North Dakota
UND is on the case – UND Today
While North Dakota’s workforce shortage is serious, it’s also the kind of problem that UND can and will help solve, as today’s Special Edition of UND Today makes clear
By Tom Dennis
Editor, UND Today
We are so lucky to live in North Dakota.
True, there’s a distinct lack of oceanfront views, and even the state Tourism Department once sponsored a tongue-in-cheek billboard that read, “North Dakota Mountain Removal Project completed.” But while North Dakotans know all about their state’s comparative weaknesses in scenery, they’re also aware — and rightly proud — of its exceptional strengths.
Here’s one:
Problems have solutions here. That very much includes the state’s workforce shortage, the issue that Gov. Kelly Armstrong campaigned on and ranks among the top concerns of the state Legislature.
And with that in mind, this Special Edition of UND Today is dedicated to the proposition expressed in the headline: UND is on the case.
Don’t misunderstand; the workforce shortage is an extremely serious issue. Earlier this year, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce released its Worker Shortage Index, an interactive map that “shows which states are suffering the most.”
In two and only two of the states, the crisis is listed as “Most Severe.” They are North Dakota and South Dakota, and while North Dakota’s index of 0.47 is slightly better than South Dakota’s 0.43, it still means North Dakota has only 47 available workers for every 100 open jobs.
In other words, ours is the second-worst workforce-shortage in America.
But think of it this way: Compared with high crime rates, poorly performing schools, frightful levels of homelessness and similar modern complaints, a workforce shortage is an enviable problem for a state to have. That’s because it’s much less intractable than those other concerns — and smart policymaking can make a difference.
That’s already happening, and UND is proud to be playing a part. For example, and as one of the stories in today’s Special Edition reports, the new STEM Complex and proposed Health Professions Collaborative Facility are designed to not only increase the number of graduates in those essential fields but also boost those graduates’ effectiveness and productivity once the new pros are on the job.
Elsewhere on campus, UND students already are being prepared to meet real-world challenges and bolster North Dakota’s STEM workforce development, as another of today’s stories reports. A third story describes North Dakota 85, the School of Medicine & Health Science’s initiative to raise to 85 percent the number of North Dakota residents enrolled in the school’s physician and physician-assistant programs.
And our story today about UND’s extensive online programs describes how, as the story puts it, “distance learning has long been a strategic tool for strengthening North Dakota’s workforce, extending UND’s reach and generating economic benefits statewide.”
As mentioned, UND is on the case.
In September, we published a Special Edition of UND Today titled, “Ten Years Later: The University’s Road to Record Recovery.” UND is enjoying record enrollment at the moment, the series noted. How did that growth come about?
In particular, what were the decisions — some of them very difficult, involving budget cuts and program closures — during the state’s financial crunch in 2016-17, that helped set UND up for its current enrollment success? How have state support, infrastructure improvements, research spending and other recent trends factored in?
Today, we’re extending that outlook to offer thoughts about the next 10 years. And because the state’s workforce shortage is top-of-mind for the elected leaders of North Dakota, it’s top-of-mind at the University of North Dakota, too.
The stories in today’s Special Edition explain how.
Thank you for reading UND Today, and your interest in and support of UND! Feel free to contact me at tom.dennis@UND.edu with any comments or questions.
Don’t miss the full series …
>> UND is on the case. While North Dakota’s workforce shortage is serious, it’s also the kind of problem that UND can and will help solve.
>> The North Dakota magnet of online education. UND’s online programs keep North Dakotans rooted and thriving in-state, while drawing people and positive attention from far and wide.
>> STEM U: New buildings promise to engineer student success. How UND’s STEM Complex and proposed Health Professions Collaborative Facility will grow key components of the state’s workforce.
>> STEM U: How UND educates the workforce of the future. Workforce preparation takes place in labs, classrooms and the Alaskan Arctic, among other locations across UND and beyond.
>> Growing our own physicians and physician assistants. With ND85, UND hopes to raise the number of North Dakota residents enrolled in M.D., P.A. programs at its School of Medicine & Health Sciences.
