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INSPIRING OUR FUTURE Front Cover: North Dakota State University is recognized as one of the nation’s top 108 public and private universities by the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education. Inside Cover: Dickinson State University (DSU) accounting students rise to excellence through an upper-level accounting class called the CPA Experience. The innovative course simulates real-world working conditions of accountants and fully prepares them for graduation.
Educating teachers for the future needs of North Dakota and providing services for rural areas remains an important mission for Mayville State University. In a unique collaborative arrangement with the local elementary school, Mayville State teacher education students have an opportunity to participate in a field experience with local fourth graders.
TABLE of Contents
NDUS Colleges and Locations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Board Chair Diederich’s Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Daring to Be Great Five-Year Goals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Daring to Exceed Expectations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Daring to Deliver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Daring to Dream Bigger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Daring to Stand Together . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Financial Snapshot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Leaning Forward, Looking Ahead . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Who We Are, What We Do . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 State Board of Higher Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Bottineau
Minot
Williston
Devils Lake
Grand Forks Mayville
Dickinson
Bismarck
Valley City
Fargo
Wahpeton
NDUS COLLEGES & Locations Community Colleges
Regional STate Universities
Bismarck State College
Dickinson State University
Dakota College at Bottineau
Mayville State University
Lake Region State College
Minot State University
North Dakota State College of Science
Valley City State University
Williston State College
Research Universities North Dakota State University University of North Dakota
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Daring to be great Creating The NDUS EDGE for our students
This is North Dakota's moment. This is our students’ moment. There has never been a better opportunity for them to reach their highest potential than right here, right now, in our great state. This is the perfect time to launch a plan that will unleash the potential of higher education in North Dakota. This is the time to gather all of the hopes and dreams that we've had for our colleges and universities and turn them into reality.
Kirsten Diederich, Chair, SBHE
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Allow us to continue on a path of improvement. We will prove ourselves worthy. Then, stand back and watch us impress the world.
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– Faculty/Staff Survey
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It's no secret that North Dakota is enjoying a robust economy and budget surpluses, while other states are struggling with unemployment and budget shortfalls. After 80 years of population decline, the state is growing and is expected to reach 800,000 people by 2020. State forecasters predict that 76,000 new jobs will be created between 2010 and 2020. There are currently nearly 30,000 job openings in North Dakota. As people move here to fill those jobs, North Dakota's elementary schools are bulging, and secondary schools are growing. That bubble is expected to start hitting our colleges and universities by 2020. The State Board of Higher Education sees this as an opportunity to bring the North Dakota University System to the forefront of the state's path to greatness, creating an edge for our students – The NDUS EDGE.
For the past six months, the Board and NDUS have been developing a transformational strategic plan for 2015-2020. The planning process involved more than 100 individual and group interviews. This included conversations with a variety of stakeholders: student, staff and faculty leaders on each campus; college and university presidents; former NDUS chancellors and board members; business leaders; executive branch officials and legislators; campus foundation directors and community leaders. The planning effort also incorporated a survey of the state's Young Professionals Network, the first-ever Twitter chat with NDUS students and an online survey in which 1,674 faculty and staff participated. The input gave voice to collective concerns and offered guidance for a focused, exciting conversation when the Board, the institutions' presidents and senior NDUS staff gathered to consider the information and formulate the new strategic plan.
Rhoades Science Center at Valley City State University provides state-of-the-art classrooms, labs and offices for the VCSU science and math departments, along with the university’s Great Plains STEM Education Center and IT services. VCSU’s collaborative nursing program with Dakota College at Bottineau is also housed in Rhoades. Analysis of the faculty and staff survey results showed that the most commonly used word was “students.” We are a student-centered organization, and that's important as we move forward with this plan. Students are our future and our purpose for what we do. Our new mission and vision statements reflect that focus: “Unleashing potential, Inspiring our future.” As we deliberated, common themes arose, and we distilled those into four goals that will get us where we want to be by 2020. • • • •
Deliver degrees that are the best value in the nation. Provide programs people want, where and when they need them. Equip students for success. Maximize the strengths of the unified system.
These goals form the foundation of our strategic plan, the direction set by the Board. Strategies and outcomes have been determined, and now each campus will align its initiatives with the overall plan. The Board will monitor the progress, review the plan on a regular basis and adjust accordingly. But we're taking it a step further to ensure that this plan is a living document. We are not only sharing this plan broadly through various communication channels, we are also going to share our progress in meeting our goals. We are developing dashboards that match the outcomes in the plan, and those dashboards will be displayed on our website for all of our stakeholders to see. We asked for your input; we want you to see how we're using your ideas. That's important as we move forward. We want to keep the momentum going. We're on an exciting path, and we want and need the ideas and support of all of North Dakota. We can't lose a single moment during this time of unprecedented opportunity. Working together, we will unleash the potential of higher education in our state. Working together, we will inspire our future. Working together, we are daring to be great. We are creating the edge we need to achieve greatness – The NDUS EDGE – for our students, for our institutions, and for our state.
