Dean Al Stepping Down From Position At Reynolds School Of Journalism

By Emerson Drewes

Al Stavitsky, dean of the Reynolds School of Journalism, will be stepping down from his position as announced by Brian Sandoval, president of the University of Nevada, Reno, in an email announcement sent to students on Monday.

“I announce today that Al Stavitsky will be stepping down as dean of the Donald W. Reynolds School of Journalism,” said Sandoval in the email. “It is no exaggeration to say that the 11-year tenure of ‘Dean Al,’ as he is affectionately known by so many, has been on of record-setting achievement.”

Stavitsky will remain in his position until it is filled; after he will serve as a professor at the RSJ. According to the email, in his new position as a professor “he will be able to spend more time in the classroom” and continue his research.

“This is a bittersweet moment. I’m so proud of the Reynolds School and it’s been an honor to serve it as dean,” said Stavitsky in a statement sent to the Nevada Sagebrush. “However, I am also excited to get back to my

By Lizette Ramirez

The Associated Students of the University of Nevada went to the Nevada State Legislature on Feb. 20 to lobby for students rights and introduce bills they are writing with legislators help.

This is the first time students are advocating and communicating with legislators for bills to be written and passed. Amanda Vaskov, director of government affairs, arranged for students to visit legislators in Carson City.

ASUN is working on two bills. One bill is to target sexual misconduct on campus. Two years ago during the 2021 session — a similar bill Senate Bill 347 came up and it aimed to address sexual misconduct on campus but there were gaps in the implementation process.

“On an anecdotal level college students know that it’s an issue, right. But policymakers often need data to support that,” Vaskov explained.

This new bill is to ensure the provisions in SB 347 are enforceable. Another problem the 2021 bill encountered is NSHE institutions were supposed to conduct a climate survey to understand how bad sexual misconduct is on college campuses.

The survey wasn’t funded nor mandated, so no NSHE institution completed it. Vaskov’s goal is to fund the survey this year.

Vaskov explained the purpose of the new bill is to “ensure that the proper resources are provided to an individual who may report an instance of sexual misconduct to that service.” Selena Torres, Nevada legislator for District Three, is sponsoring this bill.

The second bill ASUN is working on focuses on establishing a regulatory structure for private student loan lenders and affirmative borrowers’ rights.

At the beginning of the day, Vaskov, Dionne Stanfill, president of ASUN, and Andrew Thompson, speaker of the senate, gave a presentation to the Government Affairs Committee.

In this presentation, Vaskov revealed about 6,700 students took out more than 81 million dollars in student loan disbursements in 2021 to 2022.

D’Silva Reuben, assembly legislator for District 28, asked the three representatives what the most difficult thing college students face today.

Vaskov replied with the cost of education.

In the 2021 session, it was bill SB 382 and it was the Borrowers’ Bill of Rights. It didn’t make it out of the assembly by one vote. This bill has a fee in it, and any bill with a fee triggers a two thirds vote. Sarah Peters, Nevada legislator for District 24, is sponsoring this bill.

“It had a higher threshold, which is why it failed by one,” Vaskov said.

The legislative session lasts for 120 days. It started on Feb. 6 and Vaskov isn’t expecting both bills to be seen until a month from now.

teaching and research interests.”

He is unaware of what classes exactly he plans on teaching, but says he enjoys the introduction level courses like Journalism 103: Introduction to Media and Society.

Emerson Drewes can be reached via email at edrewes@sagebrush.unr.edu or via Twitter @ NevadaSagebrush.

“This is why we have to resort to taking out loans,” Vaskov stated, “you graduate from high school. You’re an 18 year old kid and also you have to understand a lot of financial technical things that you’ve never had maybe thought about before… It’s scary.”

The second bill is to ensure students aren’t falling victim to predatory practices with loan disbursements.

Brian Sandoval: The Students’ President

By Gabe Kanae

When starting my first ever profile interview, the first words said were “diversity, equity and inclusion is a big priority of mine” was exactly what I was yearning for — yet almost immediately after sitting across from Brian Sandoval, University of Nevada, Reno’s current president and Nevada’s ex-governor, those words were delivered beautifully.

On an early morning following an intense snowy night in late February, I sat in the vestibule next to the slick wooden dutch door with a medal label shouting the words “President’s Office.” Across from these doors had to be the most beautiful bathroom I have also ever seen on campus. One that was the size of a small classroom with heighted float glass windows that allow the forecasted morning light to fill in the ambience.

After watching university administrators and executives enter and leave the office, nothing compared to the sound of the Sandoval Sandoval’s Doc Martens climbing up the stairs, accompanied by a smile students know too well. Standing, faceto-face, Sandoval’s instant vulnerability and kindness was immediately apparent, along with the handshake that exclaimed power and leadership.

