Higher Ed Board makes the right choice

The North Dakota Board of Higher Education has named Interim Chancellor Brent Sanford as the system’s permanent choice (also changing the title to from Chancellor to Commissioner).

It’s the right choice.

Brent Sanford, North Dakota’s former Lieutenant Governor, was tapped to serve as the interim chancellor after the retirement of Mark Hagerott earlier this year. Obviously, Sanford’s performance in the role was impressive enough for the Board to look no further.

The decision was reportedly not made without discussion or perhaps some mild disagreement but most of that appeared to stem from faculty members at the state’s colleges and universities and seemed to center on the fact that Sanford holds a bachelor’s degree, not a postgraduate degree, which would be more impressive…at least to self-absorbed academics. 

Thankfully, for most of the Board and, surely, most of the public, that was not an issue. Talent, track record and ability were.

Not only is Sanford a quality choice, for a number of reasons, his appointment may indicate a promising change in a troubling trend

The “National Search” nonsense

The Board overcame pressure to do a national search before making its choice.

In recent decades, there has been a trend toward insistence upon doing a national search for prominent positions in state government. It’s often a mistake.

• A disclaimer, in full disclosure: I’m no stranger to national searches and once formulated and ran one, as the National Chairman of the Council of State Governments. The Executive Director, then tenured for 19 years, was retiring and, with help from my leadership team, internal and external staff, we fashioned the process from start to finish. It resulted in roughly 100 quality applicants from across the country—many of whom are names you’d likely recognize, if I were at liberty to share them. Several such names would have made a “splash” and, in the eyes of some, been impressive hires. We chose, instead, someone with solid credentials, impressive experience, and familiarity with state government and the organization. It’s proven to be a good choice because, 17 years later, that individual is still in that role.

Bowing to the lofty-sounding ideal that we, in North Dakota, must scour the country to find the “top talent” to fill such positions is not only an insult to those in our own state, but also a short-sighted approach which has borne dismal results. Without naming names and sharing a laundry list of examples, several times, such national searches have resulted in hiring people who were ill-suited to the positions or the state’s culture or structure and who performed poorly in their brief tenures. That’s not universally true, of course, and certainly talented professionals hail from areas outside our state, but the old saw “if it’s not broke don’t fix it” comes to mind.

For years, we’ve bragged about our state and its people. We’ve touted the plentiful examples of homegrown success stories spanning many fields of endeavor. Some North Dakotans have built successful careers, businesses or professional resumes here, while others have gone on to national prominence and we’re justifiable proud.

Our state’s economic development programs have long focused upon touting the fact that the best and brightest can often be found here and have used that to encourage businesses to relocate or expand here, all because of the quality of our state and its people.

Why is it, then, when we want to hire someone for a prominent position, that we are so quick to look elsewhere? There is a time to do so, of course, but let’s begin to look here first and, if we can’t find what we’re looking for, only then look elsewhere.

That’s what the Board of Higher Education just did and it is to be commended for it.

A quality choice

Brent Sanford was whisked into statewide politics when tapped by then-candidate (later Governor and now US Secretary of the Interior) Doug Burgum to run with him for Lieutenant Governor. A CPA by training, he returned to North Dakota after working out of state, as is the story of many of our favorite sons. He’d then been the mayor of Watford City and had seen that oil country boom town successfully through challenges and growing pains.

The ticket won, then won re-election, and Sanford served for six years in the state’s second-highest executive office. I served and watched his performance during all those years, while Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee and Speaker of the House (he was the fourth lieutenant governor with whom I’d served). He did his job well, bringing refreshing approachability, authenticity, mutual respect and a willingness to work together (qualities often in rare supply in that administration during several of those years).

He chose to depart early, rather than serving out his full second term. That took selflessness, wisdom and courage. Had he stayed in the role, he would have been one of the most likely choices to succeed Burgum as governor. 

He had other things to do, other dreams to pursue.

After working in the oil industry and with his alma mater, he was tapped for the interim Higher Ed role. His performance convinced members of the Board this week to make the choice permanent. Good for them!

Having served (while Speaker of the House) on the committee which makes recommendations to the Governor on candidates for appointment to the Board of Higher Education, it’s worth noting that the Board’s current members are exhibiting a refreshing willingness to think outside the box and prioritize the needs of the state, its people and its students, rather than simply bowing to the wishes and traditions of academia.

That’s a step in the right direction in making our state’s system of higher education better than ever.