VIDEO: Faculty and Staff Town Hall

Questions about pay, enrollment and federal changes to DEI policies are among many answered by UND administrators at Town Hall

Editor’s note: On Wednesday, Jan. 22, UND held a Town Hall meeting via Zoom for faculty and staff. A video of the Town Hall (with closed captions available) is above, while below are summaries of some of the Town Hall’s introductory remarks, followed by a list of the questions that are asked and answered in the video.

For both the summaries and the questions, time stamps are provided for readers’ easy reference.

Summaries of introductory comments

2:04 – President Armacost introduces Dr. Marjorie Jenkins, newly appointed vice president for Health Affairs and dean of UND School of Medicine & Health Sciences

3:17 –  UND Provost Eric Link talks about the new searches for deans of the UND College of Engineering & Mines and UND School of Law

5:34 – Karyn Plumm, vice provost for Undergraduate Studies and Student Success, welcomes Breeann Flesch as director of Essential Studies at UND

6:33 – President Armacost gives a brief update on the North Dakota legislative session

8:09 – Janelle Kilgore, vice provost for strategic enrollment management, delivers update on UND’s enrollment and enrollment trends

11:42 – Athletic Director Bill Chaves updates the campus on head coaches being hired for football and women’s soccer programs

Questions from listeners

12:43 – “In light of the continued efforts to diminish the rights of our LGBTQ-plus community members in North Dakota, what can allies within UND do to help support this community of students, faculty and staff?”

17:00 – “There’s concern about the attack on the Department of Education and on the DEI movement, and our listener would like to hear about the thoughts from our administration on this.”

20:17 – “What is the feeling for annual raises in the coming legislative biennium? The cost of living or inflation has been way more than the annual raises for the for the last several years.”

21:26 – “Is there a cap on how many students that UND can take? Our growth is good, but do we have a magic number in mind where we want to be that is sustainable?”

26:27 – “What steps have been taken to ensure that classes are available to students during the registration period? In essence, we have such a large incoming class, and as one of the things we want to make sure to do is to retain them and help them graduate in a timely manner, I’m wanting to make sure that we have classes available when students need them.”

31:06 – “With the shift in the political climate, is our institution at risk for layoffs? There’s some fear about job security.”

32:43 – “(What are) your thoughts on the recent order to put all federal DEI employees on paid leave, in a move towards laying them off at the federal level and further removing DEI agencies?”

34:57 – “On Dec. 19, there was a winter weather event, and while other area school districts plus Mayville State University either delayed opening or closed, the conditions were tough to travel to campus. (The questioner is) wondering, why did UND remain open with no delay in such conditions?”

39:39 – “Does the University have anything for staff to help guide our international students who may be detained, miss class or cannot return to class?”

42:11 – “Many departments are struggling to fill faculty positions for many reasons, whether it’s pay, location, etc. What are some of the things that the Provost’s Office is doing to assist?”

45:01 – “Why is the President’s Office (visible in background) so empty?”

45:31 – “With the growing enrollment, my department has an incredible advisor, (and there are other) great advisors across campus. Is there any discussion of adding more advisers to campus to support our growing enrollment?”

46:49 – “With all the students on campus and the in-class learning, is UND going to have everyone return to the office and stop all remote work?”

49:57 – “What is the status of Gamble and Columbia halls, and is Columbia Hall going offline in the next academic year?”

51:48 – “How are we managing what can be appear can appear to be competing interests in the legislative session amongst the North Dakota University System institutions? And also, how can staff and faculty be helpful voices in the conversation?”

55:30 – “What are the infrastructure and construction projects that are planned for this spring and summer? In addition, what do you know about what will happen with the Colombia Road overpass and the Demers and 42nd Street underpass?”

58:32 – “Can you talk about the Huron study, and what part of it can we anticipate next?”

(Editor’s note: In answer to this question, Karla Mongeon-Stewart, chief operating officer and vice president for Finance and Operations, noted that her office would provide a written update on the Huron compensation project to be include in this UND Today report on the Town Hall. The update is below, at the conclusion of this list of questions.)

1:01:29 – “What events that are already on the UND calendar for University staff, faculty and students – such as the one that’ll take place on Disability Awareness Day in March – will move forward while we wait to hear about the impact of DEI and higher education and here at UND?”

1:03:10 – “The University website search engine does not function or it functions horribly, and it often brings back irrelevant results. What can be done to make it more efficient and have more specific results?”

1:04:18 – “Will the university community be able to evaluate the vice presidents and the president for an annual evaluation?”

1:05:15 – “Regarding the shuttle that’s been running from the 10th Avenue North parking lot to the Memorial Union, it’s been said the shuttle is not well utilized. The question is, could a Twamley Hall drop-off location be considered to see if that would increase the shuttle usage?”

1:06:32 – “Is there any word on when we’re going to get housekeeping back in the offices?”

1:07:44 – “Are there plans for the now-empty Walsh complex?”

1:08:18 – “During the summer when the overpass is closed, can there be executive support for remote work for those who will be impacted?”

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(Editor’s note: Below is the update provided by the office of Karla Mongeon-Stewart about the compensation study by the Huron Consulting Group that is underway currently at UND.)

New Staff Job Architecture Update for Town Hall 1/22/25

The new staff job architecture project is in the second year of a five-year project.

• The work on the protected class data has been completed.
• The analysis and development of the new staff architecture has been completed.  This entailed a review of every staff position, including a review of about 1800+ position descriptions.  This process was led by Huron initially, with the Compensation Team and all HR Managers included.
• Meetings have been held with each member of the president’s Executive Council to discuss the mechanics of the new job architecture.
• The Compensation team and divisional Human Resources managers are currently meeting with each vice president and their leadership teams as appropriate.   Feedback from these meetings will be reviewed and the job architecture updated as necessary.
  • Meetings already held are as follows:
    • Vice President of Academic Affairs/Provost
      • All Deans, except for the dean of the Graduate School, which is scheduled
    • Vice President for Marketing and Communication
    • Vice President for Research and Economic Development
  • We are working to schedule the rest of the divisional meetings in the next couple of weeks.  (VPFO, VPSA, VPHA/SMHS, President)
• The new staff job architecture data is expected to be finalized this spring.
• Meetings for employees to learn about the new job architecture and ask questions will be scheduled this spring on a variety of platforms to reach all employees.
• The new Compensation Philosophy will be added to the Human Resources website soon.

Please remember this is a multi-year project.  Where increases are needed, planning will occur according to funding source/funds available.