After walking through the doors of the office, past the structured and calm entrance hall with a small-scaled reception desk, I entered his office. Much like I had expected, the spacious design with a roof tall enough to support a strong reverb, was not only professional but also a vision of Sandoval’s personality. Filled with historical paintings, old newspaper excerpts and memories from the university’s past but also his own, it is instantly recognizable how proud Sandoval is of his endeavors.

SERVING THE UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA, RENO SINCE 1893

VOLUME 129, ISSUE 3

Editor-in-Chief: Emerson Drewes edrewes@sagebrush. unr.edu

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After offering me a Gold Peak Iced Tea, we sat in gold accented leather office chairs with soft pillows that showcase the university’s school pride and just like that, the profile was off to the races.

“Forty-nine percent of the Freshman class this year come from diverse backgrounds, which is great. I want this campus to reflect what is in the community and what’s throughout the state” is what Sandoval added after mentioning the essentiality of diversity, equity and inclusion at the start of our conversation.

On where he would like to see the university to progress in the future, he recommends that students look into the strategic plan for the university for the next six years. It didn’t take but a moment for him to explain that “first and foremost, my top priority are students.”

Sandoval explains that he wants all students to “have the best academic, interpersonal social experience that they could possibly have at the university.”

To explain the intensity of his efforts on making sure these experiences are possible, he talks about the very undeniable fact that “we’ve been in a very difficult time because of the pandemic and budget cuts.” To help counteract and progress further, Sandoval divulged that just the day previously, he had been to Carson City to restore funding to allow for 42 new faculty positions. This will allow students to have more class choices and graduate on time.

“We’ve hired a lot more student advisors to get below even the recommendations of the Board of Regents for student to advisor ratios, we’re doing a lot of improvements on campus. We’re in the planning stages of building a new business building, which will be on the south end of campus.” Sandoval explains that the location of this new building will exist in the area known to students today as the Jimmy John’s, and his excitement for this new structure and opportunity is evident.

Surprisingly, he says this in a way that only inserts the guarantee that it’s true but also with the mannerisms recognized best by expressing honor.

“I really want this to be a destination university where you, or any other student can come here, get a great education and have a great experience. Just importantly, when you do graduate: to have an opportunity within the workforce to do what it is you aspire to be.”

Brian added.

With such an intense start to our conversation, I had to ask how he prefers students to address him. In response, he explained that “it’s never wrong” and that he enjoys spending his time interacting with students on campus when he goes on multiple walks everyday. He always does enjoy asking students how they are doing and he mentions that in return, “a lot of them do call me Brian.” he married in 2018. Sandoval is immensely proud of his wife and her accomplishments — herself also being an alumna of the university. She frequently is brought up in conversation and each time is accompanied with a welcoming and loving smile, despite her not even being in the room. have some technology mixed in.”

He then joked, with a bright and expressive smile, about maybe having classes about hiking or snowboarding to enhance the experience. It’s almost apparent that if he could, he himself would take the classes. Intriguingly, being the previous governor of Nevada, students at the university grew up watching Sandoval’s political races, discussions and actions on the television or hearing about him through their family growing up. I had to ask, how does being the governor compare in both similarities and differences to being the president?

“As governor, you’re responsible for the entire state. I think part of what makes me a better president is I am familiar with the entire state and as governor, I visited over 300 schools. Elementary schools, middle schools, high schools, and all the campuses in higher education,” said Sandoval in response. “I want the best for our students as governor. I sponsored the largest tax increase in Nevada history to infuse that money into K-12, because I want to improve the quality of education in the state. Serving as president is the opportunity to really put that into action and continue to improve education in Nevada.”

With similarities came differences but Brian addressed them with responsibility and respect.

She makes him happy and that is a detail you cannot miss.

“I love spending time with my wife. We love to hike. We love to be outdoors,” he said. He even mentions that they both have plans to attend an art and musical performance on campus the next day that they are both looking forward to because it “really makes me proud, I feel like you’re all my kids.”

“Everyone has all these different interests. I’m going to be a judge in a three minute thesis for some of our graduate students. I like to watch our band perform. I love to see students conduct research and change the world,” said Sandoval Sandoval talked with me about growing up in the area, specifically Sparks, Nev. He attended Reno High School before he and his brother both attended and graduated from the university. Shockingly to me, he also mentioned that while growing up in Sparks, they spent their time raising sheep by themselves and that is how the two of them paid their tuition. Today, his brother is a veterinarian.

