The searches for a new North Dakota University System Chancellor and president of Dickinson State University will soon begin.
Current Chancellor Mark Hagerott will be leaving at the end of his contract, and will teach at NDSU.
The state Board of Higher Education has voted to hold listening sessions before the formal search for a new Chancellor begins. The listening sessions would be to gather feedback on the governance of the system. That will be followed by the establishment of a task force to look at the role and responsibility of the Chancellor. The task force will seek a consulting firm to help. And that will be done before the selection of a consulting firm to actually carry out the search.
Board member Jeffry Volk of Fargo suggested that approach.
"When the second task is complete, then we will know what the roles and responsibilities of the leader of the University System should look like," Volk said. "Then we can move into selecting a search firm. It may be the same firm we use, or maybe a different firm."
The board voted unanimously to do this multi-step process – but some Board members were concerned about the timeline to get it completed.
"I'd hoped for a faster timeline," said Board Chairman Tim Mihalick. "I also recognize that we need to take our time and get this right."
Volk has been a critic of current Chancellor Hagerott.
Dickinson State Presidential Search
The Board has decided to keep Dickinson State University acting President Ty Orton in that position, at least until early December.
Orton was appointed as DSU’s acting president, after the retirement of Steve Easton.
Meanwhile, the search for a permanent replacement will be underway soon. Board member Danita Bye offered this timeline.
"The week of Nov. 4th, the search committee will be established, based on our policies and procedures," Bye said. "Then, based on the timeline, our goal is to bring candidates to the March 26th Board meeting."
Bye said that meeting will be a '"hybrid" meeting, in that some will be in-person on campus at Dickinson State, and others would be remote.
