on smaller donations.
MVHS Principal, Grant Hanevold, talked about the possibility of an even deeper partnership level with the High School. Currently there are 121 CSN courses that MVHS juniors and seniors have registered for as part of next year’s academic schedule. Hanevold explains that this arrangement with CSN indirectly benefits the High School. Having those students leave the MVHS campus to go to CSN for classes effectively lowers class sizes on campus, he said.
“In a way, these students are getting their education on CSN’s dime,” Hanevold said. “I’m not paying a teacher to teach them.”
But under the new MVHS empowerment plan, Hanevold is given the discretion to do things like hold back a teaching position at the school. He could then convert that to about $50,000 in funding that could be used in whatever would best further the school’s empowerment goals. Hanevold said that it might be possible to do this and funnel the money over to the local CSN center to keep the partnership program alive.
To do this, though, Hanevold said he would want to make sure that it would really solve the problem. “We need to know from CSN just exactly what we need to do that would keep the center open,” Hanevold said. “If we provide $60,000 will they keep us open or will it take more than that.”
“It would be best if we had that in writing from CSN,” Hanevold added. “So that, as we go about privatizing our public education out here, we’ll know just how much private money we need to raise for our public education to fly.”
Local CSN coordinator, April Krell also suggested that the committee also develop an escape hatch strategy as well. “If all else fails, and they close the center anyway, we need to be able to take our business elsewhere,” Krell said.
Pulver proposed that three subcommittees be formed to move forward. One subcommittee would have the job of finding out exactly how much funding would be required and where it would be needed. The second subcommittee would be charged with actually raising the funds needed. The third committee would create a long-term plan for the future of the CSN center in Logandale.
Pulver envisioned a wide community participation in these subcommittees. “I don’t think that we want to limit participation in this just to the members of the MVCSN committee,” he said. “I’d like to get ideas from the community at large and I hope that many people in the community will get involved.”