“I love this town. I tell people I’m a son of Sparks because I grew up in Sparks, but I’ve lived in Reno my entire life, besides the three years where I went to Ohio State [University] for law school. I was born in California and my dad worked for the federal government,” Sandoval explained. “So, we moved around a lot. We first moved to Fallon, Nevada – in 1969. I spent some time there and then moved to Sparks. I’ve spent a lot of time in Las Vegas, and a lot of time in rural Nevada. For my previous jobs it was really important to get throughout Nevada and it is really just a special place.”

Hearing Sandoval talk about his youth, I began to think about the amount of learning, the amount of connections and the amount of experiences he has had. His posture is so comfortable and his voice is vulnerable. His suit and tie rested calmly in place and his arms relaxed on the arm rest.

“Northern Nevada has come a really long way. When I was growing up, it was a tourism based economy because Nevada and New Jersey were the only states with legalized gambling. As gaming proliferated, the market really narrowed, and really hurt our economy. That was one of my goals, as the governor, was to diversify our economy,” he said.

“Natural disasters such as the horrible tragedy that occurred in Clark County, with shootings, floods etc,” he said. “As President, it’s more like being in charge of a large city, we have 20,000 students, faculty and staff.”

However he also explained why he took the position as president in the first place. The number reason being: he loves it here.

“I do believe in my heart that everything that I’ve had the opportunity to accomplish, and be involved in started on this campus,” said Sandoval. “I made my best friends in the world here. I had mentors here from faculty and staff. When I was a student here, I interned for Paul Laxalt, who was a [United States] senator.”

He explained that he is “really passionate about this university, and what it has done and what it can do.”

He mentioned that after serving his time as the governor he was the president of global gaming for MGM which meant he was traveling frequently because of MGM’s plans to potentially develop an integrated resort in Japan. It was in Japan that he was made aware of the opportunity and applied.

“I’m a non-traditional candidate. I don’t come from an academic background, I didn’t come through a faculty appointment, and then a chair of a department and perhaps a dean, and then a provost: which is the traditional pathway. I bring a different skill set: a real familiarity with higher education and how it’s budgeted,” said Snaodval on his skill set. “When I applied, that’s when we were in the teeth of the beginning of the pandemic. We also had a budget crisis. I felt like I really had demonstrated the skill set to lead this university at a time of crisis. My understanding is that over 100 people applied, it was a very in depth search process and I was very blessed and fortunate to be selected.”

Following Sandoval’s introduction as president of the university, the COVID-19 pandemic was unexpectedly life altering for everybody. I asked him how the pandemic changed what his vision of his first year as president would be like and how it impacted choices.

“It was hard because,” he said. “I had to watch our students, faculty and staff and all the struggles that they had to go through trying to balance the best educational experience that they could provide, but obviously, with health and safety.”

With Sandoval being such a large member of the community both in Reno but also in Nevada, it is extremely easy to forget that he’s a typical person.

He talked to me about his love for music and movies, especially the classics that he grew up with because of the connection and foundation he has with them.

He explains that he was a “child of the 70s and 80s” and when I mentioned the reliable Sony Walkman from the past, his face lit up. “Yeah! I still have some of my cassettes. No more eight tracks.”

Sandoval added that the big moves to bring Tesla, Google Apple and Amazon provide a lot of opportunities for students and residents. However, he still worries about other issues like affordable housing and water challenges. Nonetheless, he acknowledged Northern Nevada as a whole being a great place to live.

“It’s where I raised my family, my three kids and I want our students and the people in this community to have the same opportunities they did.”

Sandoval also discussed the unique and recent acquisition of the formerly known Sierra Nevada university, now called the University of Nevada, Reno at Lake Tahoe. He mentions that

He talked about the difficulties of having to teach staff and faculty how to transition to online learning and work environments, as well as the issues with implementing social distancing in smaller lecture rooms. Not all was bad, he did discover some things in the process.

“One of the things that we discovered during the pandemic was there was no digital equity. Not every student had a device, not every student had access to WiFi,” said Sandoval. “So, we partnered with Apple. Now, every incoming or transfer student gets an Apple iPad, pencil, a keyboard and the training.”

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“I like a little bit of everything. I try to watch the award winners and the nominees for the Academy Awards. Lauralyn And I will meticulously watch each one of those.”

Lauralyn McCarthy is Sandoval’s wife, whom

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“We’re going to have our first cohort of students. You’ve heard about studying abroad, we’re gonna have a semester at Tahoe,” said Sandoval excitedly. “Students from it will be multidisciplinary and that tuition will be no different at Lake Tahoe as it would be here. It’ll be a curriculum based on sustainability. We’ll