Kirsten Bakke Diederich, Ph.D. Chair, State Board of Higher Education
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G N I R DA DEXACREEIDNEGXPTECOTATIONS
t s e b e h t e r a t a h t s e e Deliver degr value in the nation THE NDUS
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EDGE
DDRAERAMINBGIGGTEOR Equip students for success
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t, n a w e l p o e p s m a m r e g h o t r p d e e e d i n y e h Prov t n e h dw n a e r e h w
DASTANDRING TO TOGETHER
Maximize the strengths of the unified system 9
DARING TO EXCEED EXPECTATIONS Deliver degrees that are the best value in the nation.
Affordability was designated as a priority in the five-year strategic plan. Discussions not only encompassed price, but also quality. How can we ensure that our students get the biggest bang for their educational buck? North Dakota already compares favorably to states in our region for the cost to obtain a college education at most of our institutions, and we're well below national averages. The average for resident tuition and fees for doctoral universities in our region is $8,305 per year, while the NDUS average is $7,524. For regional master’s, the average is $6,890, while ours is $6,087; for four-year colleges and universities, the average is $6,561, while ours is $5,707. The exception is the NDUS community colleges, where the regional average is $3,542 and ours is slightly higher at $4,086. Several media reports in the past year highlighted our colleges and universities in terms of value. North Dakota State University and the University of North Dakota were ranked highly in providing a good return on investment for students attending those institutions and getting jobs. And a recent report said that community college graduates receive nearly $5 in benefits for every dollar they spend on their education, while the return to taxpayers is almost six to one. The Board's plan for ensuring that NDUS degrees are the best value in the nation includes the following strategies: • • • •
Ensure the price to attend NDUS institutions is clearly stated and regionally competitive. Standardize categories of mandatory fees and strengthen fee policies. Increase the use of open educational resources. Rank among the most productive states in total funding per degree and certificate awarded.
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NDUS is vital to the future of the state. It can be a model for the nation in providing accessible, affordable education. – Faculty/Staff Survey
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Task forces have already laid the groundwork for the first two affordability strategies, and a framework for implementation has been built. The final strategy reiterates the Board's commitment to be a good steward of its funding dollars and invest wisely in the resources to serve our students. The strategy surrounding open educational resources is an exciting one and has piqued the interest of the Legislature during its interim studies. The Board included funding for this initiative in its 2015-17 budget request. Open educational resources are vetted online textbooks and tools for the classroom that will not only save students money, but will also help provide a more interactive, high-tech learning experience. After using traditional textbooks for more than 30 years, Professor Teresa Tande at Lake Region State College in Devils Lake is among the first in the state to commit to using a free online textbook for one of her classes.
WSC’s Transportation program continues to grow and adapt to meet the needs of our community.
“If a long-time teacher can look at doing this and embrace the wave of what teaching can be, I hope that will be motivation for others,” she said. “You have to consider your students, your program, your class, and it’s not a one size fits all, but somebody has to make the first move.”
During Fall Semester 2014, Tande is teaching one of her two sections of the University Life class using an open textbook from a vetted online library. She said she is excited about trying something new and about saving students money. She points to LRSC's history of being on the cutting edge of alternative delivery that helped make this a reality. Her experience will help other faculty members determine how best to incorporate online resources into their own curricula as the program moves forward. The North Dakota Student Association recently conducted an affordability survey. Comments like these matched the Board's deliberations: “The university needs to focus on an affordable education above all else,” and, “Please help us keep tuition low. It provides an amazing return on investment for myself and the state of North Dakota.”
The University of North Dakota is educating North Dakota’s future healthcare workforce.
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DARINGDeliver TO Provide programs people want, where and when they need them.
The Board determined a priority for NDUS should be ensuring access and availability to the system. In a changing world and in the current economic environment in North Dakota, that priority has deep and varied implications for the future. NDUS institutions are working closely with business and industry to provide the education and training students need to get good jobs and become productive members of society. They are also collaborating across the system to seamlessly meet students’ needs, while fulfilling the unique missions of each institution. But there is much more to be done. These strategies will guide NDUS during the next five years: • Ensure programs are relevant, valuable and timely. • Meet North Dakota's workforce needs through recruitment of students from traditional and non-traditional audiences, both in and out of state. • Expand access to instructional opportunities through non-traditional delivery methods.
