Committee Discusses Higher Ed Funding Rumors | Video

Kristin Clouston | 2/7/2013

Sometimes the best way to stop rumors is to get everything out in the open. Rumors have been floating around that Chancellor Ham Shirvani wanted a lavish office complete with cherry hardwood at the North Dakota University System`s new IT building at UND. Today members of the appropriation committee acknowledged that those claims have been blown out of proportion.

"We could have just let them fester and forget about it or try to forget about it, or we could have faced the questions directly in an open meeting where the public could be, where media and all the parties could be in the same room and let`s hear what you have to say about what`s being said. And I think we accomplished that goal. We will now be reflecting on what we heard today and go from there," said Senator Ray Holmberg (R) from Grand Forks.

"Now you heard the progress we`re making is providing an efficient place for our IT staff. We talked about the time frame and the reason for the many changes that were made in the building and we talked about the importance of the chancellor being visible to the faculty, the staff and the students. You also heard the chancellor say that he doesn`t care where he sits when he`s not in Bismarck, he just wants to get the job done that he was hired to do," said Board of Higher Education Vice President Dr. Kirsten Diederich.

On Tuesday, Senator Tony Grindberg of Fargo said he wanted the appropriations committee to provide money to buy out the chancellor`s contract because he doesn`t like the chancellor`s management style. Grindberg refrained from speaking at today`s hearing.

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