When the search committee for the new President at Bismarck State College had its first meeting, the Chancellor of Higher Education asked the committee to be aware of – and open to – a diverse field of candidates.
Right now, no president at the 11 campuses is a woman. The last was Dr. Tisa Mason at Valley City State University.
"I think the challenge is there," said BSC Search Committee Co-Chair Dr. Dan Leingang. "We will embrace that."
Leingang said he would love to see a diverse candidate come in to make the finalist list.
"How that plays out in terms of the best person is going to be the critical piece to it," Leingang said. "But I would agree -- I think there is a need for a perspective that we as a state system does not have in place right now."
There are six finalists for the president at UND. One is a woman – Laurie Steinberg Nichols.
Dickinson State University will also be in the hunt for a new president.