The Nevada System of Higher Education (NSHE) Board of Regents welcomed four new members at a swearing in ceremony officiated by Nevada Supreme Court Justice Abbi Silver on Friday.
The virtual ceremony welcomed Lois Tarkanian (District 2), Byron Brooks (District 3), Patrick Boylan (District 5) and Joseph Arrascada (District 10) to the 13-member board.
We are excited to welcome the new Regents to our board and look forward to serving NSHEs more than 100,000 students and our faculty and staff, Regents Chair Mark Doubrava said. Even as Nevadas public higher education system faces significant challenges due to the pandemic and resulting economic downturn, I believe there are quite a few opportunities for our system and institutions to improve in the areas of student access and success, closing the achievement gap for critical populations, workforce development, and research.
In November, the four new members were elected to the 13-member Nevada Board of Regents which governs the Nevada System of Higher Education, its eight institutions, and more than 100,000 students.
Elected to serve a six-year term, the 13 Regents govern NSHE, set policies and approve budgets for Nevadas public system of higher education, including four community colleges, one state college, two universities and one research institute. The eight institutions are the College of Southern Nevada; Desert Research Institute; Great Basin College; Nevada State College; Truckee Meadows Community College; University of Nevada, Las Vegas; University of Nevada, Reno; and Western Nevada College.
Regent Arrascada was elected as the representative for District 10. He is a member of the Academic, Research and Student Affairs Committee; Audit, Compliance and Title IX Committee; Investment Committee; and Security Committee.
Regent Boylan was elected as the representative for District 5. He is a member of the Academic, Research and Student Affairs Committee; Cultural Diversity Committee; Health Sciences System Committee; and Security Committee.
He received a baccalaureate in Management Information Systems (UNLV), a Masters in Crisis and Emergency Management from the Institute for Security Studies (UNLV) and a Masters in Educational Leadership (UNLV). He founded and was the Director of the Center for Strategic Analysis (CSA), a non-profit educational organization, training first responders, law enforcement and military personnel on various Military Bases especially Nellis Air Force Base, and as an intelligence instructor on board a U.S. Naval Destroyer in the Middle East.
Regent Brooks was elected as the representative for District 3. He is a member of the Business, Finance and Facilities Committee; Community College Committee; Health Sciences System Committee; and Security Committee.
Regent Tarkanian was elected as the representative for District 2. She is a member of the Business, Finance and Facilities Committee; Health Sciences System Committee; Investment Committee; and Security Committee.
Dr. Tarkanian holds a Bachelor of Arts in Education, a Master of Arts in Speech and Hearing, and a Doctorate in Leadership and Human Behavior. She served 14 years on the Las Vegas City Council, including as Mayor Pro Tem; and 12 years on the Clark County School District Board of Education, including as its president.
As an educator, she has held positions as a classroom teacher, a speech pathologist, and an administrator. She also taught classes at the Community College of Southern Nevada (now CSN) and at California state universities. In private practice, she founded Oralingua, the first private day school for deaf children in California, and she initiated Nevadas first full-inclusion program for the deaf in the demonstration pre-school at CSN.