Assistant professor Reynold Miller discusses the solar energy panels tied into the BSC power grid with renewable energy students.
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The 2013 NDUS fall enrollment report showed 51.6 percent of NDUS students report a North Dakota home address, while 29.9 percent are from the contiguous states of Minnesota, Montana and South Dakota. The remaining students are from other states and international locations. Workforce needs identified in the NDUS facilities master plan and in Job Service North Dakota’s 10-year job projections, indicate that student recruitment is essential to fulfill the needs of our state. Research shows students who are educated in the state are more likely to seek employment here, and businesses are aggressively recruiting our students.
While we know there are many North Dakota citizens who have completed some college and whose employment opportunities would improve if they finished their education, 74.1 percent of the NDUS student body is traditional-age students. “We have a strong workforce in North Dakota, but we need constant ‘upgrade’ opportunities – a continuous training cycle. We need to be fast and flexible in our education system offerings,” said one business leader interviewed during the strategic planning process. Certainly, an opportunity exists to help non-traditional age students fulfill their educational and employment goals. The 2013 fall enrollment report showed a 7.9 percent increase in enrollment in online and interactive video network classes. The demand for these types of delivery methods is on the rise, and NDUS is responding in innovative ways.
The Paramedic Program at the North Dakota State College of Science gives students hands-on learning opportunities.
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We've heard loudly and clearly that classes need to be taught when students can take them. Students try to work full time and go to school full time; they need flexibility rather than 9 am to 3 pm. – Business Leader Interview
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For example, Bismarck State College recently launched a new technology application to train Nuclear Power Technology students online. Developers at BSC's National Energy Center of Excellence (NECE) worked with computer programmers to create the Nuclear Pressurized Water Reactor online simulator. The simulator operates like a real nuclear plant and can be accessed from any computer, anytime, anywhere. “With 20 percent of America’s energy generated from nuclear power, it is very important to equip our students with the education and knowledge to safely and efficiently produce and protect this critical piece of our country’s infrastructure,” said Kyren Miller, NECE program manager.
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DARING TO DREAM BIGGER Equip students for success.
The faculty and staff survey conducted during the strategic planning process confirmed the North Dakota University System is indeed student-centered, and, in fact, passionate about student success. The most-used word among the massive amount of data collected is “students” and the recurring theme is “focused on students.” Considerable study has gone into student success in the past two years, particularly concerning admissions standards and retention and graduation rates. The Board has enlisted the expertise of internal and external experts to determine the path forward, and has developed the following strategies: • Improve admissions standards at institutions. • Increase students’ overall attainment rates through increased participation, retention and completion rates. • Remove barriers to registering and advising transfer students. There is a host of specific outcomes that will help track progress in these areas, such as improved retention rates for first-time, full-time students; improved four-year and six-year graduation rates, based on two comparable sources; number of degrees awarded to Pell Grant recipients; and meeting or exceeding national averages for first-time pass rates on professional licensure examinations. While these numbers are essential for measuring progress, NDUS believes that student success hinges on many factors. Classroom size and student-to-faculty ratio are also important. The diversity of colleges and universities within NDUS makes it easier for students to choose the right environment for them. Kyle Beckstead, a 2009 Mayville State University graduate currently teaching in Grand Forks, said, “You don't feel like a number at Mayville State. I got to know my classmates and my teachers and everyone around me on a personal basis. You don’t get lost in the shuffle. I like the small community feel.” Board Chair Kirsten Diederich, whose parents both attended Mayville State, calls it a “private school education at a public school price.” Success in high school is another important factor, which is why NDUS is working closely with the Department of Public Instruction to find the best ways to ensure that K-12 students are well prepared for college coursework. Opportunities are being discussed to address remediation and support K-12 initiatives such as “Leveraging the Senior Year,” currently in development.
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The Board also included funds in its 2015-17 budget request for a new tool, Predictive Analytics Reporting (PAR), which will help predict and guide student success. The PAR Framework is currently being piloted at the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks with excellent preliminary results. Josh Riedy, Ed.D., vice provost and chief strategy officer at UND, said, “PAR is a powerful tool enabling data-driven decision making at UND, while enhancing our ability to best serve students, ultimately increasing retention, graduation rates and overall student success.” PAR is a multi-institutional data mining collaborative that brings together two-year, four-year, public, proprietary, traditional and progressive institutions to identify common points of student loss and to find effective practices that improve student retention in U.S. higher education. It helps identify risk factors at the individual student level and gives institutions the tools to intervene at the student's moment of need.
