Baesler Seeks Candidates for ND Board of Higher Education

State School Superintendent Kirsten Baesler on Monday urged North Dakotans to apply for two pending openings on the Board of Higher Education, which is the policymaking and advocacy board for the state's 11 public colleges and universities.

The four-year terms of incumbent board members Casey Ryan and Jeffry Volk end June 30, 2025. Ryan, a Grand Forks physician and retired hospital administrator, is finishing his second term and is ineligible for reappointment to the board. Volk, a West Fargo engineer and consultant, is completing his first term and is eligible for a second.

The application deadline for the position is 5 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. Applications may be emailed to the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction at [email protected] or sent by regular mail to the NDDPI at 600 E. Boulevard Ave., Dept. 201, Bismarck, ND, 58505.

Candidates must fill out a one-page application and provide a resume and no more than six letters of reference. They must have lived in North Dakota for the previous five years, and they may not have been employed or paid by the North Dakota University System within the last two years.

The governor appoints members of the Board of Higher Education. Baesler is chairwoman of a five-member committee that screens applicants and forwards a list of suggested appointees to the governor. The committee's makeup is outlined in the North Dakota Constitution.

The Board of Higher Education has seven voting members who are chosen for four-year terms and an eighth voting member who is a student in the North Dakota University System. The student member is appointed for a one-year term.

The seven voting members who are appointed to four-year terms must be confirmed by the North Dakota Senate. The SBHE also has nonvoting members who represent the system's faculty and staff.

The board meets almost every month, and board members also serve on subcommittees that focus on audits, academic and student affairs, budget and finance, and research and governance.

The nominating committee that will consider applications is made up of Baesler; Jon Jensen, the chief justice of the North Dakota Supreme Court; the president of North Dakota United, Nick Archuleta; the president pro tempore of the North Dakota Senate, Sen. Ronald Sorvaag, R-Fargo; and the speaker of the North Dakota House, Rep. Dennis Johnson, R-Devils Lake.

The early appeal for applications is intended to avoid having the process extend into the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. It is also designed so that the nominating committee can forward recommendations to the governor during the Legislature's organizational session, which will be held Dec. 2-4, 2024. The governor has until mid-February 2025 to nominate his board choices for Senate confirmation.

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