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- 1. Hollingsworth 1 Personal Statement Karyn S. Hollingsworth, Ph.D. I am the product of two educators, an English professor and a first-grade school teacher. Some of my earliest childhood memories are of going to collegesitting on a phone book in my fathers classroom to be tall enough to fit the desk. I was enamored with the students, their textbooks, and school gear; and the campus with towering trees, a bustling plaza, and stately buildings. I was fascinated with everything about college, and I couldnt wait to grow up so I could attend. In between classes, students enjoyed impromptu concerts, and the Greeks took to the Quad to proudly display their superiority through steps and lively chants. School spirit was electric and tangible. In the evenings, we enjoyed lectures and jazz and symphonic band concerts. My family, along with thousands of other faithful fans, attended football games each weekend. I especially enjoyed attending commencement twice a yearobserving the formality of the processional and hearing inspirational words from a speaker who told the newly minted graduates to go out and conquer the world. My life has been shaped, in large part, by my early college exposure. My mentors were educators. The people I aspired to emulate were poets and writers, artists and activists, musicians and movement makers. I learned to think, question, dream, and believe in impossibilities at the feet of these scholars. My concept of the role universities should play was informed by my childhood experience, from the vantage point of that small girl in a large desk. I saw firsthand that universities could be drivers of a states economic engine by producing an educated workforce to fill existing positions and create new jobs out of necessity and ingenuity. There, I witnessed how universities amassed a strong cadre of supporters through alumni affinity and community need. I saw firsthand how universities enriched the community by engaging it in meaningful discourse, conducting research that addressed and sought to alleviate societal problems, and enlightening it with meaningful cultural experiences that placed the global community in reach. Today, I understand the power of knowledge to expand possibilities and shape future choices about where and how to live, work, raise families, and contribute to the community. I know that universities dont just confer degrees; they help chart careers and change lives. Meeting a plurality of needs is a tall, costly order. Quality is expensive and getting more so every day. I believe the rising cost of delivering quality education is the single greatest challenge facing higher education today. Tuition hikes are outpacing pay and cost-of-living increases. Decreased state appropriations and financial aid packages are forcing students to shoulder a larger percentage of their own educational costs, which is a hardship for many who are struggling to rebound in our still-fragile economy. UNLV must meet and overcome these challenges if we hope to compete for the brightest Nevada minds and the most promising students from surrounding states and other countries. It is imperative that we continue to press for a revised and more equitable funding formula that allows the university to fund its
- 2. Hollingsworth 2 priorities by keeping tuition dollars on campus. Also, we have to redouble our efforts to secure private funding to create a margin of excellence that state appropriations alone cannot sustain. My education, at public institutions, was funded entirely with scholarships and grant-in-aid programs. I am the beneficiary of others generosity and willingness to fund the future with gifts, both large and small. We can grow that giving community by first educating the campus community about the importance of giving and communicating effectively and frequently about how their dollars are utilized to make a difference. While the debate wages over funding, the people of Southern Nevada need the services UNLV provides more than ever. Though we no longer lead the nation in unemployment, our region has not fully recovered from the Great Recession. Many of the service industry positions that were eliminated in the deflated economy have not returned. A new crop of would-be students is finding the need to complete a degree to re-enter the workforce, get trained to transition to a new career, or pursue graduate studies to gain a new skill set and a competitive edge. UNLV is poised to meet the needs, but ours is a unique challenge because of the newness of our town- gown relationship. In positioning ourselves to meet these needs, we must embrace a community that does not fully understand or support our young university or appreciate the value of higher education. It is incumbent on us to enhance the college-going culture of our state and region to positively impact student retention and educational attainment rates. We must do a better job of demonstrating our value and advocating the benefits of earning a university degreefrom better job prospects and increased earnings to more civic engagement and greater cultural awareness. Our greatest commonality with the community may be our diversity. Southern Nevada is an amalgam of many races and cultures. According to the 2013 Las Vegas Perspective, the Hispanic/Latino population has reached 30.5 percent, the African American population hit 10.1 percent, and the Asian population is 9 percent. UNLV, too, is a melting pot, keeping pace with the states changing demographics. The university has been designated one of the most culturally diverse campuses in the nation for undergraduates for two consecutive years by U.S. News and World Report. This designation underscores that our enrollment reflects the regions growing, diverse population. In that same vein, we should strive to ensure that students are taught and supported by faculty and staff members that reflect their cultural sensibilities, ideals, and world view. This may positively impact learning outcomes and students sense of community and campus engagement. Our town-gown relationship should extend to the K-12 system as well. It is in our best interest to support initiatives to expand early childhood education in the Clark County School District. Our large, urban school district serves as a feeder to UNLV. The better prepared students are at the K-12 level, the more prepared they are to enter UNLV and persist to graduation. Finally, we need to increase our two-way communication with the surrounding community. Assessment is central to continuous improvement of our academic offerings, programs, and services. I believe we should periodically ask community groups to rate our efforts as a university, from course offerings to
- 3. Hollingsworth 3 customer service. I believe the community will support the university in which it is invested. We are inextricably linked. As the community goes, so goes UNLV. It is my sincere hope that one day the young people of Nevada will visit UNLV with the wonder and amazement I had so many years ago in my fathers classroom. I hope they will ponder what they can become and how they can influence our state for the better through the pursuit of higher education. And I hope UNLV can afford those students educational opportunities equal to their potential.