Students at Dakota College at Bottineau represent 43 states, numerous Canadian provinces and several foreign countries, resulting in a dynamic campus environment. Yet it enjoys a small student body and class sizes, ensuring its students receive personal attention from faculty and staff that focuses on student success.
The Precision Ag program at Lake Region State College uses the latest technologies – including UAS – to prepare students for this in-demand career field.
NDUS institutions have collaborated through the General Education Requirement Transfer Agreement developed in 1996. As a result, North Dakota leads the nation in the ability of students within the system to transfer credits from one institution to the other. However, there is always room for improvement and as courses change, it's important to ensure that agreement is relevant and timely. Thus, it remains a high priority for the system.
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Our focus is the whole student because they're here for more than classes. We're interested in developing well-rounded individuals, and people on our campus understand this. They care about the whole person. – NDUS Staff interview
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DARING TO STAND TOGETHER Maximize the strengths of the unified system.
While there are advantages to each institution within the North Dakota University System having its unique mission and types of programs for its students, there are also advantages to students and the state when the members work together as a system. From the business side, collective purchasing power and shared services are advantages; from the academic side, collaborating on programs across campus borders to help students get the classes they need is highly desirable. With that in mind, the Board approved the following strategies to maximize the system's strengths: • Increase academic collaboration among the institutions. • Create efficiencies through shared programs and services where cost-savings and/or performance enhancements are achievable. • Strengthen the system's ability to respond quickly to changing needs. • Enhance the research reputation of the research institutions.
NDSU is a proud member of the 11-campus North Dakota University System.
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Academic collaboration is already happening across the system. Dickinson State and Minot State provide opportunities for Bismarck State College students to obtain their bachelor’s degrees without leaving home. Helping to meet the critical demand for nurses in the state, the Dakota Nursing Program was formed in 2004 to deliver high-quality nursing education programs through innovative instruction and includes programs at BSC, Lake Region State College in Devils Lake, Dakota College at Bottineau and Williston State College. Mayville State University is now offering the first year of pre-requisite courses in the nursing program, while LRSC is offering the subsequent courses leading to practical and associate degrees in nursing. These are just a few examples, and many more opportunities exist. From the business side, system collaboration has been picking up steam over the past few years. Core Technology Services, which provides information technology services and computer support for the system, is a prime example of system efficiency gains. Legislative support allowed the university system to develop its first system-wide master plan for facility management, which has enabled the Board to prioritize investments in, and maintenance of, its physical assets. It will be key to ensuring the infrastructure is in place to support the wave of college students expected to impact higher education in North Dakota by 2020. Successful implementation of the Board's strategic plan will also impact growth.
High-fidelity clinical simulation labs provide vital experiences for Minot State University students. The university also offers a BSN completion program online.
A task force was recently appointed to investigate the possibility of shared services for payroll across the system. The system office and other campuses have also stepped up to assist Williston State College as it suffers from high employee turnover related to the oil boom demand for workers in that part of the state.
Research is an integral part of the success of our research universities and the entire system, as robust research programs attract the best faculty and the best students. North Dakota State University in Fargo and the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks are making advances every day, and they are also collaborating in research opportunities. UND, NDSU and LRSC have formed a partnership with the state of North Dakota, Grand Forks Air Force base, the city of Grand Forks and others as one of six test sites for unmanned aerial systems (UAS). North Dakota’s first operational UAS flights occurred on May 5 at NDSU’s Carrington Research Extension Center.
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Eleven campuses working cooperatively within one system to provide access to quality education for residents and non-residents – that's opportunity.
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– Business Leader Interview 17
financial snapshot Other Current Funds 31.2% Grants and Contracts 15.1%
Tuition 21.9%
2014-2015 Annual Budget
State General Fund 31.8% System Support & Management 33%
Salary Expenditures
FY 2013 State and Tuition Salary Expenditures by Function. Instruction and Academic Support 67% All Other Support (eg. student, institutional, plant,etc) 33%
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Instructional and Academic Support 67%
2008-2013 Tuition Increase Comparison College Board
ND 9.3% U. S. Average 26.6%
2013-14 Academic Year North Dakota Tuition & Fees vs. Regional Averages $4,086
North Dakota 2-Year College Regional 2-Year College
$3,542 $5,707
North Dakota 4-Year College Regional 4-Year College
$6,561
North Dakota Master’s Average
$6,087
Regional Master’s Average
$6,890 $7,524
North Dakota Doctoral Average
$8,305
Regional Doctoral Average
00 ,0
0 $1
00
,0
$8
00
,0
$6
00
,0
$4
00
,0
$2
0
Data Sources: Tuition & Fees In Public Higher Education in the West 2013-14 Detailed Tuition and Fee Tables (All states except North Dakota and Minnesota); GoMN, Your 2013-14 Guide to Minnesota State Colleges and Universities; 2013-14 Institutional Charges Schedule (North Dakota); U.S. Census Bureau, 2012 American Community Survey (ACS) One-Year Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS) File (Provided by NCHEMS)
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Leaning forward, looking ahead A strategic plan is a living document, and development of this plan ignited conversations about what else can be accomplished as we move forward with our bold, new vision. Suggestions included developing strong business partnerships that increase student loan forgiveness opportunities in exchange for a commitment to work in North Dakota, providing tools to veterans to complete degrees and targeting residents age 25-64 who have some college but no degree – about 24 percent of the state’s population.
