Governor Joe Lombardo made his first trip as governor to the University of Nevada, Reno on Thursday.
Funding levels for higher education took a hit during the pandemic and the governor took time to speak with university officials about needs that could be met through some of the higher education proposals outlined in the executive budget.
The governor was met by the Wolf Pack cheer squad, marching band, student athletes, coaches and faculty.
After the niceties, university administrators took Gov. Lombardo on a tour of aging buildings.
“Which is why we're taking you on the not glamorous route to see the old life sciences building,” said University of Nevada, Reno VP of Administration of Finance Vic Redding to Gov. Lombardo.
The tour went to the Savitt Medical Library in the Pennington Medical Education building, they then went to the Pennington Student Achievement Center to visit the Veteran and Military Center to meet with faculty from the Veterans Services department.
University of Nevada, Reno President Brian Sandoval says he's encouraged by the governor's budget proposals to address aging buildings.
"With regard to buildings on the campus there's a lot in the budget for deferred maintenance, so we have the oldest campus. We were just saying this building we're standing in front of was built in 1876,” said Sandoval.
In the first biennium of the governor's budget, he plans to invest $75 million dollars for the long-term stability of the state's millennium scholarship program... and, invest $65 million dollars in deferred maintenance for aging buildings.
"We're doing that through the scholarships and the infrastructure, OK. And, the total bottom line as you described is that we've got to chip away at it,” Gov. Lombardo told reporters.
Gov. Lombardo has proposed $20 million additional dollars in graduate student stipends and to support research at system institutions.
"Funding in the budget for graduate students’ stipends, that's really going to help our Carnegie Research rating. Help us to have even more graduate students. Informs the research that informs our workforce development,” explained Sandoval.
The pandemic brought slumping enrollment at the University, and President Sandoval says that these investments should help drive up numbers.
