North Dakota University System Chancellor Mark Hagerott spent the first few months on the job on what he called a “listening tour.”
Hagerott says he wanted to hear about any concerns or ideas about the state’s 11 public colleges. He started with Legislators, then met with business leaders – and once school started, he’s been talking with faculty and staff at the colleges.
Hagerott told the Legislature’s interim Government Finance Committee he’s concerned about faculty turnover.
"We have some faculty that -- once they start doing some really good stuff, they get lured away," Hagerott told the Committee. "There is a competitive marketplace for faculty. They love it here and want to stay here, but if they're offered more money in Minnesota, they say they're forced to go that direction."
Hagerott says he now plans to meet with the tribal colleges – to explore further cooperation.
The chancellor also says he believes things are starting to turn around for Dickinson State University.
DSU was rocked by charges of it being a “diploma mill” for some Chinese students. And the DSU Foundation is being dissolved. Chancellor Mark Hagerott says those things, coupled with the oil boom, appear to have driven enrollment downward. But he told the Committee – DSU may have turned a corner.
"The freshman class now is bigger than the graduating class," Hagerott said. "That's a source of growth."
Hagerott says DSU also has a new President – and will soon have a new dean. And he says those hirings will help calm things down on campus.
