UNLV's last class!?!?!?

[meadr2b]

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Can anybody tell me what is going on at UNLV? It may just be another rumor that is circulating, but I've been told that this may be UNLV's last class that they accept because the state government is unwilling to support the school. Has anyone else heard of this? Is the school stable?

 

[ElDienteLoco]

I heard the school lost their funding in a craps game at the Bellagio...at least that's what I saw on CSI: Las Vegas so it has to be true...right?














Haven't heard anything...

 

[UCSF2012]

Who knows whether it'll be the last class, but the future of the school's been in question for some time now...





U. Nevada-Las Vegas: Dental School future questioned at UNLV.

(From University Wire)

Byline: Natalie Grimaldo

Lawmakers met Wednesday to discuss eliminating the dental program because of funding issues, despite concerns that thousands of low-income residents would be without dental care as a result.

Currently, the dental school budget is $26.3 million, of which $4.5 million is drawn from the state's general fund, University President Carol Harter told a legislative finance committee Wednesday, as reported by the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

"The operation is a very large operation with the vast amount of the dollars coming from nonstate sources," Harter said. Clinic revenue funds much of the budget, and tuition is fairly high at $15,000 a year for Nevada residents, she said.

Assemblywoman Chris Giunchigliani, expressed concern that the program will become a burden for the state, with state funding expected to increase to $7.5 million next year and $7.7 million the following year.

"I would question the rational of such a decision because of what the dental school is doing for the entire state," said Patrick Ferillo, the dental school's dean. "The school is not only graduating competent dentists, but also providing invaluable services to the underserved population of the state." The school has provided oral health care and education to about 150,000 people statewide since opening in fall 2002. The program has screened 31,000 high school students for oral cancer, of which 900 students showed signs of soft tissue lesions that could potentially be cancerous, said Ferillo.

"The program also serves the elderly segment of the population," said Ferillo. "People don't realize that Medicare does not cover dental needs. The elderly are on fixed incomes and have no place to turn." The program has served 90,000 Medicaid patients, he said.

Las Vegas Republican Senators Bob Beers and Sandra Tiffany, said that resources previously devoted to the dental school would be better spent expanding the auto technology program at the Community College of Southern Nevada, as reported by the Review-Journal.

"The underserved population has no place to go. The dental school is helping to work on that problem," said Ferillo. "My question is who will serve the underprivileged if the dental school is not allowed to continue?"

 

[prtysmile]

Just curious UCSF2012, when and where is this article from? The dean mentioned in the article is not the current dean. The current dean is Dr. Karen West.

 

[harjay]

Continuous Strides In just five years, the School of Dental Medicine has made great strides. Dr. Karen P. West, who took over as current dean in April 2007, will focus on promoting research in biomedicine, population-based clinical studies, oral health promotion, oral cancer prevention, and education. In the years ahead, the school will continue to develop its reputation as a world-class institution where dentists send their children to become dentists.

^ from UNLV website

 

[hokie4life]

are you joking!? this is the only school i have an interview with so far and its not even until well into next year and now there's news that the school is done...awesome. :/

 

[JamieMac]

"tuition is fairly high at $15,000 a year for Nevada residents"

Uhhh.........OK. I was thinking that this is LOW (even for in state). Unless you're from Texas or Georgia, I'd be ecstatic to pay tuition rates like this. I'm looking at anywhere from 26,K - 42,K per year for tuition alone, and one is a state school.

 

[Shunwei]

All I can say is be very cautious about a school that states the new dean is making strides by focusing and promoting research. That is what the dean at Houston has done. She is the one negative factor of Houston I have come across. She has gone as far as telling faculty that she doesn't care much about the dental side of dental school. What matters to her is making a name for the school in its research because that is where the money is. HELLO! We aren't here for the research. We are here to become dentists. If a dean is tooting research as a reason to go to a school, kick his / her butt to the curb and find someone who cares about producing great dentists and who wants to improve the future of dentistry through research, but is not focused solely on the research.

Research is what brings money to a school so it can afford things, but it doesn't necessarily bring in good dental instructors. It drives them away!

Agreed, and I have been in the "game" for sometime now. Research brings in the grant money and federal subsidies to the program (or what's there in the current funding situation), and that benefits the faculty and school directly, and the students indirectly, and that's only if the students want/like to do research.

I will most likely do some form of research when I am in school, partly to pad up my resume further and also partly because probably I can't get away from it (because of my background), but my main focus will and should be to learn dental techniques.

 

[prtysmile]

i was under the impression that unlv concentrated more on clinic than research. that is the impression that i got when i interviewed there.

