Employees of higher education institutions that aren’t the University of Nevada Reno may have noticed something odd on their recently distributed W-2 forms.
UNR was listed as their employer.
According to an email distributed by the Nevada System of Higher Education’s payroll services department this week, all employees who received a paper copy of their 2020 W-2 from NSHE were affected by a misprint that listed UNR as their employer.
The misprint should not impact anyone’s ability to file taxes, according to the payroll services department email, which stated the W-2s filed with the Internal Revenue Service have the proper employer listed. Corrected W-2s are available digitally for employees who want it.
But it is an awkward error for an administrative system that has been accused of boosting UNR at the expense of its other university and colleges. Last year, a ballot question seeking to remove the Board of Regents from the Nevada Constitution — a move many saw as an effort to rein in a system that has not treated its institutions equally — was rejected by voters.
Democratic Gov. Steve Sisolak noted in his “state of the state” speech last month that he would be calling on NSHE and the Nevada Legislature to transition the state’s community colleges to “a new independent authority.” However, no legislation has been introduced, and few details are known.
