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Board of Regents District 6 - Michael B. Wixom - Nonpartisan office

Name: Michael B. Wixom

Office: Board of Regents, District 6

Party Affiliation: Nonpartisan office

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Facebook: Regentmikewixom

Twitter: @mbwixom 

Biography provided by candidate:

I graduated from Idaho State University with a degree in political science and economics, and then from the University of Utah College of Law.  My wife and I moved to Las Vegas in 1986, when I began practicing law here.  My practice is limited to banking law and finance.  Governor Kenny Guinn originally appointed me to serve on the Board of Regents, and I was re-elected to the Board without opposition in 2006 and 2010. My wife and I have six daughters, five grandsons and one granddaughter.

Question: In a 140 characters, introduce yourself as if you are introducing yourself to a neighbor.

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I love Las Vegas, and I love Nevada. It is a fascinating place to live. I enjoy biking, hiking, good books, spending time with my family, and meeting new people. 

Question: What do you think is the most pressing issue for Nevada’s higher education system?

About one-half of the students entering Nevada colleges need remediation.  Only about 10% of students who need remediation end up graduating.  If they don’t graduate, they are saddled with enormous debt and no way to pay it back. We must reduce remediation rates.  There are a number of policy changes we can make to better prepare students for college, but it requires legislative commitment.

Question: Are you willing to look at the possible separation of community colleges and universities?

I am always willing to look at a new idea, and I believe that this discussion is good one. But I have found that the proponents of this policy ignore some key issues:

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  1. Separating the community colleges and universities into separate system would be enormously expensive, and the dollars we spend on separation are dollars we can’t spend elsewhere.
  2. The proponents of a separate community college system always look to examples in other states where community colleges are supported by property taxes. It is highly unlikely that Nevada counties or cities would ever be willing to increase property taxes to the level required to support community colleges. Our community colleges are better funded under our present system.
  3. A combined system offers enormous savings to community colleges. Just one example is that by combining bond offerings with UNLV and UNR, we reduce the community college financing costs by millions of dollars.  There are also many shared services that the community colleges would then have to provide on their own and at their own cost.
  4. A combined system makes transfers from community colleges to universities much easier. We are also now implementing a number of new programs that will make it still more seamless, such as universal registration (sometimes called common registration) platforms and transfer agreements between community colleges and universities.

 
 

Natalie is an Emmy-award winning journalist who has worked in the Las Vegas market since August 1996, starting as a newscast producer for KLAS-TV Channel 8, and later as an online editor for 8newsnow.com.