Last edited by JMB; 01-19-2019 at 06:39 PM. Reason: Can't type
The weather in Fargo keeps the undesirables out.....
...Which is why I live near the Twin Cities.
I have the honor to be Your Obedient Servant - B.Aud
We all live in stories... It seems to me that a definition of any living vibrant society is that you constantly question those stories... The argument itself is freedom. It's not that you come to a conclusion about it. Through that argument you change your mind sometimes... That's how societies grow. When you can't retell for yourself the stories of your life then you live in a prison... Somebody else controls the story. - S. Rushdie
I have the honor to be Your Obedient Servant - B.Aud
We all live in stories... It seems to me that a definition of any living vibrant society is that you constantly question those stories... The argument itself is freedom. It's not that you come to a conclusion about it. Through that argument you change your mind sometimes... That's how societies grow. When you can't retell for yourself the stories of your life then you live in a prison... Somebody else controls the story. - S. Rushdie
ND has 760k people in a country of 326M on a planet with 7.53B. If you haven’t been paying attention, the world outside ND isn't exactly trending in a 'nice' direction. Infighting over 11 schools is a remarkably stupid position for ND to put itself in. The history of the current model shows how misplaced it is and anyone who defends it today likely has a hidden agenda.
NDSU has already won the 'best research university of ND' award (I could throw out numbers all day long that prove this) so just accept it and move on. Trying to internally undermine NDSU’s success (e.g., through politics) hurts ND as a whole and shouldn’t be tolerated, and I don't believe it will be any longer.
That leaves merger and consolidation as the only option. The most radical approach is to consolidate all research/4-year schools under a single administrative umbrella to create a ND ‘MegaU’. This would eliminate program redundancy and – most importantly – significantly cull upper-administrative financial burden across the board.
For athletics, you’re then in the position to invest/grow ND’s 2 successful D1 brands – Bison Football and Sioux Hockey (sorry, but I grew up playing hockey in the great state of MN and this is what everyone I know calls them). In fact, the two programs could then benefit from each other, with the long-term potential for FB- and IH-only P5 invites and the eventual consolidation of the rest under a single D1 brand of at least G5 status.
So there you go … a radical plan for ND higher-ed that refocuses competition externally and saves vast amounts of $$. Plus it actually makes sense, so I guess that means it will never happen.
#rantover
I seem to recall this sort of proposal being tossed around in the early 80's or thereabouts. The only catch was all of the schools that survived would be called the "University of North Dakota - city name here". Everyone on this board knows how far that proposal flew (or would fly) in Fargo.
Whether or not there are too many schools is certainly a debatable topic, but there is a need for community and technical colleges in every state including ND. Call them universities or what not, places like Wahpeton, Lake Region, Dickenson, Minot, etc all serve a student clientele not necessarily well served by the universities of eastern North Dakota.
I read somewhere that something like 3/4 of online students live within 100 miles of the institution they’re taking courses from and at least occasionally receive in person services on campus. So, even with a radical reimagining of higher education perhaps we’re looking at at least 6 physical centers for learning?
This is leaving aside the threat from the significant contingent in the legislature that would rather have no plublic instutions of higher education.
I have the honor to be Your Obedient Servant - B.Aud
We all live in stories... It seems to me that a definition of any living vibrant society is that you constantly question those stories... The argument itself is freedom. It's not that you come to a conclusion about it. Through that argument you change your mind sometimes... That's how societies grow. When you can't retell for yourself the stories of your life then you live in a prison... Somebody else controls the story. - S. Rushdie