North Dakota
Board approves Brent Sanford as new ‘commissioner’ of North Dakota University System
MINOT — The board overseeing the North Dakota University System has awarded the interim chancellor the permanent role and changed the name of that role in the process.
The State Board of Higher Education unanimously approved Brent Sanford as commissioner of the system at its meeting Tuesday, Sept. 23, in Minot.
Sanford, a former Republican lieutenant governor, was
named the interim university system leader in April,
replacing Chancellor Mark Hagerott,
who stepped down around the same time.
In August, Board Chair Kevin Black told a legislative committee meeting in Dickinson that
he favored skipping a nationwide search in favor of giving Sanford the job.
Before the vote Tuesday, Black called it a “once-in-a-generational opportunity” to appoint Sanford, whom he said can make a true difference for higher education.
“For those reasons, I think doing the right thing and putting the right person in the seat trumps the process. In this case, I think it is absolutely 100% worth it,” Black said.
Other board members praised Sanford, indicating he was an obvious choice.
“I can always recognize the guy that’s got that ‘it factor,’ and in my opinion, Brent’s got that ‘it factor,’ and I’m excited about his opportunities to come and lead this university system,” said Member Tim Mihalick.
Said Member Danita Bye, “We could have done a national search and Brent would be our top candidate.”
Black said despite changing the title to commissioner, a motion that also received unanimous approval, the role of the position does not change.
“What I think the board is really saying through this motion is that we believe it’s important to align with what the Constitution says and what Century Code says,” he said.
To reflect the change, Board Vice Chair Donald “D.J.” Campbell laid out further amendments to other leadership titles.
The chancellor will become commissioner, the vice chancellor for academic and student affairs will become deputy commissioner/chief academic and student affairs officer, and the vice chancellor for administrative affairs will become deputy commissioner and chief financial officer, he said.
Before the vote on Sanford took place, he gave a presentation to the board and answered questions from board members.
Member Patrick Sogard asked about
a perception among some in the public
of Sanford’s lack of experience in academia.
Hagerott, who had led the university system since 2015, had a doctorate degree, and other recent chancellors have had master’s or other advanced degrees.
Sanford said his experience interacting with higher education as lieutenant governor was valuable.
He added that he was truly enjoying the role as interim chancellor.
“You can probably tell I do and I find it a better fit than I thought it would be, because it’s turning out that this job is very much a government leadership, government administrator, political administrator, type job that I’m used to,” Sanford said.
Also slated to be discussed Tuesday was
consideration of a policy change stating presidential vacancies at colleges and universities may be filled without doing a search.

North Dakota
North Dakota taking steps to ban candy, soda purchases with SNAP benefits

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Some foods such as soda and candy may soon be prohibited purchases in North Dakota through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, officials said Tuesday.
The North Dakota Department of Health and Human Services plans to seek permission from the federal government to prohibit certain foods from being purchased with SNAP benefits. The proposal was mentioned Tuesday to a legislative committee but details are still being developed.
The move is part of an effort to secure more federal funding through the $50 billion Rural Health Transformation Program. While states are guaranteed at least $500 million from the program, they can get more money if they enact certain policies the federal government favors.
States with pending or approved SNAP waivers that limit non-nutritious food purchases will be considered more competitive applicants, Sarah Aker, executive director of medical services for the North Dakota Department of Health and Human Services, told lawmakers.
The agency plans to apply for the waiver from the U.S. Department of Agriculture ahead of the Nov. 5 application deadline for the rural health funding.
“We’re working out the definitions so that the retail community can have a smooth transition, but we’re eliminating things that cause chronic disease, so candy and soda,” said Pat Traynor, interim Health and Human Services commissioner.
Traynor said the earliest the changes could affect North Dakota SNAP recipients is next year, and the new changes would take months to implement.
North Dakota had about 57,000 SNAP recipients in May, according to USDA data.
At least 12 states have received federal approval to restrict SNAP recipients from using their benefits to buy foods such as soda and candy, Stateline reported. Some states have restricted only soda, while others have included energy drinks, prepared desserts and other sugary drinks. The trend is related to U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s push to “make America healthy again.”
Sen. Jeff Magrum, R-Hazelton, remarked during Tuesday’s legislative committee meeting that the government’s definition of what food is and isn’t healthy seems to differ over time.
“What if they ever classified beef as non-nutritious, or something to that effect?” he asked. “When they base the money on non-nutritious, that’s kind of a moving target.”
Aker said the state has control over how it defines non-nutritious food under the waiver.
Emily O’Brien, deputy commissioner for Health and Human Services, said the department is still working out which soda and candy products will be included in the waiver.
“We’re fine-tuning what the definitions look like,” O’Brien said. “We want to have buy-in, too, from our partners on implementation.”
John Dyste, president of the North Dakota Grocers Association, said he’s been in contact with state officials about the SNAP waiver and plans to meet with the department.
Dyste said he does not think prohibiting candy and soda from SNAP purchases would be difficult for grocery stores to implement, though may be more challenging for smaller stores without a point-of-sale system.
Senate Minority Leader Kathy Hogan, D-Fargo, said eliminating soda and candy from the SNAP program is a “fine idea,” and hoped it would give North Dakota’s application for the Rural Health Transformation Program a boost.
She also said she wants to be certain the state’s rural grocery stores are able to make the changes effectively without burdening their businesses.
“If the points of sale all have to be changed and it’s going to change the operations of the benefits, then they’ll get pushback for doing it,” Hogan said.
North Dakota Monitor is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
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