Nevada State University Celebrates SMART Growth Initiative with Ambitious Vision for Campus Expansion
On October 24, 2024, Nevada State University brought together developers from across the country, local business leaders, government officials, and key stakeholders to officially launch its SMART Growth Initiative, setting the stage for accelerated campus growth aligned with Nevada’s evolving educational and workforce landscape.
“We know that Nevada State University is the future of higher education in Nevada, and we must intentionally develop our campus to support the vital role we play in educating our community and developing the workforce that our state requires for its continued growth,” said Dr. DeRionne Pollard, President of Nevada State University. “The SMART Growth Initiative is a unique opportunity to build an innovative campus that benefits our students, the surrounding university community, and Southern Nevada.”
At its founding, the federal government granted land to the City of Henderson intending to build a robust, mid-tier institution of higher education. The current campus footprint accounts for 60 of those acres. The SMART Growth Initiative seeks to thoughtfully develop the remaining 452 acres of Nevada State’s campus in collaboration with the private sector, regional stakeholders, and the surrounding community.
More than 160 attendees learned more about the vision for Nevada State University, which is guided by the campus master plan most recently updated in 2023. Along with leadership from Nevada State University, representatives from WT Partnership, Nevada State Campus Lands Corporation, City of Henderson, and TSK Architects provided insights on the future development of Nevada State’s campus as well as the surrounding community
As laid out in its master plan, Nevada State projects the student population to grow to 20,000 by 2047. Accommodating this growth calls for new academic buildings, student housing, and other state-of-the-art facilities to foster innovation and collaboration with key industries in the region.
To facilitate this effort, Dr. Pollard formed the Nevada State Campus Lands Corporation (NSCLC) and convened a board of trustees with broad representation from finance, law, development, government, and non-profit administration to provide guidance on developing Nevada State’s campus in alignment with the university’s academic mission and the State’s workforce development goals. NSCLC bridges the gap between higher education and the private sector, helping Nevada State leverage mutually beneficial public-private collaborations and innovative advancements in procurement, design, and financing.
The initiative aligns seamlessly with recent efforts by the City of Henderson and the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada in the University Area Livable Centers Study, which was unanimously approved by the Henderson City Council. The study was a comprehensive review of a 1400-acre area that includes Nevada State’s 512-acre campus, 85 acres of vacant, City-owned land adjacent to the university, the Harry Reid Union Pacific Railroad Trail, and nearby residential neighborhoods and recognizes the current and future needs of the broader university community, ensuring that students, faculty, and neighbors will have dedicated spaces to live, learn, work, and thrive.
926
