Latest news with #CollegeofSouthernNevada
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Yahoo
Feds take action after CSN targeted in $7.4 million hack
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — The federal government is cracking down to prevent fraud after 8 News Now reported the College of Southern Nevada was the victim of a multimillion-dollar hack. CSN lost $7.4 million in what's called a 'Ghost Student' scam. 'We were attacked, much like a lot of colleges across the nation have been attacked. Hence the feds taking action,' Dr. Juan Avalos, CSN's vice president of student affairs, said. In a press release issued on Friday, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said rampant fraud is 'ripping off taxpayers' and taking financial aid away from students. As a result, she was implementing an extra layer of security to verify FAFSA applications. 'This is more about scammers than it is about people, and people not doing their jobs. I want to make that part clear,' Dr. Avalos said. From October to December 2023, the community college was getting a large number of federal financial aid applications, according to CSN. But on the first day of the spring semester in 2024, CSN noticed a problem — empty classrooms. 'It became a level of crisis during spring of 2024, when our instructors were reporting full rosters but no one was showing up,' Avalos said. The fraud scheme led to CSN paying back the U.S. Department of Education for loans the college awarded to fake students. Avalos said CSN was vulnerable since it's a large school and has fewer requirements for students to enroll. The Department of Education announced on Friday a new layer of security it was adding to FAFSA applications, requiring applicants to show in person or on a live video conference, an unexpired, valid, government-issued photo identification. Avalos applauded the move. 'By the time they hit the colleges, like College of Southern Nevada, we will have a greater sense of confidence that the FAFSAs we're getting belong to real students,' Avalos said. In a statement regarding the new verification, McMahon said, 'When rampant fraud is taking aid away from eligible students, disrupting the operations of colleges and ripping off taxpayers, we have a responsibility to act.' But what about the money CSN lost? Who is on the hook for that? 'So about half of it is stuff we're not going to get. The other is stuff that the college has to pay. But we're going to pay it from institutional funds. None of it is going to be kicked to the student,' Avalos said. He added that CSN will absorb about $4.3 million in losses. The college will be implementing more security upgrades this summer, including adding a third-party verification system on applications, which will vet future applicants' information. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Pinecrest Academy students excel in dual enrollment program in Las Vegas
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — The students at Pinecrest Academy in Las Vegas are making the most of their senior year, graduating with both high school diplomas and associate degrees. Gage Garvin and Roxi Perez, both enrolled in the school's Career and Technical Education (CTE) program, have found it instrumental in shaping their career paths while also earning valuable job certifications.'It actually gave me college credits at the College of Southern Nevada (CSN) for aviation ground school,' Garvin said. 'It got me introduced to piloting and got a couple of flight hours as a student pilot, so that helped expand my skill set.' Garvin aspires to become a marine biologist and help conserve the sea otter. His dream job is to work at the Monterrey aquarium. Outside of school, Garvin stays equally active. He volunteers with the Nevada SPCA and recently organized a student-led cleanup at Wetlands Park.'We ended up picking up over 650 pounds of trash over 9.3 acres,' Garvin said. 'A bit of multidisciplinary effort at the Wetlands, and I love nature, and I love the environment, and I love to give back to the people and the place that gave me life and helped raise me.' Roxi Perez, through the CTE program, earned her workplace readiness certificate in graphic design and now plans to pursue a bachelor's degree in biochemistry. Despite facing personal challenges, Perez said she is grateful for the opportunity to continue her education. 'As a little girl, my brothers and I had our mother taken away from us from a very young age,' Perez said. 'Thankfully, though, my savior came in, my grandfather, whom I now call my dad. He's always had that drive and put that drive into me and instilled into me that I need to take the opportunities that I have.' Since the age of 16, Perez has been juggling work to support her family while completing both high school and college. She credits her success to the unwavering support of her teachers and her dad, saying she could not have done it without them. 'I didn't have a mother growing up, and a lot of my teachers became my maternal figures. A lot of them I cried to, a lot of them gave me advice and made me feel secure, and made this feel like home,' Perez said. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
17-04-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Las Vegas residents desired in growing manufacturing industry
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) – Unleashing the gliding, ruby-tipped prong, Las Vegas-area students manufactured everyday metal objects. The gleam from their creations holds the eye of around 200 employers. Well ahead of President Donald Trump's call for the renewal of domestic manufacturing, City of Henderson leadership is already welcoming industrial investment with a unique strategy: produce the workforce ahead of production. Jared Smith, the City of Henderson's economic development and tourism director, pointed to the Debra March Center of Excellence as the result of smart, public-private planning. 'The College of Southern Nevada has the expertise, has the programs in place that our people need to be trained in these programs,' he said. 'We had the land; we built the building. They control all of the training. And companies come to us as partners to help solve those workforce challenges real quick.' The idea is this. When a company signals its interest in building a facility in Southern Nevada, for example Haas Automation, hundreds employees must be trained on advanced manufacturing. The employer is then able to work in partnership with city staff and College of Southern Nevada educators to plan a college program and by the end of the semester workers can walk into the new plant. 'We're really diving into the future of training and partnership between the private sector and the public sector,' Smith said. Some potential employers can also compensate students for their coursework since it will directly translate into a career. The hands-on training comes from industry professionals interested in keeping pace with the evolving industry. 