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Chancellor's plans to expand staff meeting resistance

The new Chancellor of the North Dakota University System is facing some resistance to his plan to add 30 staffers to the system office.

Ham Shrirvani says many of the new staff would be compliance officers – to help make sure the campuses are following policy.

"Whatever policy we put together, it has to be monitored," Shirvani told the Legislative Audit and Fiscal Review Committee. "That's the reason we need compliance officers in the Chancellor's office. Establishing a policy is one thing -- monitoring it is something else."

Shirvani used an appearance before the committee to make his pitch for the staff increase. That came during a review of a performance audit of student fees charged at UND and NDSU. The performance audit found instances where student fees were used for purposes other than the reason the fees were collected.

"This really does give our new Chancellor a little bit of extra ammunition, or a little bit of impetus toward his proposal for 30 more employees," said Mandan Rep. Rae Ann Kelsch, a member of the committee. However, she added, "Good luck with that one."

Others questioned the need for compliance staff.

"To me, if we need a compliance officer to tell University employees that using these fees to buy a first-class airline ticket to India is out of line, then I'm really frustrated that our employees need to be told that," said Hazen Sen. Randy Christmann. "It's a matter of right and and wrong, and our employees should know that."

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