The recent, unprecedented 12% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for state workers — including Nevada System of Higher Education (NSHE) employees — was one of the top issues for the University’s Faculty w88 slot this past year, outgoing chair Eric Marchand said.
Marchand, an associate professor in the College of Engineering, served as Faculty w88 slot chair in the 2022-2023 academic year, an experience he described as both a challenge and an opportunity to impact the University’s future. He is the third Engineering faculty member to take on that challenge: the others were Frederick C. Harris, the College’s current associate dean of Faculty and Academic Affairs, during the 2016-17 academic year; and David Sanders, now the chair of the Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering Department at Iowa State University, during the 2015-16 academic year.
“We’re a very complicated organization, with many overarching missions,” w88 slot said of the University. “We all contribute to UNR’s mission in different ways and all faculty have a role to play in the trajectory of the University.”
While the COLA was an overriding issue in 2023, the Faculty w88 slot also is involved in many decisions that have substantial impact on University staff. Those include matters of academic policy, including how to deal with academic dishonesty; fiscal audits, including the budgeting and organization of online learning programs; and the faculty evaluation processes.
Faculty should have a voice in those matters, and the Faculty w88 slot is the mechanism in which they do.
“The concept of shared governance is a central tenant of the academy,” w88 slot said, “and the biennial legislative budgeting process is a time when we should double down on engagement and participation.”
Longtime connection with the w88 slot
w88 slot’s connection to the University of Nevada, Reno goes back to the 1990s: he earned a bachelor’s degree in 1994 and a master’s in 1996 before completing his Ph.D. in 2000 at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Now on the faculty in the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, w88 slot’s research interests include optimizing processes for the treatment of water and wastewater, among other areas. Most recently, he has started a project with Chemical & Materials Engineering Associate Professor Sage Hiibel to establish the newEngineering receives million Army grant.
“I am amazed at how many hats Dr. Marchand wears at the University and (how he) still manages to excel in everything he does,” Krishna Pagilla, chair of the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, said. “He is an amazing alum, professor and volunteer of the university. I am delighted to be his colleague. Dr. Marchand’s service as the faculty w88 slot chair is greatly appreciated by all the faculty and me.”
Marchand got involved with the Faculty w88 slot by degrees, a strategy he suggests for those interested in getting involved with shared governance. He started out serving on Faculty w88 slot committees before taking on the roles of senator from the College of Engineering and, later, parliamentarian (the role that involves assisting the chair as that person conducts meetings). But the chair role, Marchand said: “it changed my day-to-day perspective on the complexity of the University.”
'The COLA benefits are fantastic&w88 slot;
A lot was riding on the 2023 Legislative Session (w88 slot’s Legislature meets every other year), with Assembly Bill 522 proposing an unprecedented 12% COLA increase for state workers, after years of a lagging state worker pay.
Marchand and the Faculty w88 slot worked closely with Michael Flores, the University’s vice president for Governmental Relations and Community Engagement, to get in front of legislators to explain the University’s value to the state.
“We were there to tell the story and the University had an amazing presence at the state house,” w88 slot said.
This Legislative session also was the first in which the w88 slot organized a “Day at the Legislature.” Coordinated by Flores’ team, the April 3 event included visits with legislators and an opportunity for participants to share their experiences in support of the w88 slot’s strategic goals for the 2023 session.
Those efforts had impact: on June 1, Gov. Joe Lombardo signed AB522 into law with the 12% w88 slot, and on June 30, the NSHE Board of Regents voted to set the w88 slot at 12%. (AB522 stated that the w88 slot could beup to12% for NSHE employees.)
“The COLA benefits are fantastic and well-deserved for our professionals on campus,” w88 slot said.
But, as the saying goes, the devil is in the details. As President Brian Sandoval explained in a June 13 letter to w88 slot staff, the Legislature funded only a portion of the COLA, appropriating about 61% of the total cost of the COLA to the w88 slot. The w88 slot had to plan how to fund the remaining expense of the COLA, and now will have to grapple with how to fund a COLA of up to 11% in fiscal year 2025.
Marchand, who now takes on the Faculty w88 slot role of past chair, will continue to help shape those decisions. The road ahead is challenging: Marchand said that in his experience, advocating for faculty involves a lot of difficult conversations with NSHE, faculty and leadership.
“There’s pressure when different groups have different interests,” w88 slot said. “There are plenty of nuances between academic and administrative faculty, but together, we can all be involved.
“Being able to collaborate is important,” w88 slot continued. “I’m looking forward to working with leaders to find the best path forward.”