'The more that we can train our people and create a resilient workforce and are in a resilient city, the better we will be known nationally and worldwide,' Smith said. The whir of the machine shop couldn't hide the enthusiastic vocal timbre of the manufacturing director, Dan Flick. 'If it's industrial maintenance technicians, automation technicians, machinists, anything to do with making something, I mean, you can't go wrong,' he said, tilting over a tabletop robotic arm. Flick stood in his classroom, which was walled with the latest in automated machinery units. He said the outdated view of manufacturing, for some detractors, has missed the years of industry evolution. 'People think, I'm going to be in a factory doing one thing, pushing a button, changing a part, or watching a machine make ice cream,' Flick said. 'Yeah, that's not where you're going to end up.' Some work may be basic, but the equipment he teaches with is straight from the factory floor. Flick said many of his students have gone on to own and manage their personal companies with the education they have received. 'The world's your oyster,' he said. 'But you just got to stick to it. You got to understand the basics. And once you get that, it's, it's looking pretty good.' Flick said interested students can email him on how to enter the program at or call 702-651-3727. From Amazon to Pepsi, potential employers are knocking on the classroom door for the educated workforce to wrap up their homework, including Jose Covarrubias, tool and dye manager at Sunshine Minting. 'Here in Nevada, it was hard to find skilled labor,' he said. 'And once we partnered up with Dan Flick and his program, we were able to hire apprentices.' The coursework also helping some employees who needed a retooling on computer numerical control (CNC) basics, according to Covarrubias. 'We hired five people that were very unskilled when it came to CNC machining,' he said. 'Within halfway through the class, they had already completed maybe 300 programs at work. So, 100% of everything that was taught in class was something that they could use hands-on at work.' The work comes with some benefits, as Covarrubias pointed to the starting apprenticeship pay at $22.50 an hour. 'On top of us paying for you to take these classes,' he said. Covarrubias said the industry is seeing a large shortage of advanced manufacturing workers and noted the long line of employers waiting nearby. 'There's like a list of 200 companies around Nevada that are all ready to hire and willing to hire and high-paying jobs,' he said. The job is a far cry from working on a Model T assembly line, Covarrubias said, some may be surprised by the amount of computer work versus manual labor. 'I would say 60% of the work is done on the computer, and that's really where these classes really come in place,' he said. 'You are expected to get your hands dirty, but it's not dingy, it's a clean room with air conditioning.' CSN courses are available mornings, afternoons, and evenings and can be made to fit student's schedules, according to CSN. Potential employers include Blue Bunny, Haas Automation, Entek, Sunshine Minting, Pepsi, and Amazon. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
19-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
New psychiatric facility near CSN campus in Las Vegas priced at $420 million
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A new psychiatric facility for criminal offenders with mental disorders is planned on land directly east of the College of Southern Nevada's West Charleston campus. The Southern Nevada Forensic Facility, expected to open in 2029, carries a combined budget of about $420 million for construction and land acquisition near the southwest corner of Charleston and Jones Boulevard. The four-story facility would house 300 offenders — almost double the number currently at Muri Stein Hospital, which is adjacent to where the new building would go up. Lawmakers listened Tuesday in Carson City as officials from the Nevada Public Works Division detailed the budgets for two projects connected to the new building. Both will be paid for entirely from state funds. 'Obviously, this is a significant investment for the state of Nevada,' Brian Walker, deputy administrator for professional services of the state Public Works Division, said. A $38 million project would pay for the land, as well as design and construction to replace three buildings on the site that will be demolished to make way for new facilities. A solar array along the west side of Jones Boulevard will also be removed. A $382 million project would fund the construction of the new building, with three wings for patients and a fourth for administration. It will be the state's first 'purpose-built' psychiatric facility for offenders, Walker said. Muri Stein Hospital and Lakes Crossing in Sparks were both converted to serve as psychiatric facilities. Currently, Stein has 153 people and Lakes Crossing has 86. A budget for furnishings and fixtures is expected to be submitted in 2027, adding an estimated $28 million to the project. The 300 beds will be divided into four categories: 30 intake and assessment beds 60 long-term beds 30 high-risk beds 180 competency restoration beds 'This building has also been planned with the ability to add a fourth patient wing in the future,' Walker said. That new wing would bring an additional 90 beds, he said. Democrats Assem. Shea Backus and Assembly Speaker Steve Yeager asked about capacity and whether the fourth wing would be needed immediately. Public Works officials responded that there would be a 'methodical' transition and the new building will probably meet the needs initially. It is designed to serve all of Clark County and surrounding rural counties. Stein is currently at 99% capacity, officials told lawmakers. 'It seems like we are always in the situation of not having enough beds,' Yeager said. Muri Stein Hospital will eventually be demolished and turned over for Campus for Hope, a project that will address homelessness. That project was approved in January by the Governor's Office of Economic Development (GOED). Another budget presented Tuesday would pay $5.5 million for a new building at Summit View Youth Center, located on Range Road just south of the I-15/215 Beltway interchange in northeast Las Vegas. 'The intake building will include a classroom, offices, restrooms and intake room, and this will enable the facility to establish a juvenile justice youth intake and assessment unit at Summit View,' Marla McDade Williams of the Nevada Division of Child and Family Services (DCFS) said. That facility takes in youth offenders and assigns them to one of the state's sites to serve their sentence. 'They are youth who have been committed to us for detention in one of our facilities. So, yes, every youth in the state in that situation is either going to Elko, Caliente or Las Vegas,' McDade Williams said. Currently, there is no housing dedicated for intake, so incoming youth get mixed in with youth assigned to the Las Vegas facility. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
