Fain, Scaduto Promoted in Administrative
Reorganization
Master of
Social Work Program Gains Full Accreditation
Law School
Receives Largest Gift Pledge in Nevada History
College of
Business Introduces Redesigned MBA Program
Bennett,
Hicks Receive UNLV Alumni Association Awards
Miller
Receives 1998 Nevada Professor of the Year Award
John
Robinson Named UNLV'S Eighth Head Football Coach
UNLV Athletics
to Join Mountain West Conference in 1999
UNLV President Carol C. Harter recently announced the reorganization of the university's finance and administration unit and the promotion of two top-level administrators.
Juanita Fain, formerly the dean of enrollment management, has been named UNLV's new vice president for administration. George Scaduto, formerly the assistant vice president for budgets and sponsored programs, has been named interim vice president for finance.
The reorganization came after the resignation of Norval Pohl, UNLV's
former vice president for finance and administration, who recently
accepted a position as provost and executive vice president at the
University of North Texas.
In addition to her former duties, Fain is now also responsible for the areas of student financial services, human resources, diversity initiatives, and facilities management. Scaduto's duties have been expanded to include oversight of the offices of grants and contracts, controller, disbursements, payroll, bursar, purchasing, and the Thomas & Mack Center.
"I'm pleased to announce that these two very competent individuals have stepped forward to accept these positions of great responsibility," said Harter. "I have the utmost confidence in their abilities to guide their respective units with success."
Prior to joining the UNLV administrative team in 1996, Fain served as associate vice president for administration at Ohio University. She previously had held several positions there, including that of director of student financial aid and scholarships.
She holds a doctorate in higher education administration from Ohio University, a master's degree in educational psychology from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, and a bachelor's degree in psychology from Knoxville College. She also attended the Management Development Program at Harvard University.
Scaduto has served in several capacities since joining the university in 1991, including associate controller, controller, and, most recently, assistant vice president for budgets and sponsored programs. Previously, he held the positions of chief accountant and associate chief accountant at the State University of New York at Stony Brook and college accountant at the State University of New York at Old Westbury.
He holds an MBA from Dowling College and a bachelor's degree in accounting from the State University of New York at Old Westbury.
The master of social work program at UNLV has received full accreditation from the Council on Social Work Education.
The program originally had been fully accredited but was placed on conditional accreditation in June 1997 because of some concerns expressed by the accrediting agency. The School of Social Work then set about addressing those concerns. Recently, the council voted to reinstate full accreditation for a period of eight years, retroactive to the start of fall semester.
The bachelor's degree program in social work has been fully accredited since 1974, said Esther Langston, director of the School of Social Work. The conditional accreditation did not apply to the bachelor's program.
"Accreditation is vital to students because social work is a licensed profession, and in many states students cannot take the licensing exam unless they have graduated from an accredited program," Langston said. "However, it is important to understand that in UNLV's case, our social work students who graduated in 1997 could sit for a licensing exam because the master's program was accredited, although on a conditional basis.
"Conditional accreditation means the Council on Social Work Education identified some specific program concerns, and we were given a year to address those concerns," she said. "We completed the process successfully because of the strong commitment we received from the provost, dean of the college, and the faculty and staff working as a team.
"The changes we made included restructuring our curriculum, hiring additional faculty members, and strengthening the admission and advising process," Langston said. "These changes have definitely improved our program."
UNLV has received the largest charitable gift pledge in Nevada history from James E. Rogers and the Rogers family for the new William S. Boyd School of Law.
The donation, given through the UNLV Foundation, is a combination of an outright gift and pledges of future support that will total more than $28.5 million, UNLV President Carol C. Harter announced recently.
"Mr. Rogers' extremely generous gift will help us create one of the finest public law schools in the West," said Harter. "He is an outstanding business and community leader who has proven many times that he places an enormous value on higher education."
