Twelve Apply For Seats on ND Board of Higher Education

State School Superintendent Kirsten Baesler said Tuesday that 12 North Dakotans have applied for two pending openings on the state Board of Higher Education.

The applicants are:

• Levi Bachmeier, West Fargo. Business manager of the West Fargo school district.
• Carolyn Becraft, Fargo. Consultant, Army veteran, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense and Assistant Secretary of the Navy.
• Russel Crary, Grand Forks. Real estate sales and development, Crary Real Estate, Grand Forks.
• Kaleb Dschaak, Grand Forks. Owner of Grand Forks e-sports/drone racing company.
• Nadine Hagen, Turtle Lake. Speech language pathologist, Underwood Public School.
• Mark K. Hardy, Beach. Farmer, president of insurance agency.
• Beverly Johnson, Grand Forks. Retired physical therapy professor and clinical education director at the University of North Dakota's medical school.
• Stanley Schauer Jr., Bismarck. Director of assessments, North Dakota Department of Public Instruction.
• Patrick Sogard, Williston. Owner and chairman, American State Bank & Trust Co., Williston.
• Tanya Spilovoy, Bismarck. Higher education consultant and administrator.
• Jeffry Volk, Fargo. Retired consulting engineer, incumbent SBHE board member.
• Rich Wardner, Dickinson. Retired K-12 teacher and coach, former state representative and senator, former Senate majority leader.

The four-year terms of incumbent board members Volk and Casey Ryan end June 30. Volk is eligible for a second term and has applied to be considered.

Ryan is finishing his second term and is ineligible for reappointment. He is a Grand Forks physician and former president of Altru Health System of Grand Forks.

The board has eight voting members, all of whom are appointed by the governor. The appointments will be the first for new Gov. Kelly Armstrong, who took office Sunday. The Board of Higher Education administers the 11 colleges and universities that are part of the North Dakota University System.

Baesler is chairwoman of a five-member committee that reviews applicants and forwards a list of three suggested appointees to the governor for each opening. The committee's makeup is outlined in the North Dakota Constitution. Armstrong has until mid-February to submit his nominees to the Senate.

Aside from Baesler, the SBHE nominating committee includes Jon Jensen, the chief justice of the North Dakota Supreme Court; Nick Archuleta, president of North Dakota United, which represents schoolteachers and state employees; House Speaker Robin Weisz, R-Hurdsfield; and Senate President Pro Tempore Brad Bekkedahl, R-Williston. The committee will meet virtually to vet the applications at 3 p.m. Central time on Tuesday, Jan. 14.