UNLV’s President Faces Possible Ouster

David B. Ashley, president of the University of Nevada at Las Vegas, cut short a trip to Singapore this week to deal with mounting questions about his future, the Las Vegas Sun reported.

The university system’s outspoken chancellor, James E. Rogers, recently told Mr. Ashley that he had lost the support of the Board of Regents, which he said was unlikely to renew Mr. Ashley’s contract.

Mr. Rogers told the president to cancel his trip to Singapore, the highlight of which was the first commencement ceremony on UNLV’s branch campus there. Mr. Ashley left last week on the trip but went back to Las Vegas on Wednesday, three days before his scheduled return.

Mr. Ashley has been president for three years. He followed Carol C. Harter, who had clashed with Mr. Rogers and suggested that the chancellor ruled with a heavy hand.

Mr. Rogers, who is in a continuing feud over budget cuts with the state’s governor, James Gibbons, will step down at the end of this month.

Grumbling that Mr. Ashley is a disengaged leader has built for months, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. His wife, Bonnie, has also come under fire for allegedly bullying university employees. She sent an apology on Friday to the board and Mr. Rogers, and said she would cease her “hostessing role” until university leaders determine what her duties should be.

Mr. Rogers is scheduled to meet with Mr. Ashley on Monday morning.