# Nevada State 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. The university is a designated Minority Serving Institute, Hispanic Serving Institution, and Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Institution. Its main campus is located on a 509-acre (206 ha) site in the southern foothills of Henderson.

## History

In 1999, the Nevada Legislature created the Advisory Committee to Examine Locating a 4-Year State College in Henderson, Nev. In December 1999, the Nevada Board of Regents approved the establishment of Nevada State College.
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. 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. 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.
Opponents of the creation of Nevada State College feared at the time that its creation would take resources from UNLV. 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."
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 raised environmental concerns as it was approximately one mile from a toxic waste storage facility, which prompted the Nevada Board of Regents in 2001 to select the college's present day site located west of U.S. Highway 95 in what was once the Wagon Wheel Industrial Park. 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. 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 $16 million to help construct the first campus building."
Nevada State College opened in 2002. The college acquired accreditation, moved with its master plan for a 509-acre (2.06 km$^2$) campus, and its first permanent building, the Liberal Arts and Sciences building, opened in August 2008. 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.
Among the different educational institutions of the NHSE, 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%. Students protested the cuts which left student services understaffed and about 25% of the university's teaching and administrative positions vacant in 2008. 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 NHSE programs and schools.
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.
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.

## Campus

Nevada State University's 509-acre (206 ha) site is located at the base of the McCullough mountain range in the southeastern corner of Henderson. 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.
The college opened its first permanent building, the Liberal Arts & Sciences Building, on its 509-acre site in August 2008. The 42,000-square-foot (3,900 m$^2$) 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.
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 Roger's 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.
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.

## 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. 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.
Nevada State College 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 College, then transfer to Touro University for the final two years.

### 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.

## Athletics

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.