Nevada regents name interim higher education chancellor

RENO, Nev. (AP) — A former Nevada state public education secretary will oversee public universities and colleges in the state on an interim basis.

The Nevada Board of Regents voted Thursday to appoint Dale Erquiaga as chancellor of the Nevada System of Higher Education for 18 months while it searches for a permanent chancellor. He starts in the role on July 1 with a base annual salary of $300,000.

Erquiaga, who heads a state research and policy think tank, served as Nevada’s state superintendent of public instruction from 2013 to 2015. He also served as the chief strategy officer for former Gov. Brian Sandoval, who now leads the University of Nevada, Reno.

Erquiaga will replace Melody Rose, who resigned this spring less than two years into her four-year contract. The regents voted to pay Rose $610,000 in severance following controversy over a 2021 complaint in which she accused the board and its vice chair of gender discrimination, intimidation and retaliation.

Investigators found insufficient evidence to support Rose’s legal claims but said the board had engaged in unprofessional behavior, was politically factionalized and had possibly committed ethical violations.

Erquiaga told the Board of Regents he has no interest in serving as higher education chancellor permanently.

Some groups had urged the board to postpone the vote on his appointment and release the full list of names that were submitted for consideration. In a letter to the regents sent Thursday, leaders from the Clark County Education Association, four Las Vegas-area chambers of commerce, the Nevada AFL-CIO and Council for a Better Nevada wrote that the process lacked transparency.