 

[i like dat]

Can anybody tell me what is going on at UNLV? It may just be another rumor that is circulating, but I've been told that this may be UNLV's last class that they accept because the state government is unwilling to support the school. Has anyone else heard of this? Is the school stable?

As far as i know the last time the state legislature discussed cutting off the funding to the school was back in 2005. Considering that Nevada has one of the lowest rates of dentist per capita in the US I really cant imagine the legislature voting against funding for the school. anyway, i was just down at the school last week and solely biased on the recent completion of a brand new building i would say that UNLV dental school is not going anywhere. the school even described the planed expansion through the next 5 years.

 

[i like dat]

"tuition is fairly high at $15,000 a year for Nevada residents"

Uhhh.........OK. I was thinking that this is LOW (even for in state). Unless you're from Texas or Georgia, I'd be ecstatic to pay tuition rates like this. I'm looking at anywhere from 26,K - 42,K per year for tuition alone, and one is a state school.

this was an article from a while ago. the current cost is more than double that (31 k before books and such). so its not UOP but its fairly expensive for a state school.

 

[Lurchdubious]

this was an article from a while ago. the current cost is more than double that (31 k before books and such). so its not UOP but its fairly expensive for a state school.

exactly. and outta state is about 53K. i'd like to know when this article was published.

 

[Hysteria24]

Just curious UCSF2012, when and where is this article from? The dean mentioned in the article is not the current dean. The current dean is Dr. Karen West.

The article must have been written before July of 2006. That is when Dr. Patrick Ferrillo took over as dean at UOP.

Per UOP’s website:
“Dr. Patrick J. Ferrillo Jr. assumes his role as dean of the Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry in San Francisco on July 1, (2006).”
http://www.uop.edu/homepage/news/mainstory.asp?postid=3888

 

[uvaGirL07]

instead of completely shutting down, couldn't they just turn themselves into a private school? or is that not possible? 😕

 

[UCSF2012]

It's from an '05 article. The only point was that the future of UNLV's BEEN in question from a legislative standpoint. It'll likely be in question for a while, but the school hasn't been shut down yet.

There are important information in this older article. It tells you that the budget deficit'd be about 4.5-5 million if the govn't were to stop funding the school, the amount from the state. The school's worked very hard to obtain funding form outside sources. It also explains the sharp increase in tuition in recent years, doubling in just a 2 years. The school's battling budget crises and having to close down by increasing tuition.

 

[UCSF2012]

instead of completely shutting down, couldn't they just turn themselves into a private school? or is that not possible? 😕

The state'd have to sell the school to a privite entity or entities.

 

[prtysmile]

has anyone asked the school or heard anything directly from the school about shutting down being a possibility?

i just find it hard to believe that they would be building new buildings and starting new specialty programs if they are just planning on shutting the school down.

 

[UCSF2012]

has anyone asked the school or heard anything directly from the school about shutting down being a possibility?

i just find it hard to believe that they would be building new buildings and starting new specialty programs if they are just planning on shutting the school down.

No school's admit such a thing and create bad press for themselves. State funding amounts to a small percentage of their total funding, and they can get by easily for the next couple years. Smart management can overcome this problem.The hike in tuition's accounted for about 1.4 million per class of the 4.5. That's 5.4 million total. The school seems to be doing okay for now, since tuition itself would account for the state funding, if it were to be cut. I'd imagine the school's working to increase its reserve funding in case something were to happen.

 

[i like dat]

It's from an '05 article. The only point was that the future of UNLV's BEEN in question from a legislative standpoint. It'll likely be in question for a while, but the school hasn't been shut down yet.

There are important information in this older article. It tells you that the budget deficit'd be about 4.5-5 million if the govn't were to stop funding the school, the amount from the state. The school's worked very hard to obtain funding form outside sources. It also explains the sharp increase in tuition in recent years, doubling in just a 2 years. The school's battling budget crises and having to close down by increasing tuition.

At the point that the article was written the school was not accredited yet, nor had it even graduated a class. Besides the gentleman who proposed the cut in funding was obviously smoking crack. He wanted to use the money to finance an auto tech program at a Las Vegas community college. I sincerely doubt that this would ever happen. the school is only growing. Im pretty sure that the new building is not a part of some elaborate cover up.

 

[UNR.Grad]

State funding has always been somewhat of a problem for the dental school; unlike the state medical school in Reno which rarely has a problem with funding and can offer its students extremely cheap tuition (both my brothers are going to get out debt free). When I asked if tuition would be lowered anytime soon to be around the level of the medical school, I was told the dental school will probably never get the funding of the medical school so no, but there shouldn't be any increases in the near future.

I don't foresee the school closing anytime soon; Nevada needs dentists too badly in the rural areas, the urban areas are becoming fairly saturated.