>> VIDEO: How UND is leading the way in STEM. The deans of UND’s College of Engineering & Mines and College of Arts & Sciences join President Andy Armacost for a conversation about STEM training.
More from Author

North Dakota
5 North Dakotans have announced their candidacy for the state’s U.S. House seat
GRAND FORKS — No candidates for the state’s U.S. representative seat have been officially certified yet, but some have still started campaigns ahead of the 2026 election.
The most recent to announce his candidacy is Vern Thompson, a former state lawmaker who will be running on the Democrat ticket.
Aside from Thompson, Trygve Hammer is so far the only other Democrat in the race. Republicans who have announced are Alex Balazs, Ferris Broxton and incumbent Julie Fedorchak.
Thompson served in the state House of Representatives from 1989-1990 and in the state Senate from 1997-2000. He said his decision to run for the congressional seat was prompted by others suggesting the idea after a letter he wrote to Fedorchak, giving her what he called “tough love,” was popular on Facebook.
“I was getting people asking me, ‘Well, you know, maybe you should run?’ ” he said. “I prayed about it; I talked to my family about it; I talked to all the former congressional members from North Dakota that were with the Democratic-NPL (Nonpartisan League) … and kind of let them know what was going through my mind.”
Thompson, of Minnewaukan, said his previous experience with the Legislature gives him the tools needed to fill the U.S. House seat, adding he also had “the knowledge, the energy, the passion and the inspiration” to do the job. He also has no plans to become a “career politician,” he said, and would only serve two terms if elected.
Thompson wants to address health insurance costs, utility prices, and support for farmers and agriculture, among other topics.
He is also concerned about tariffs on other countries like Canada, saying he’s heard frustrations from Canadians.
“I’m talking to as many Canadians as I do on the U.S. side, and the president has just gotten our neighbors, or biggest trading partner, angry with us, where they’re not coming as far as tourism for Grand Forks,” he said.
Another recent entry into the race is Republican Ferris Broxton, a businessman from Minot.
Broxton, who’s originally from Georgia, said he chose to run for the seat because of what he called systemic corruption in the government. He said he reached out about it to Gov. Kelly Armstrong — when Armstrong was North Dakota’s representative — as well as to Sen. Kevin Cramer, Sen. John Hoeven and Fedorchak.
By running for the U.S. House, Broxton said he can make his concerns about the government known more publicly.
“That’s a position where I can make a difference; where I can have a megaphone, where I can talk to the news on a regular basis, where I can educate people,” he said.
Broxton has also laid out more of his goals if elected on his website, including holding public town hall meetings and improving transparency at all levels of government.
He also said while he doesn’t have prior experience as a politician, he has been a “fighter” all his life and hopes to hold government officials accountable if he is elected.
“If nobody’s able to step forward and get me heard and show that they will represent North Dakota and protect us from the biggest threat, then I will do everything I can to take that position. That’s what I’m running for,” he said.
Fedorchak, the incumbent,
announced her bid for reelection at the beginning of January.
She was first elected to the position in 2024 and is a native of Williston.
“As a fourth-generation North Dakotan, I want the very best state and nation for my kids and for families across our state,” Fedorchak said in a news release. “That means advancing policies to make America safer, stronger and more affordable — and that’s what I’m working toward every day.”
Alex Balazs
announced his candidacy in December.
Balazs previously ran for the House seat during the primary in 2024. He is a military veteran from Cando.
“Public service should never become a permanent campaign,” Balazs said in a news release. “North Dakota deserves a representative who leads, who introduces legislation, drives the conversation, and stays accountable to the people, not the politics.”
Trygve Hammer
also launched his campaign in January,
having also ran for the same seat during the 2024 election. Hammer is a Velva native, a retired Marine and former educator.
“Right now we have no voice in Congress. We need someone who will see something and say something. We need a representative who will demand that Congress take back its rightful powers,” Hammer said via release.
The primary election on June 9 will determine which Democrat and Republican candidate will move forward to the general election on Nov. 3.
North Dakota
North Dakota health leaders see new funding as turning point for rural patients
FARGO — A historic opportunity in North Dakota health care will be providing more access to rural patients.
The state’s Rural Health Transformation Program recently received $199 million in federal funding.
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