Rogers, a prominent Las Vegas attorney, founded Valley Broadcasting Company in 1971 and has served as CEO of KVBC-TV (Channel 3) in Las Vegas since 1979. He is also the principal owner of Sunbelt Communications Company, which owns and operates NBC-affiliate television stations in Nevada, Arizona, California, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming.
"Education, especially my legal education, enabled me to succeed in business, and I want to share that success with future generations of students," Rogers said. "You can only create an exceptional law school if you have the money necessary to keep tuition low and attract outstanding faculty and students. It is also a privilege to help create the Louis Wiener Jr. Law Library to honor the memory of my longtime friend and partner."
Rogers and his wife, Beverly, are active supporters of education and have made substantial contributions to various colleges and universities in Nevada, Arizona, Idaho, and Montana.
"Jim Rogers is a true philanthropist, one who is setting a wonderful example for others to follow. This commitment will provide significant enhancements to the Boyd School of Law over the next several years. It will help us to build the great law school that this community deserves," said law school Dean Dick Morgan.
UNLV's College of Business has launched a redesigned master of business administration program in an effort to better meet the needs of today's businesses.
Among the many changes in the MBA program are an increased emphasis on teamwork, a greater emphasis on international studies, and the offering of a number of concentrations in areas such as entrepreneurship and health care administration.
And plans for further changes, such as joint degree offerings with other colleges at UNLV, including perhaps the William S. Boyd School of Law and the Howard R. Hughes College of Engineering, are in the works. Another development that is in the planning stages is an executive MBA program that would allow students to earn their degrees by going to school only on weekends.
Nasser Daneshvary, the college's associate dean, said the previous MBA program was very good but had originally been designed many years ago for the business climate that existed at that time. While modifications had been made over the years to keep up with trends in the business community, the time had come for a major reworking of the program, he said.
"In the old days, for instance, people in the business field often specialized in a single area, such as accounting or marketing. Things were fairly compartmentalized," Daneshvary said.
"Today, a person's primary duties may be in the marketing area, but that person must know about many other aspects of the business as well if he or she wants to be competitive in the marketplace.
"The new program prepares students to succeed in today's business environment by providing them with the necessary skills, knowledge, and tools to become visionary and creative leaders," he said. "The program focuses on ethics and critical thinking, business communications, the role of the firm and its goals and markets, firms' strategic planning and positioning, value chain management approach, international business culture, technology management, integration of curriculum, and teamwork."
For more information on the MBA program, call 895-3655.
Gaming executive William G. Bennett and educator Pamela Hicks have been selected by the UNLV Alumni Association to receive the group's two most prestigious awards.
Bennett, who is the owner of the Sahara Hotel and Casino, was chosen as
the 1998 recipient of the Silver State Award. Hicks, who serves as an area
superintendent for the Clark County School District, was selected as the
1998 Alumna of the Year.
Bennett, who has spent more than 30 years in the gaming industry and is acknowledged as one of the pioneers of modern Las Vegas, began his career at Del Webb where he worked his way up from the ground level to one of the company's top executive posts in Nevada. In 1974, he and a partner purchased Circus Circus and established a reputation for providing quality food, lodging, and entertainment at value prices.
During his 20 years as chairman of Circus Circus Enterprises, he oversaw the opening of the Excalibur and Luxor properties. "Bill Bennett has been a dedicated supporter of UNLV, and we wanted to recognize him for his loyalty to the university," said Carl Cook, assistant director of alumni relations.
Upon receiving the award, Bennett said, "I would like to thank the university and the alumni association for honoring me with the Silver State Award for 1998. This community has given quite a bit to me over the years, and it is difficult for me to imagine a better way to give something back than by supporting UNLV. You can count on my continued support for valuable UNLV programs in the years to come."
Hicks, a former president of the alumni association, said she was
pleased to be chosen alumna of the year.
