When Ed Schafer was Governor, the Higher Education Roundtable was begun.
That was in 1999.
It was an effort to bring the colleges and universities into discussions with the business community, to see what business expects from higher ed. And it was meant to get the Universities thinking like a “system” of higher education.
Schafer has been serving the last several months as the interim president of the University of North Dakota. So, he was asked – if the University System is a true “system.”
"We've had kind of a scattered program over the years," Schafer said. "And I don't think the higher education system envisioned by the Legislature has ever been fully implemented."
But Schafer said there's progress.
"It's really moving forward now," Schafer said. "And a lot of that is by necessity, as budgets have become tight, as students have different demands, as parents are saying, 'Wait a minute - where am I going to send my student.' The University system has had to come together and say, 'How are we going to deliver this better and more efficiently, and be more mindful of the tax dollars that go into the system.'"
Schafer says there’s more work to do.
"We can continue to work together as a system, making us more competitive in the global marketplace, instead of each individual institution trying to make it on their own."
Schafer’s time as UND’s interim president will soon end. But that doesn’t mean Schafer will be out of the picture. He says he hopes to stay involved.
"I hope to," Schafer said. "It depends on if the president of UND is going to let me on campus or not," Schafer said, laughing. "We're working on a couple of projects, and it makes sense for me to stay involved. I'm green through and through, and I'll continue to be engaged as much as I can."
The new President – Mark Kennedy – will start no later than July first.
