By Alyssa Pereira
Photography By Kaitlyn Ryan
North Dakota State University is now in a time of stability after facing statewide budget cuts last year, according to Provost Beth Ingram. On February 22, 2017, NDSU President Dean Bresciani announced cuts to key senior administrative positions.
In the announcement, Bresciani referred to the state’s financial situation as “the largest economic recession in a quarter-century.” In response to this financial crisis, the NDSU Division of Student Affairs, senior level administrative positions, and support staff under the division were dissolved. Additionally, athletics and other administrative areas took cuts, while academic areas saw a budget reduction through the general support fund.
A year later, the results of these cuts can now be more clearly seen, and the outcome is overall positive. There has been no direct negative impact on the student experience nor were any programs or majors eliminated due to the budget, according to Ingram.
“We are guided by the strategic plan which says there are two things we focus on: students, the student experience and student success, and the research mission,” Ingram said.
Additionally, the university has not seen an increase in faculty departing the institution since the budget cuts.
“The percentage of faculty that are leaving for jobs elsewhere is the same as it has always been. It ranges from about six to eight percent,” Ingram said.
With the financial stability, upper-level administration now turn their attention to the future.
“The president has set a goal for about 18,000 students,” Ingram said. “He thinks any more than that, we outgrow the personalized attention that students expect on our campus.”
Ingram is confident in this goal and the universities ability to serve a larger student body.
The university is already seeing an increase in incoming out-of-state students from states other than Minnesota and South Dakota. Ingram attributes this increase partly to the new tuition model starting in the new academic year. Out-of-state tuition will reduce from 267 percent of in-state tuition to 150 percent.
Furthermore, the growth of the Fargo-Moorhead area leads way to the growth of NDSU.
“As a research university, our strength depends on the community that we live in,” Ingram said. The larger the community around the university gets, the more attraction there is for incoming students. Ingram believes the vibrant Fargo-Moorhead community is a real selling point for NDSU with a great community and plenty of future job prospects after graduation. The link between the university and the Fargo-Moorhead community keeps both going strong.
“I think we sustain each other,” Ingram said. “But as Fargo grows, NDSU can grow, and if we got to the point where 18,000 was not a big enough population to support the needs of Fargo-Moorhead, we would talk about what we would need to do to grow beyond 18,000.”
Future budget cuts may be on the horizon, but this has not been confirmed. North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum released his preliminary budget guidelines Wednesday, April 18, which outlined more than $50 million cut to higher education. If this passes, NDSU will have to take another look at where additional cuts can be made.
Although this is not an ideal situation, the current strength of the university’s strategic plan as well as the growth of the Fargo-Moorhead community, NDSU is in a good position to manage any future, unforeseen challenges.