"There has been no greater reward for me than participating in and supporting the university that is responsible for the quality of life I enjoy today. Not only has UNLV given me a great education, but it has also given me some of life's most treasured assets. I met Ken, my husband of 30 years, at UNLV, and together we have a bright, beautiful daughter named Stephanie. Lifelong friendships were formed as I attended UNLV, and these have endured through the years. These extensions of family have provided enriching life experiences for me.
"I am truly honored the UNLV Alumni Association has selected me to receive the Alumna of the Year Award. For the association to acknowledge I have in some small way contributed to the university is a humbling experience," she said.
Hicks, who received a bachelor's degree in 1969 and a master of education degree in 1970, began her career with the school district as an English teacher at Western High School. She later taught at Bridger Junior High School before becoming a dean at Basic High School.
From there, she moved on to become assistant principal at Valley High School. She next served as principal of Guinn Junior High School and then became director of secondary curriculum for the school district.
"Pam has served the association and the university in so many ways over the years that it is difficult to recount them all," Cook said. "As association president, she was a true leader who worked hard on behalf of both alumni and students."
UNLV special education professor Susan Miller has been named the 1998 Nevada Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.
"It's wonderful to receive this honor, but I really see it as a recognition of the good work that all my colleagues and I in the College of Education have done as a team," said Miller, who joined the UNLV faculty in 1991.
The Professor of the Year program, which was started in 1981, salutes the most outstanding undergraduate instructors in the country. The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching sponsors an annual national competition from which the state winners are also selected.
Award recipients are selected on the basis of extraordinary dedication to undergraduate teaching, which is demon-strated by excellence in the following areas: impact on and involvement with undergraduate students; scholarly approach to teaching; service to undergraduate education in the institution, community, and profession; and support from colleagues and current and former undergraduate students.
In nominating Miller for the award, UNLV President Carol C. Harter described her as a "consummate classroom instructor" who received UNLV's Alex and Faye Spanos Distinguished Teaching Award for 1997-98.
Miller, who earned both her doctoral and master's degrees in special education from the University of Florida, received the Lilly Fong Distinguished Professor Award from UNLV's College of Education in 1996.
She is co-author of the Strategic Math Series of seven books designed for teachers to use when teaching math to students with learning disabilities. She has authored or co-authored six book chapters and 10 monographs related to instructional practices in special education. Also, she has authored or co-authored 45 refereed journal articles.
Former University of Southern California football coach John Robinson has been hired as UNLV's eighth head football coach, replacing Jeff Horton, who has accepted a post as quarterbacks coach with the University of Wisconsin after coaching at UNLV for five seasons.
Robinson will lead the Rebels into the 1999 season as the nation's sixth-winningest active coach with a career record of 104-35-4.
Robinson served as head football coach at USC during two different periods. His first stint as head coach began in 1976 and lasted seven seasons. During that time, USC captured the 1978 national championship.
The native of Daly City, Calif., headed to the National Football League in 1983 and coached the Los Angeles Rams until 1991. His nine years in the NFL produced six playoff appearances, including two trips to National Football Conference championship games.
In 1992 Robinson left the Rams to work as a television analyst before returning to USC for the 1993 season. His second term at USC lasted until 1997 and featured three bowl victories, including the 1996 Rose Bowl title against Northwestern.
He was named 1976 National Coach of the Year and is a two-time Pacific-10 Conference Coach of the Year.
UNLV, which is finishing its third year as a member of the Western Athletic Conference, announced recently that it will leave the league this summer to form the Mountain West Conference with seven other current WAC schools.
Joining the Rebels in the new conference will be the United States Air Force Academy, Brigham Young University, Colorado State University, the University of New Mexico, San Diego State University, the University of Utah, and the University of Wyoming.
Citing, among other issues, high travel expenses and a lack of rivalries associated with a 16-team league spread over five time zones, the eight schools felt it was in their best interest to form a smaller, more centrally located conference. The group will officially withdraw from the WAC June 30.
Former Sun Belt Conference Commissioner Craig Thompson has been named the first commissioner of the Mountain West Conference, which will be headquartered in Colorado Springs.