Game-changing strategies.
Visionary ideas threading through the stakeholder input may merit further conversation with stakeholders and champions during the next five years. These new approaches could help us better serve our students and our state. • Position NDUS as a magnet, perhaps through a robust honors program and student aid incentives, to retain the brightest high-school graduates and attract non-resident students to address the state’s workforce concerns. • Embrace groundbreaking research opportunities and partnerships, especially in energy development, agriculture and unmanned aerial systems. • Address diversity and increase students’ exposure to global perspectives. • Enhance merit and needs-based aid. • Consider free tuition in exchange for working in the state. • Increase emphasis on individualized advising and counseling services. • With increasing military retirements, attract more veterans to NDUS to complete their degrees. • Broadly communicate the advantages of attending an NDUS college.
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Stay ahead of changes in our economy and in higher education. Look at innovations and figure out how to stay ahead of the game. – Legislator interview
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Presidents’ initiatives.
In addition to developing strategies and key indicators to achieve the goals, the institutions’ presidents noted the need to maintain high standards of delivering a quality education. They discussed the following collaborative efforts and additional initiatives for the future: • Create Collaborative Higher Learning Initiatives, such as virtual centers for teacher educational excellence or advanced technology applications. • Meet educational excellence and workforce needs through strategic incentives. One business leader asked during a focus group, “If the state said, ‘Here’s a billion dollars to invest in our grandchildren,’ what would higher education do with it?” Some of the answers are contained in the visionary ideas outlined throughout this discussion that will indeed unleash the potential of the university system and the state. This plan and these ideas, create The NDUS EDGE.
NDSCS Diesel Technology students have a 100% placement rate.
With the world’s first degree program in Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), the University of North Dakota is an international leader in all things UAS: education, research, development and understanding the behavioral and ethical implications of flying unmanned aircraft.
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Whowhatwewearedo The North Dakota University System comprises the 11 public higher education institutions in North Dakota. In an effort to streamline processes and allow students greater flexibility to move between the public institutions in the state, the Legislature created the North Dakota University System in 1990. The State Board of Higher Education was created to govern the university system. The Board is comprised of 10 “citizen soldiers” who give of their time to help guide higher education in North Dakota. Board membership includes seven citizens from around the state with expertise in higher education and business, one student representative, and two non-voting advisers – a faculty adviser and staff adviser. All Board members apply and are appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Senate. The faculty and staff advisers are elected by their peers. The 63rd Legislative Assembly supported Gov. Jack Dalrymple’s recommendation to fund North Dakota’s colleges and universities under a new funding model. Rather than funding based on initial student enrollments, the Legislature agreed that the institutions would receive funding based on student credit hours completed. The new formula was developed collaboratively by a team made up of campus financial leaders and state budget experts. It is more transparent, based on the actual costs of education, and is designed to encourage student success. The heart of a university system is its people – faculty, staff, and students who are smart, curious, inventive and truly inspiring. The State Board of Higher Education gives them guidance and the tools they need to unleash their potential.
NDUS by the numbers • 11 unique campuses • 47,000+ students • 7,500+ faculty/staff Lake Region State College offers unique and varied programs to provide students with exciting job opportunities and advanced positions of responsibilities.
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• $4.8 billion economic impact on ND
NDUS.edu
STATE BOARD OF Higher Education Christopher McEwen Student Member
Kevin Melicher Member
Don Morton Member
Kathleen Neset Member
Kari Reichert Member
Grant Shaft Member
Kirsten Diederich Chair, SBHE
Terry Hjelmstad Vice Chair, SBHE
Janice Hoffarth Staff Adviser
Eric Murphy Faculty Adviser
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North Dakota University System 10th Floor, State Capitol 600 East Boulevard Ave, Dept. 215 Bismarck, ND 58505-0230 701-328-2960 ndus.office@ndus.edu (email) ndus.edu