Proposed Henderson college to align with UNR

ELKO - In an apparent slap in the face of UNLV, the proposed state college in Henderson chose Friday to align with the University of Nevada, Reno to work for accreditation.

UNLV President Carol Harter said the decision was ''a bit of surprise and a disappointment.'' UNLV had offered to sponsor the state college, which is to start in the next two years.

Richard Moore, president of the Henderson school, said he wanted good working relationships with both universities.

The Henderson college would have joint programs with UNLV, but the prestigious job of sponsoring Henderson for accreditation should go to UNR, Moore said.

Harter said Moore never talked to her about joint programs, and she said UNR was not a logical choice because of its distance from Henderson and the fact it would be getting a new president.

At Friday's Board of Regents meeting in Elko, Regents Steve Sisolak and Tom Kirkpatrick, both of Las Vegas, objected to bypassing UNLV. Sisolak said this creates a ''morale and image problem'' and called it a ''step in the wrong direction.''

Sisolak said it will make UNLV and Henderson competing schools.

Kirkpatrick said it was ''ludicrous'' to select UNR as the sponsoring institution.