{"id":30293,"date":"2023-05-04T18:06:18","date_gmt":"2023-05-04T23:06:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/?p=30293"},"modified":"2024-08-22T21:57:39","modified_gmt":"2024-08-23T02:57:39","slug":"president-armacost-und-leaders-discuss-legislative-session","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/2023\/05\/president-armacost-und-leaders-discuss-legislative-session\/","title":{"rendered":"President Armacost, UND leaders discuss legislative session"},"content":{"rendered":"

Wednesday\u2019s virtual Town Hall featured questions and answers about new laws, UND LEADS and more<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Photo courtesy of Bobak Ha’Eri, Creative Commons<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

During a virtual Town Hall meeting on Wednesday, May 3, UND President Andrew Armacost addressed UND faculty and staff and answered questions, in particular about the 2023 North Dakota legislative session that had adjourned a few days earlier.<\/p>\n

Though some of the legislative bills discussed during the Town Hall have yet to be signed by Gov. Doug Burgum, Armacost and fellow University leaders talked about the anticipated outcomes for UND.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Legislature put us in a good position,\u201d said Armacost, characterizing the amount of financial and verbal support UND received during the 2023 session.<\/p>\n

North Dakota\u2019s appropriations for higher education \u2013 as written in House Bill 1003<\/a> \u2013 met many of UND\u2019s requests and needs for state support, including for salary increases, research and upcoming campus projects.<\/p>\n

Other bills passed may require further examination and communication both with state agencies and the campus community before their impacts are fully understood, Armacost and others said during the Town Hall.<\/p>\n

Throughout the meeting, University leadership assured attendees that more information and clarification will be made available to the campus community as it develops. In reference to some of the higher-profile legislation, Armacost said that combatting misinformation is important for the institution.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we need to do is put our interpretation of the impact of these bills into a format available to all faculty and staff members as well as for people potentially looking to come to UND,\u201d Armacost said. \u201cWe need to take some of the sensational headlines and work hard to tamp those down and give people a sense of what\u2019s really happening with each of these bills.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other topics also were discussed during the Town Hall, including news of the formation of a strategic plan implementation team to be led by Ryan Zerr, professor of mathematics<\/a>. Zerr will take on the title of Associate Vice President for Strategy & Implementation and oversee campus activities to help ensure the success of the UND LEADS strategic plan.<\/p>\n

The implementation committee will be co-chaired by Zerr and Angie Carpenter, director for special student populations<\/a>. It will include Amanda Moske, chief data officer<\/a>; Shane Schellpfeffer, director of institutional effectiveness & accreditation; Anna Clark, director of communications & planning for Academic Affairs<\/a>; and Rob Carolin, chief of staff<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The University is also in the final stages of establishing a contract with Huron Consulting, which will conduct a full review of salary and pay at UND. The process will take an estimated 17 weeks and will provide UND with actionable data about any existing pay disparities, said Peggy Varberg, associate vice president of human resources & payroll services<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For those interested in other topics covered in the Town Hall, video of the hour-long session is available online<\/a>, and an AI-generated transcript<\/a> also is available.<\/p>\n

Below is a bill-by-bill account of the legislative topics discussed at Wednesday\u2019s virtual meeting.<\/p>\n

House Bill 1003<\/a> \u2013 Higher Education Appropriations<\/strong><\/p>\n

Of note, institutions of higher education in North Dakota will receive 15% more in total appropriations than in the previous biennium.<\/p>\n