University Senate, other UND groups, looking ahead to legislative session

Grand Forks Herald By Delaney Otto Today at 11:22 AM Listen Comments Share Share this article News Reporting News Reporting Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. The Trust Project What is this? GRAND FORKS — With the legislative session nearing, the University of North Dakota University Senate and other bodies are preparing their priorities. Crystal Alberts, chair of the senate, said she requested the Legislative Affairs Committee draft a resolution to be brought to the full body for consideration that would allow the Senate Executive Committee to draft testimony on behalf of the full body of the University Senate and submit it. ADVERTISEMENT “It’ll be a clear sort of statement of, ‘these are our legislative priorities,’” she said. Alberts said during the University Senate meeting on Thursday, Nov. 5, that the senate typically doesn’t meet in January, which has put the group behind in legislative years. The resolution would give parameters that allow Alberts to submit testimony through the Legislative Affairs Committee and Senate Executive Committee on behalf of the full body. The senate also plans to meet the second week of January. Other campus leaders also are preparing for the session. Don Stopa, president of the Staff Senate, said one of the group’s priorities is asking what staff members are interested in and having a voice with the legislative process coming up. “I know there are plenty of people who have opportunities and thoughts in their mind of what they want, but we’ve got to get them to speak up so we can bring those forward and continue on with that,” he said. Mason Thingvold, president of student government, said the North Dakota Student Association has passed its legislative priorities resolution. Across all North Dakota University System institutions, the resolution’s priorities include: ADVERTISEMENT strengthened safety and security measures; expanded and improved mental health services; the adoption of a higher education funding formula that equitably benefits all institutions; funding for improvements to residence halls; improving funding for access and opportunity programs; improving in-state retention rates through career and workforce development programs; and improved accessibility and compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Provost Eric Link said UND will be communicating what bills it is tracking similarly to how it has in past legislative sessions. Around mid-December, a link will go live on the Office of the President webpage with a link to the 70th legislative session with information about what is going on, what bills UND is tracking “and so forth.” “More to follow on that, but believe it or not, that’s five, six weeks away,” Link said. Also at the University Senate meeting: Alberts and Link gave an update about low completion programs. Alberts said a template is being circulated related to low completion programs, in terms of how institutions would “present the case” of a low completion program to the State Board of Higher Education about whether to, or how to, keep programs that are under review. Link said the template has gone through a couple of iterations and he has provided some feedback on it. Link also said the draft report on low completion programs has had its “draft" watermark removed and has been received by the State Board. No radical changes have been made from the draft version, he said. Alberts said the University Council will meet in Merrifield Hall, room 300 at 3 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 12. The meeting will include topics of creative infrastructure, a tribal consultation policy and teaching and learning in the time of AI. Link said the Academic Affairs Council and Student Affairs Council met in Bismarck and discussed topics such as a system-level faculty workload policy, counting and reporting online out-of-state students, a consistent definition for competency-based education and whether the university system should have a fall break. Anna Kinney, who accepted the position of AI instructional manager last spring, spoke about her new position and invited senate members to get involved with sessions and conversations about AI, both those who do and don’t want to bring AI into their classrooms. Thingvold said there will be a student fee open forum on Nov. 16 and that some student government members toured the Altru Sports Complex, which is under construction near the Alerus Center. The NDSA also passed a tri-state coalition resolution to associate with Minnesota and South Dakota, as well as a diversity action plan resolution. Stopa said the Indians Into Medicine Program will be holding “INMED Works,” a health professions career expo, on Friday, Nov. 13, at the School of Medicine and Health Sciences. There will be 30 booths with potential employers and internships present. The event isn't just for INMED or Indigenous students, he said, but others interested in healthcare opportunities that may be Indigenous related. Comments Share Share this article News Reporting News Reporting Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. The Trust Project What is this? 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