What appeared to be a sudden resignation, 8 News Now has learned was actually months in the making, as regents grew frustrated with the University of Nevada, Las Vegas’s former president.

Chris Heavey, executive vice president and provost at UNLV, has temporarily assumed leadership of the university after Keith Whitfield abruptly stepped down as president Monday, Nevada higher education officials announced.

Nearly five years after COVID-19 forced schools to shutter, a recent analysis of standardized test scores shows that students nationwide and in Nevada remain half a year behind in reading and math — and the causes stretch well beyond the pandemic itself.

After UNLV President Keith E. Whitfield announced that he was stepping down from his position on Monday, a chancellor at the Nevada System of Higher Education appointed a new leader to take charge temporarily.

UNLV Executive Vice President and Provost Christopher L. Heavey will serve as officer in charge of UNLV, the Nevada System of Higher Education announced Tuesday.

The person who will serve as Officer in Charge following Keith Whitfield’s resignation as president of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), was announced Tuesday.

The Oscars’ Best Picture winner Anora proudly features a “Nevada Film Office” logo in the credits, showcasing the interest and growth in moviemaking across the Las Vegas Valley -- and how exactly movie studios hire a range of local businesses and workers to make productions happen.

UNLV President Keith Whitfield has announced his resignation from the university, effective at the end of the day Monday. Whitfield became the president in 2020 and led the campus through the COVID-19 pandemic, a shooting that killed three faculty members and the opening of a new medical school campus.

On Feb. 10, President Donald Trump issued an executive order ending the procurement and use of paper straws at federal agencies. It was a stark reversal from the Biden era, in which the former president vowed to remove plastic straws and single-use plastics from federal food service in favor of paper straws, which are thought to be better for the environment.