Board Reassigns CCSN President to Classroom

LAS VEGAS—After two days of meetings, the Nevada Board of Regents tonight voted for the immediate removal of Dr. Ron Remington as president of the Community College of Southern Nevada. Dr. Remington, who is tenured, will be reassigned to the classroom.

The vote came late in the evening after more than 16 hours of closed-door meetings where Regents heard the results of a two-month independent investigation regarding allegations into personnel at CCSN. More than 1,000 pages of documentation were reviewed during the meetings held on Nov. 17 and 20.

According to the motion put forth by Regent Thomas Kirkpatrick, the action was taken due to Remington’s insubordination and failure to adhere to directives from the Board of Regents and Chancellor Jane Nichols.

The Board then approved a motion to appoint a temporary interim president for the nation’s fourth largest community college. A search for an interim president from outside of the college will begin immediately.

“This was an exhaustive process and a difficult decision was made,” said Board Chair, Dr. Stavros Anthony. “After hearing the results of the investigation, there was no doubt that decisive action was required.”

The Board also directed the community college’s interim president, or if a president is not selected soon, Chancellor Nichols to reassign John Cummings to a faculty position at CCSN and to prohibit him from holding any administrative position. The Board chair will select an independent special administrative code officer to review the investigation materials with respect to Cummings. If warranted, the code officer would be empowered to begin a Chapter 6 termination procedure for a tenured faculty member.

At the Board’s December 11-12 meeting, discussions will take place on whether or not full-time UCCSN employees should serve in the state legislature; how lobbying activities are handled with the state legislature; a review of controls for host expenditures for lobbyists and all UCCSN employees; and review hiring processes for all employees at UCCSN institutions.

In addition, the full report from the investigation will be forwarded to the Nevada Attorney General’s Office, the U.S. Attorney General, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The Nevada Board of Regents is the elected, 13-member governing body for the University and Community College System of Nevada. Comprising two doctoral granting universities, a state college, four comprehensive community colleges and one environmental research institute, the UCCSN serves the educational and job training needs of the nation's fastest growing state. As Nevada's only system of higher education, the UCCSN provides educational opportunities to more than 90,000 students.

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