The state Board of Higher Education is formally opposing amendments to the higher education funding bill, concerning how payment of non-renewed college presidents is handled.
This comes after some Legislators questioned the package given to former NDSU President Dean Breschani. Breschani was paid for the remainder of his contract, and became a tenured professor at NDSU.
In response, the House passed an amendment to HB 1003, saying the University System has to reimburse NDSU for that agreement – something Chancellor Mark Hagerott says would be a big hit to the central office budget. A second amendment would require approvals of those kinds of agreements by the state’s Emergency Commission, and the Legislature’s Budget Section.
Hagerott told the Board this is an erosion of the Constitutional authority of the Board.
"This is not how to transition long-serving, or even short-serving, presidents," Hagerott said. "I've talked to several senior legislators, and people in other branches of government involved in the Emergency Commission, saying 'That's the Board's job — you need to defend yourself. We can't get into that business.'"
The measure will now be in the state Senate – and the Board is hoping the amendments will be removed there.
