Nevada has a unitary system of public higher education, with eight institutions serving some 100,000 students in the Nevada System of Higher Education (NSHE). Included in the NSHE are two research universities, a world-renowned freestanding research institution, one recently established state college, and four community colleges, including one of the largest in the nation. These diverse institutions operate under the auspices of one board of regents, whose members are elected--a method of selection almost unique in the nation. Faculty have been involved in the governance of the NSHE and its institutions for many years. Senate chairs from all institutions attend meetings of the board of regents and may speak on any issue before the board. In any given year, most of the NSHE senate chairs are members of the Nevada Faculty Alliance (NFA), the state conference of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), which was established in 1984. The NFA cooperates with the faculty senates on a variety of issues and has worked particularly closely with them over the past two years, as NSHE institutions have faced severe budget cuts. In this article, the author describes how faculty involvement in governance both on and beyond the campus has been crucial in blunting the negative impact of the current financial crisis on Nevada's colleges and universities.