only 4.9%. Students protestested the cuts which left student services understaffed and about 25% of the university's teaching and administrative positions vacant in 2008. The Nevada System of Higher Education faced a $900 million budget deficit and there were proposals to close down Nevada State College along with other NHSE programs and schools. Campus Nevada State College's 509-acre site is located at the base of the McCullough mountain range in the southeastern corner of Henderson. The site was conveyed from the Bureau of Land Management to the city of Henderson in November 2002 as part of the Clark County Conservation of Public Lands and Natural Resources Act of 2002. The college opened its first permanent building, the Liberal Arts & Sciences Building, on its 509-acre site in August 2008. The building has faculty offices, labs and seven classrooms. The building includes SMART classroom technologies which allow professors to use a wide array of audio and visual teaching techniques, and scientific equipment for educational use. In addition to the Liberal Arts and Sciences Building, NSC has also opened the Bob and Allison Kasner Academic Building (formerly known as Nursing, Science, and Education) along with the James E. and Beverly Roger's Student Center. The future Christenson Education Building and the Student Village dorm buildings are currently under construction. NSC currently leases the Dawson building on Nevada State Dr. which was originally the only building when the college opened, and purchased the J. Russell and Carol Raker Student Success Center on Paradise Hills Dr. which contains the financial aid office and student advising. NSC no longer leases two auxiliary buildings in downtown Henderson on Water Street. On-going campus planning activities In 2010, the Nevada Board of Regents approved the college's campus master plan, which calls for the development of roughly six million square feet of academic, residential, retail, and cultural space by full campus build-out in order to accommodate 25,000-30,000 students. Sustainability Initiatives As it relates to sustainable planning and design, NSC's campus master plan is informed by three central goals: (1) achieve operational carbon neutrality, (2) become a model of sustainable development for the city, county and region, and (3) enable the campus to serve as a learning and training tool for topics related to sustainable development. Academics NSC's Board-approved mission is to provide "educational, social, cultural, economic and civic advancement to the citizens of Nevada. To this end, the college addresses