“He’s getting no funds from us until somebody else is in there.” That’s what Kris Engelstad McGarry, a trustee of the Engelstad Foundation and spokesperson for the Engelstad family, said on this episode of Plain Talk referring to embattled President Mark Kennedy. The Engelstads have made hundreds of millions of dollars worth of gifts to…
University System Chancellor Admits He Isn’t Candid in Written Evaluations of University Presidents
For years now, through scandal and controversy, the presidents of North Dakota’s universities have received consistently glowing evaluations from their boss the chancellor. It hasn’t really mattered who the chancellor is, or who the university president is, the only thing you’ll find in the publicly available evaluations is glowing praise. The reason for this is…
It Is Absolutely the State Board of Higher Education’s Job to Weigh in When University Presidents Do Dumb Things
Over the last couple of weeks I’ve been breaking news about some very unusual, very expensive personnel decisions being made on the University of North Dakota campus. The first was UND President Mark Kennedy’s personal assistant getting a promotion, a $30,000 per year raise, and a $25,000 per year travel allowance to commute from her…
UND Is Ending Controversial Employment Arrangement With Chief of Staff
Earlier this month I was the first to report that UND President Mark Kennedy’s personal assistant had received a promotion to chief of staff, a $30,000 per year raise, and a $25,000 yearly allowance to begin working remotely from Texas. Today the University of North Dakota announced that they would be moving on from that…
Longtime Friend of UND President Got $17,250 Per Month Salary for Part-Time Job, Plus Expenses to Commute From Boston
Earlier this month we learned that UND employee Angelique Foster, who worked for campus President Mark Kennedy during his previous tenure at George Washington University, was given a promotion to chief of staff and a $30,000 per year raise before being allowed to begin commuting to work from Texas. UND will be paying for Foster’s…
UND Employee to Be Allowed to Work From Texas Got a Promotion and $30,000 Raise in November
Yesterday I broke news about an unusual employment arrangement granted to University of North Dakota President Mark Kennedy’s chief of staff. Under the terms, Angelique Foster would be allowed to work from her new home in Texas while collecting all of her current $114,000 per year salary and enjoying up to $25,000 per year in…
UND Plans to Spend up to $25,000 Per Year Letting Chief of Staff Work From Home…in Texas
UPDATE: This post originally indicated that Foster would be working from North Carolina, where she is from originally. That was based on previous information from UND indicating that Foster was resigning to be closer to family. I have since learned that Foster will be moving to Texas, and commuting from there to UND. I’ve updated…
UND President Throws Cold Water on Overreaction to South Dakota Extending in-State Tuition to Out-of-State Students
Recently the public university system in South Dakota announced they would be allowing students from neighboring states to pay in-state tuition rates at their institutions. The reaction from some in the North Dakota University System was borderline embarrassing. NDSU President Dean Bresciani, along with NDSCS President John Richman, rushed to the State Board of Higher…
Rep. Rick Becker: What I Learned by Watching 30 Minutes of the Last State Board of Higher Education Meeting
This guest post was submitted by state Rep. Rick Becker, a Republican representing District 7 in the Bismarck area. A few days ago I read that the North Dakota State Board of Higher Education (SBHE) was considering allowing college presidents to offer out-of-state students the in-state tuition rate. Because this touched on two bills I…
Steve Burian: Research by UND and NDSU Critical to North Dakota’s Diversification
This guest post was submitted by Steve Burian, the Grand Forks-based CEO of AE2S and co-chairman of the Valley Prosperity Partnership. In his budget address this week, Governor Burgum stated “our revenues remain largely dependent on commodity prices we cannot control.” The collapse of commodity prices forced our legislature to make difficult budget cuts during…