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Step 1 in Bismarck: Start with the title – the University of North Dakota

The more UND can help North Dakota statewide, the more receptive lawmakers will be to UND proposals, Grand Forks legislators say

With 47 senators and 94 representatives, the 67th Legislative Assembly convened in the North Dakota Capitol in Bismarck on Jan. 5. Image: Wikipedia Commons

Here’s a four-word summary of all that follows. It’s a prescription for UND on how to succeed at the North Dakota Legislature, delivered in frank terms by two of Grand Forks’ most powerful lawmakers:

Start with the title.

And by that, State Rep Mark Sanford and State Sen. Ray Holmberg mean this:

Remember your name – the University of North Dakota.

Mark Sanford

“My question to you as the flagship is, ‘Are you considering your presence across the state?’” said Rep. Sanford, R-Grand Forks, and chairman of the Legislature’s interim Higher Education Committee.

“One of the things we hear about as legislators is, ‘those Eastern universities,’” Sanford continued. “That’s particularly true when it comes to bonding or appropriations.

“So, I’m hoping that in your process, you will consider your presence across the state. Is it as strong as it could be?”

Sanford and State Sen. Holmberg, R-Grand Forks and the chairman of the North Dakota Senate Appropriations Committee, spoke on Wednesday in a Zoom seminar sponsored by the UND Task Force on the Future of Education.

The Task Force, an initiative launched by UND Interim Provost Debbie Storrs, is charged with educating the University community about the big issues facing UND and higher education today. During the seminar, which was titled “UND as a Servant University,” Task Force Co-Chair and Associate Professor of Earth System Science & Policy Jeff VanLooy asked Sanford and Holmberg about UND’s relationship with the Legislature and how that relationship can be improved.

A Servant University

In a nutshell, the answer is this:

UND should embrace its Servant University role (as suggested by the seminar’s title), and seek to serve – humbly and respectfully – the North Dakota University System, the state of North Dakota and the people of North Dakota.

That approach would be noticed, welcomed and rewarded in Bismarck, Sanford and Holmberg suggested.

• Serving the state means making sure UND’s work makes all of North Dakota a better place, from Buxton in the Red River Valley to Beach on the Montana line. For example, the fact that physicians and hospital administrators in western North Dakota strongly supported UND’s proposal for a new medical-school building in 2013 played a huge role in the Legislature’s approving the plan.

More recently, the Grand Forks-based Northern Plains UAS Test Site and Vantis, the first Beyond Visual Line of Sight network in the nation, chose the Watford City and Williston area as the starting point for testing the new network.

Vantis already has installed drone communication and navigation towers in both Watford City and Williston; and in November, the system chose Williston as the site for its first test flights.

Ray Holmberg

Such choices are strategic, and they help show that UAS is a statewide program, Holmberg said.

“Those are the kinds of things that really sell out West,” Holmberg said. “Plus, no other school can compete with UND in those areas.

“Statewide, you’ve really got to play to those strengths that you have,” he continuted. And having programs that make a difference in places such as Williston “build support in the Williston area for UND.”

• Serving the North Dakota University System means treating the other campuses as peers and team members, not competitors, Sanford said.

“We have a university system; and again, as the flagship, you play a role in that,” Sanford said.

“What is your role? Are you cooperative, or are you competitive? Are you polite?”

The latter trait can go an especially long way, Sanford said. When UND acts unselfishly and in ways that help other campuses prosper, lawmakers notice.

Leading in such a cooperative fashion “can really pay dividends, not only for UND but also for North Dakota and the entire system,” he said.

• As for serving the people of North Dakota, one area where UND’s influence is felt is affordability. “This is a ‘cost containment as the first way to balance your budget’ type of thing,” Sanford said.

Years ago, UND was “far and away the best bargain” among the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education schools, which include institutions in 15 states, Sanford said.

“And that is still the case. But the numbers are a lot closer today than they used to be,” suggesting that UND should redouble its efforts to keep tuition hikes and other fee increases to a minimum, he said.

Understand, UND’s reputation among North Dakota lawmakers already is strong. In particular, “UND has led the way in a number of innovations, as well as with actually biting bullets and making changes that were absolutely essential,” Holmberg said.

The innovations include the public-private partnership that built a new steam plant at no cost to North Dakota taxpayers. The changes include not only drafting but also putting into practice a well-thought-out Strategic Plan.

“In the Appropriations Committee in the Senate, and I think it’s the same in the House, UND is respected for actually having done things that were different,” Holmberg said.

Serving vs. leading

Jeff VanLooy

Now, here’s a key question from a listener, one that touches on all of the above, said seminar host Jeff VanLooy:

“There is a tension between serving the state and leading the state. For example, if we respond to the current needs of industry, we may limit our ability to serve the state’s long-term interest,” VanLooy read.

“How do you advise institutions to handle this tension, when being a servant University dictates different perspectives based on long- and short-term costs and benefits?”

One answer to that question is simply, Be tactful in your approach. In other words, “you can be a servant leader,” Holmberg said. “But at the same time, you should respect reality. What gets your foot in the door are some of those other kinds of things, which are short-term.”

Remember, many lawmakers think in increments of two years, meaning the time until the next election, Holmberg said. UND need not focus exclusively on this desire for real-word results, but neither should the University ignore it.

“I think you can be a servant, but also keep in mind the reality of what’s going on,” he repeated.

Sanford agreed. And here’s another area where strategic thinking is important, both lawmakers said: winning state support for university research.

“The programs that are related to energy are definitely getting some recognition,” Sanford said. “The UAS area is as well.”

But once again, that’s because lawmakers in central and western North Dakota can see the results of such research. If you think of research as a funnel, Sanford said, lawmakers are most interested in the small end: the nozzle through which developments get delivered that improve North Dakota’s economy and quality of life.

“They’re less interested in the bigger end,” he said.

“So it’s been hard to get them to think about investing upfront and how important that is. But I think that’s starting to change, because there have been some good stories coming out of UND in that respect.”

West of the interstate

Holmberg agreed. And here’s a concrete example of the dynamic at work: In 2019, when the presidents of UND and North Dakota State University pitched a research-support proposal, “there were no votes in the House in favor of that research from west of Interstate 29,” Holmberg said.

It’s not that the proposal was dead on arrival. It’s that House members from outside of the Red River Valley simply weren’t convinced their districts would see a good return on the proposed investment.

Andy Armacost

In contrast, proposals in support of energy research routinely win broad support, because that work makes a difference on lawmakers’ home ground. “But when you talk about research in many other areas, I think legislators say, ‘Oh, that’s nice, but the benefits are just going to go to Fargo and Grand Forks,’” Holmberg said.

“I think that’s what drove a lot of folks to vote the way they did in the last session.” And the solution is to remember the point made at the beginning of the seminar: Never forget your name, the University of North Dakota, and the importance of the University’s presence across the entire state.

UND President Andrew Armacost thanked Sanford and Holmberg for taking part in the seminar. “They’re in the middle of their legislative session, and to have them here to share their perspectives with us as a campus community is so important,” Armacost said.

“They sit at the intersection of higher education and the legislative process. And they have given me, as a brand-new president, great advice on navigating the legislative waters.

“So I appreciate their wisdom, their advice and their friendship, and it’s a joy to have them with us today. I thank them for being here.”